59th Army (Soviet Union)

Last updated
59th Army
Active1941–1945
CountryFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
Type Field army
Engagements World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Ivan Galanin
Ivan Korovnikov

The 59th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army. It was formed in November 1941 in the Siberian Military District. It was soon redeployed to the Arkhangelsk Military District and by December was part of the Volkhov Front. From January to April 1942, it fought in the Lyuban Offensive Operation, an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Leningrad. For the next two years, the army defended its bridgehead on the Volkhov River. During spring 1944, it fought in the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive, which broke the Siege of Leningrad. During the summer of 1944, the army fought in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, helping to end the Continuation War. In December, the army transferred to the Sandomierz bridgehead, from which it launched the Vistula–Oder Offensive in January 1945. At the end of January, the army crossed the Oder and then fought in the Lower Silesian Offensive and the Upper Silesian Offensive. By late March it was in the Sudetes. In May 1945, the army launched the Prague Offensive. [1] Postwar, the army headquarters was used to create the Stavropol Military District in July 1945. [2]

Soviet Union 1922–1991 country in Europe and Asia

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a Marxist-Leninist sovereign state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometres (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

Red Army Soviet army and air force from 1917–1946

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, frequently shortened to Red Army, was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in December 1991. The former official name Red Army continued to be used as a nickname by both sides throughout the Cold War.

Siberian Military District formerly part of the armed forces of the Russian Federation

The Siberian Military District was a Military district of the Russian Ground Forces. The district was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Empire in 1864. In 1924 it was reformed in the Red Army. After the end of World War II the district was split into the Western and Eastern Siberian Military Districts. In 1956 the district was reformed. In 2010 it was divided between the two newly formed Central and Eastern Military Districts.

Contents

History

The 59th Army was formed on 15 November 1941 in the Siberian Military District in accordance with a Stavka order of 2 November. It included the 366th, 372nd, 374th, 376th, 378th and 382nd Rifle Divisions and the 78th and 87th Cavalry Divisions, as well as other smaller units. The army became part of Reserve of the Supreme High Command ( Stavka Reserve) upon completion of formation and was transported westward by rail to the Arkhangelsk Military District. In early December, it helped construct the Cherepovets Fortified Area and improved the defensive line on the eastern shore of Lake Beloye and the Sheksna River. The line ran from the mouth of the Sheksna to the village of Myaksa. [1]

The 372nd Rifle Red Banner Novgorod Division was a division of the Red Army during the Second World War.

374th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 374th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August, 1941 in the Siberian Military District. It joined the fighting front in December with the new 59th Army along the Volkhov River and it continued to serve in the fighting near Leningrad until early 1944. The dismal fighting on this front gave little opportunity for a unit to distinguish itself, and the division did not finally earn a battle honor until late January, 1944, during the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive. It continued to serve in the summer and autumn offensive through the Baltic States, becoming so reduced in strength that its remaining infantry was consolidated into a single understrength regiment which nevertheless won a battle honor in the liberation of Riga. The 374th ended the war in Latvia, helping to contain and reduce the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket, and was disbanded shortly thereafter.

376th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 376th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August, 1941 in the Siberian Military District. It followed a very similar combat path to that of the 374th Rifle Division. It joined the fighting front in December with the new 59th Army along the Volkhov River and it continued to serve in the battles near Leningrad until early 1944. The division took horrendous casualties in the combat to create and hold open a passage to the 2nd Shock Army during the Lyuban Offensive and was itself partly or fully encircled at several times during this dismal fighting. The division finally left this region as it advanced during the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive in January 1944 and in July won a battle honor in the liberation of Pskov, while its 1250th Rifle Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In October the 376th as a whole would also receive the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Riga. The division ended the war in Latvia, helping to contain and reduce the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket, and was reorganized as a rifle brigade shortly thereafter.

