The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II.
A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.
The Battle of Raseiniai was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group and the Soviet 3rd Mechanized Corps with the 12th Mechanised Corps, in Lithuania, 75 km (47 mi) north-west of Kaunas. The Red Army tried to contain and destroy the German troops that had crossed the Neman River but was unable to prevent them from advancing.
Alexander Ilyich Lizyukov was a Soviet military leader holding the rank of major-general. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 5 August 1941.
The 17th Tank Division was a tank division of the Red Army that was formed in mid-1940. The division suffered heavy losses during fighting against German forces during the Battle of Smolensk and was converted into a tank brigade in late August 1941.
The 103rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times. It was first formed in 1939. It was converted into a motorized division and fought in the Yelnya Offensive. After being converted back to a rifle division it was destroyed in the Battle of Vyazma. The division reformed in early 1942 but was destroyed during the Second Battle of Kharkov. It was reformed a third time in the Far East in summer 1942 and participated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
The 61st Rifle Corps was a Red Army infantry corps during World War II, formed twice. The 61st Rifle Corps was formed firmed in Tula during September 1939. After Operation Barbarossa, it was transferred to the front in Belarus and fought in the Battle of Smolensk. After suffering heavy losses at Smolensk, it was disbanded in early August 1941. Reformed in spring 1943, the corps fought in Operation Kutuzov, the Lublin–Brest Offensive and the Berlin Offensive. The corps was disbanded after the end of the war in summer 1945.
Mikhail Petrovich Petrov was a Red Army major general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Born to a peasant family, he moved to Petrograd and became a metalworker at the Putilov Plant, where he became a Red Guard squad leader and fought in the storming of the Winter Palace. He joined the Red Army and fought in the Russian Civil War. During the interwar period Petrov became an armored corps officer and fought as a tank battalion commander during the Spanish Civil War. For his leadership, he received the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 21 June 1937.
The 20th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps was almost entirely destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and the Battle of Smolensk, in which it defended Mogilev.
The 17th Mechanized Corps was a mechanised unit of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps was destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and reduced in size to the 147th Tank Brigade.
The 25th Mechanized Corps was a Mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps fought in the Battle of Smolensk. Its headquarters and that of the 20th Rifle Corps were combined in August 1941 to form the Bryansk Front headquarters.
The 26th Mechanized Corps was a Mechanized corps of the Red Army. The mechanized corps of the Red Army were reorganized after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The corps was reorganized and disbanded before it saw action.
The 27th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army. Stationed in present-day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan after its formation in March 1941, the corps was relocated westwards after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. As a result of the reorganization of the Soviet mechanized corps, the 27th Mechanized Corps was disbanded before it saw combat.
The 7th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed three times. The corps was first formed in 1934 in the Leningrad Military District and was converted into the 10th Tank Corps in 1938. The corps was reformed in the summer of 1940 in the Moscow Military District and fought in the Battle of Smolensk, after which its headquarters became part of Group Yartsevo's headquarters. The corps was formed a third time in August and September 1943. The third formation fought in the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Battle of Debrecen, Budapest Offensive, Bratislava–Brno Offensive, Prague Offensive, and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Postwar, the corps' third formation became a division and was disbanded in 1957.
The Siege of Mogilev was a three-week encirclement of Mogilev undertaken by German troops, part of the Battle of Smolensk. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German troops broke through Soviet lines. Mogilev was heavily fortified and bypassed by German tank forces. German infantry steadily reduced the pocket, and by late July, the defending Soviet troops had run out of ammunition and other necessary supplies. As a result, Soviet commander Fyodor Bakunin went against orders and ordered a breakout. A small number of Soviet troops were able to reach Soviet lines, and 35,000 were reported captured by German troops. The defense of Mogilev tied down four German infantry divisions, delaying their attack on Gomel for a week.
The 14th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941 and stationed in western Belarus, the corps was destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk in June of the same year.
The 11th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed twice. The corps was first formed as one of the original two Red Army mechanized corps from the 11th Rifle Division in Leningrad. In 1934 it was transferred to the Transbaikal Military District and in 1938 became the 20th Tank Corps. The corps was reformed in March 1941 in western Belarus. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the understrength corps was destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk.
The 22nd Guards Rifle Division was unique in being the only Guards rifle division formed twice during the Great Patriotic War. It was first formed from the 363rd Rifle Division in March, 1942. Soon after forming it provided a command cadre for the second formation of the 53rd Army in Kalinin Front. Later, in the fall of that year, the division provided most of its personnel and equipment to form the new 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps, and was then disbanded. In April, 1943, a new 22nd Guards was formed from the second formation of the 150th Rifle Division in the Moscow Military District, and went on to serve for the duration in 10th Guards Army. This formation first saw service in Operation Suvorov, the summer offensive of Western Front that liberated Smolensk in late September, and then fought through the autumn and winter in grinding battles towards the city of Orsha. During the summer offensive of 1944 it helped break the Panther Line in western Russia and then advanced into Latvia, winning a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Riga, before ending the war in Lithuania, helping to contain the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket. It was disbanded shortly after the war.
The 22nd Tank Division was a Division sized unit of the Red Army that existed from March 1941–July 1941.
The 30th Tank Division was a Division sized unit of the Red Army that existed from March 1941–July 1941.
