3rd Guard Army (Red Army)

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The 3rd Guard Army (Russian: 3-я Гвардейская армия) was a large unit of the Red Army that was deployed on the southern section of the Eastern Front during World War II and in Poland and Eastern Germany at the end of the war .

history

The 3rd Guard Army was set up on the instructions of the Stawka on December 5, 1942 by renaming the 1st Guard Army (2nd formation) on the Southwest Front . Until mid-December 1942, the army comprised the following major units:

  • 14th Rifle Corps with 50th Guards, 197th, 203rd and 278th Rifle Divisions
  • 90th and 94th separate rifle brigades
  • 1st Guards Mechanical Corps
  • 22nd Motorized Rifle Corps
  • three separate tank regiments

From December 16, 1942, the 3rd Guard Army participated in the counter-offensive of the 3rd Panzer Army on the Middle Don against the Italian 8th Army . In doing so, she helped knock off the German company Wintergewitter , which was trying to free the German 6th Army in Stalingrad . From January to February 1943, the army took part in the Voroshilovgrad operation , then in the defensive battles on the Donets and in the summer and autumn in the Donets Basin operation . During the Battle of Zaporozhye, the troops of the 3rd Guard Army broke through the heavily fortified German defenses and, in cooperation with the troops of the 8th Guard Army, liberated Zaporozhye on October 14 , removing the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper . On October 18, the army was incorporated into the 2nd formation of the southern front (from October 20, the 4th Ukrainian front ). Heavy fighting followed to clear the German bridgehead at Nikopol, from January to February 1944 the 3rd Guard Army participated in the Nikopol-Krivoy Roger operation . After crossing the Dnieper, the army liberated the city of Nikopol on February 8th in cooperation with the troops of the 6th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front .

On February 13, 1944, the 3rd Guards Army was withdrawn into the Stawka Reserve, and on April 18, it was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front. During the offensive between Lemberg and Sandomierz in July and August 1944, the army's troops broke through the German defenses, fought their way west over 250 km and bridged five rivers, including the San and Vistula sections. In cooperation with other armies of the front, the 3rd Guard Army removed the Sandomierz bridgehead and participated in the free fighting of Poland on the left bank of the Vistula.

Army organization on January 10, 1945

  • 21st Rifle Corps under Major General Alexei Jamanow with 21st, 58th, 253rd and 329th rifle divisions
  • 76th Rifle Corps under Lieutenant General Michail Gluchow with 127th, 287th and 389th Rifle Divisions
  • 120th Rifle Corps under Major General Fyodor Danilowski with 106th, 149th and 197th Rifle Divisions

During the Vistula-Oder operation in January-February 1945, the army acted as part of the strike group of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which, in cooperation with the left wing of the 1st Belarusian Front, smashed the German Opatow group and reached the Neisse. From April to May 1945 the army took part in the Berlin operation . The attack on the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front between Guben and Forst was carried out from the south and south-west. After the conquest of Cottbus on April 22nd, dissolution, the troops of the 3rd Guard Army were transferred to the sector east of Dresden and took part in the Prague operation . On the morning of May 9th, the troops behind the 3rd and 4th Guards Armored Army marched into Prague . In July 1945 the 3rd Guard Army was disbanded.

guide

Commanders

  • Lieutenant General DD Lelyushenko (December 1942 - March 1943)
  • Major General KI Khetagurov (March - August 1943)
  • Lieutenant General DD Lelyushenko (August 1943 - February 1944)
  • Lieutenant General DI Ryabyshew (February - March 1944)
  • Colonel General WN Gordow (April 1944 until the end of the war)

Chiefs of Staff

  • Major General IP Krupennikow (December 1942)
  • Major General KI Khetagurov (December 1942 - December 1943)
  • Major General KG Rebrikow (December 1943 - May 1944)
  • Major General FT Rybalchenko (May - December 1944)
  • Lieutenant General SI Ljubarski (December 1944 - April 1945)
  • Major General NN Zelinski (April 1945 until the end of the war)

Member of the Military Council

  • Major General I. Kolesnichenko (December 1942 until the end of the war)

literature

  • С.А.Гладыш /В.И.Милованов: “ Восьмая общевойсковая. Боевой путь 8-й армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны ”, Институт военной истории, Moscow 1994

Web links