On 18 December the army became part of the Volkhov Front, taking up defensive positions on the right bank of the Volkhov River in the area of Vodosye and Yefremove. Between January and April 1942, the army fought in the Lyuban Offensive Operation, during which it and the 4th and 52nd Armies, joined later by the 2nd Shock Army, attacked as part of the main attack of the front. The army was unable to fulfill its objectives. In January units of the army captured the settlements of Peresvet, Ostrov, and Kiprovo. In February, the army captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Volkhov. During March and April the 59th Army disrupted German plans to complete the encirclement of the 2nd Shock Army and to prepare a new attack on Leningrad. [1]

The Volkhov Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group North in its offensive thrust towards Leningrad. Initially the front operated to the south of Leningrad, with its flank on Lake Ladoga.

Volkhov River river in Russia

The Volkhov is a river in Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. It connects Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga and belongs to the basin of the Neva River. The length of the river is 224 kilometres (139 mi), and the area of its drainage basin is 80,200 square kilometres (31,000 sq mi). The city of Veliky Novgorod, the towns of Kirishi, Volkhov and Novaya Ladoga, and a historically important village of Staraya Ladoga are located along the Volkhov.

The 4th Army was a Soviet field army of World War II that served on the Eastern front of World War II and in the Caucasus during the Cold War. It was disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union, with its divisions being withdrawn to Russia and disbanded.

Commanders

The army had two commanders during its existence. [1] [3]

Ivan Galanin Soviet general

Ivan Vasilievich Galanin was a Red Army lieutenant general during World War II.

Related Research Articles

The 2nd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and depth to permit the commitment of mobile formations for deeper exploitation. However, as the war went on, Shock Armies lost this specific role and reverted, in general, to ordinary frontline formations.

The 80th Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army, formed twice.

49th Combined Arms Army

The 49th Combined Arms Army is a combined arms (field) army of the Russian Ground Forces, formed in 2010 and headquartered in Stavropol.

54th Army (Soviet Union) field army of the Red Army 1941-1944

The Red Army's 54th Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was first formed in the Leningrad Military District in August, 1941, and continued in service in the northern sector of the Soviet-German front until the end of 1944. It spent much of the war attempting to break the German siege of Leningrad, in which it helped to achieve partial success in January, 1943, and complete success one year later. During these operations the soldiers of the 54th served under five different commanders, most notably Col. Gen. I.I. Fedyuninsky in the winter of 1941–42. After helping to drive Army Group North away from Leningrad and into the Baltic states in the first nine months of 1944, the army was deemed surplus to requirements on the narrowing front, and was officially disbanded on the last day of the year.

310th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 310th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 15, 1941 in Kazakhstan before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, where it spent most of the war, sharing a similar combat path with its "sister", the 311th Rifle Division. The soldiers of the division fought until early 1944 to, first, hold open some sort of lifeline to the besieged city, then to break the siege and drive off the besieging German forces. They then participated in the offensive that drove Germany's Finnish allies out of the war. Finally, the division was redeployed to take the fight to the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war north of Berlin with a very creditable combat record for any rifle division.

The 55th Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II. It was part of the Leningrad Front and was formed on 1 September 1941. The army fought in the Sinyavino Offensive, Lyuban Offensive Operation and the Battle of Krasny Bor. On 25 December 1943, it was combined with the 67th Army.

The 67th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army. The 67th Army was formed in October 1942 on the Leningrad Front from the Neva Operational Group. It defended the right bank of the Neva River, holding the Nevsky Pyatachok and covering the Road of Life. In January 1943 the army fought in Operation Iskra. In late December, the army was combined with 55th Army. The 67th Army headquarters was disbanded and 55th Army headquarters was renamed 67th Army headquarters. Between January and March 1944 67th Army fought in the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive, in which it captured Mga and Luga. In April the army became part of the 3rd Baltic Front and fought in the Pskov-Ostrov Offensive in July and the Tartu Offensive in August and September. The army fought in the Riga Offensive in September and October. The army then fought to eliminate the Courland Pocket. After the end of the war the army was disbanded during the summer of 1945.

311th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 311th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 14, 1941 at Kirov before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, where it spent most of the war, sharing a similar combat path with its "sister", the 310th Rifle Division. The men and women of the division were fully engaged in the struggle for Leningrad until early 1944, fighting in several offensives to drive a lifeline through the German positions to the besieged city, and then to finally drive the besiegers away. When this was accomplished, the division was redeployed to take the fight into the Baltic States in 1944, then into the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war north of Berlin after compiling a very distinguished record of service.

Boris Vladimirov

Boris Alexandrovich Vladimirov was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Vladimirov served in the Russian Civil War after being drafted into the Red Army in 1921. He became an officer and by 1941 was a deputy regimental commander. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Vladimirov successively became senior officer in charge of the formation of march battalions in the Siberian Military District, chief of staff of a ski brigade, and a rifle brigade. He commanded the rifle brigade in the Siege of Leningrad, during the Lyuban Offensive Operation and the Sinyavino Offensive. Vladimirov took command of the 311th Rifle Division in March 1943, leading it until the end of the war. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership in the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Postwar, Vladimirov became a lieutenant general, commanded a rifle corps, and was deputy chief of staff of the Soviet airborne. He retired in 1960 and lived in Moscow.

314th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 314th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 15, 1941 at Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, in the 7th Separate Army east of Lake Ladoga, facing the Finnish Army in East Karelia for more than a year. In consequence the division saw relatively uneventful service on this mostly quiet front until the autumn of 1942, when it was moved south to face German Army Group North, and took a leading role in Operation Iskra, which finally drove a land corridor through to besieged Leningrad in January 1943; a year later it also served prominently in the offensive that broke the enemy siege for good. During the summer the division played a role in the offensive that drove Finland out of the war. Following this, the 314th spent a few months fighting in the Baltic States, before being reassigned southwards to 1st Ukrainian Front to take the fight into Poland and then into the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war in Czechoslovakia with a distinguished record of service.

319th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 319th Rifle Division was first formed in December 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, in the Moscow Military District, but after a month was redesignated as the 2nd formation of a pre-war division that had been destroyed and disbanded. Another 319th was formed in the summer of 1942 in the North Caucasus Military District while the German offensive was threatening the Soviet oilfields near Baku. This formation had a short and undistinguished career, seeing little combat, and was disbanded in December. A third and final 319th was formed in the autumn of 1943 in the northern part of the front. This unit gave very creditable service for the duration of the war, distinguishing itself in the fighting through the Baltic states, and completing its combat path in East Prussia. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.

The 285th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. Formed in the summer of 1941, the division entered combat during the fall of that year, fighting in operations attempting to break the Siege of Leningrad. The division fought in the same area until the relief of Leningrad in February 1944, when it began advancing into the Baltic states. The division served in the Baltic states until October, when it transferred south to Poland, where it fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and Silesian Offensives in early 1945. The division was disbanded soon after the end of the war in the summer of 1945.

286th Rifle Division

The 286th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. Formed in the summer of 1941, the division entered combat during the fall of that year, fighting in operations attempting to break the Siege of Leningrad. The division fought in the same area until the relief of Leningrad in February 1944, when it was transferred northwards to fight in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, which ended the Continuation War. The division was transferred to Poland with the end of the Continuation War, and fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the Prague Offensive in early 1945. The division was disbanded soon after the end of the war in the summer of 1945.

The 282nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice.

The 267th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.

364th Rifle Division

The 364th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.

377th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 377th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August, 1941 in the Urals Military District. It followed a very similar combat path to that of the 374th and 376th Rifle Divisions. It joined the fighting front in December with the 4th Army, and then briefly came under command of 2nd Shock Army, but soon moved to the 59th Army along the Volkhov River, and continued to serve in this Army's battles near Leningrad until early 1944. The division took very heavy casualties during the Lyuban Offensive in several attempts to relieve the beleaguered 2nd Shock Army. After rebuilding the division held the Army's bridgehead over the Volkhov during 1943, and finally advanced during the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive in January, 1944, taking part in the assault that liberated Novgorod. During the spring the division saw heavy fighting in the battles for Narva before moving south for the summer offensive into the Baltic states. In September it won a battle honor in the liberation of Valga, and in October also received the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Riga. The division ended the war in Latvia, helping to contain and reduce the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket, and was disbanded later in 1945.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "59-я АРМИЯ" [59th Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Holm, Michael. "Stavropol Military District". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Боевой путь воинской части: 59-я армия

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