43rd Army (Red Army)

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The 43rd Army ( Russian 43-я армия ) was a major military unit of the Red Army during the Second World War , which operated from 1941 on the central section of the Eastern Front and was deployed in East Prussia at the end of the war in 1945 .

history

1941

By resolution of the Stawka Directive of July 31, 1941 and on the basis of the command of the 33rd Rifle Corps (Major General GA Chaljuzin , Oryol Military District), the 43rd Army was set up within the framework of the newly formed reserve front . When the German offensive was temporarily stopped by Soviet counterattacks during the Battle of Smolensk , the 43rd Army was pushed in at the beginning of August 1941 south of Jelnja on the Desna River on the front line Cholmetz-Bogdanow.

  • On August 10, the 43rd Army consisted of the 38th, 53rd, 145th, 149th, 211th, 217th, 222nd, 279th and 303rd Rifle Divisions, the 104th and 109th Armored Divisions and one Number of other units.

In support of the 24th Army in the Yelnya offensive (August 30th - September 8th), the 43rd Army offensive in the Roslavl-Novosybkov operation was ordered, which failed. In addition to the offensive at Bogdanov, the 43rd and 50th Armies were to conduct an offensive south of the taxiway from the Ivanovsky district to Koski and on to Roslavl . The offensive began on September 2nd. The Soviet troops (217th, 279th, 273rd and 290th Rifle Divisions) encountered stubborn resistance from the enemy and were unable to break through the enemy defenses. The commander of the 43rd Army, General Dmitri M. Seleznev was then replaced by Major General PP Sobennikow .

On October 3, the 43rd Army became part of the Western Front . The German LVII. Panzer Corps pushed forward at Operation Taifun in the direction of Juchnow , where airborne troops from the western front tried to stop the German advance detachments on the right bank of the Ugra on October 5th . The 43rd Army defended in the Moshaisk area and managed to secure the main road towards Medyn and on to Maloyaroslavets until October 9th. Parts of the German 19th and 20th Panzer Divisions reached the taxiway from Medyn to Malojaroslavets near the village of Ilyinsky on October 14 . The line of defense ran through Yuryevskoye - Ilyinskoye - Mashkino, where a strong system of fortifications had been built. Cadets from the Podolsk Artillery School, regular units of the Red Army - the 53rd and 312nd Rifle Divisions, reinforced by tank brigades - kept the line occupied. The German LVII. Armored Corps approached the defensive line near the village of Ilyinsky in mid-October and attacked it in three directions: along the Medyn-Maloyaroslavets highway, on Borovsk and against Detschino. On October 15, the 113th Rifle Division had to retreat east of Borovsk . On October 16, the first German attack on the Ilyinsky fortifications was repulsed.

Major General KD Golubew had taken over the command of the army and had to give up the city of Maloyaroslavets on October 18. After German units had bypassed the fortified line from the south, they crossed the Protwa River and occupied the village of Voroby on the east bank of the Istja River. The 43rd Army then secured the Nara River between Nikolskoje - Ilyino, followed by protracted fighting for the villages of Orechowo, Olchowo and Tschernischnja. In the north-west of Serpuchow on the Nara section, the German troops could be stopped until October 23, when they were able to cross the river at Tarutino . Surviving cadets withdrew to the other bank of the Nara River, where they helped defend the headquarters of the 43rd Army in Kamenka until they were replaced by units of the 93rd Rifle Division. The German attempt to get behind the defense of the 43rd Army on the Kamenka-Kresta line was thwarted by the 93rd Rifle Division. Further German attempts to get through the village line Nikolsky Dvor - Petrovo were unsuccessful, on October 31, 1941 the front along the line Inino-Stremilowo was strengthened.

1942/43

From December 5, 1941 to April 20, 1942, the 43rd Army took part in the counterattacks of the Western Front in a westerly direction on Malojaroslavets. From April 20, the army troops defended the new front line on the Vorja and Ugra rivers (west of the city of Medyn), which was captured until the end of August. On September 1, 1942, the 43rd Army was withdrawn into the reserve of the High Command and re-formed as part of the Kalininer Front from October 1 in the area northeast of the city of Demidow . From October 12, 1942, the army defended the area in the northeast of the city of Demidow . From January to August 1943 the front ran along the banks of the Lososno - Rytoje - Sapscho lakes to the village of Mushitskaya (42 km north of Duchovshchina).

From August 7 to October 2, 1943, the army took part in the Smolensk Operation . On September 14, troops of the Kalinin Front opened the attack on Demidov and Duchowschtschina . The main attack was carried out by the 39th Army (Lieutenant General Nikolai Bersarin ) and the left wing of the 43rd Army with a total of 12 rifle divisions. The right wing of the western front (31st and 5th armies) tried to break through at Jarzewo and achieve unification with the left wing of the Kalinin front. By the end of the day, the German positions could be indented between 3 and 13 kilometers to a width of 30 kilometers. After 4 days of fighting, the defense of the German VI. and XXVII. Army corps completely broken. The 43rd Army moved into Demidow on September 22nd after two days of fighting with the 91st Rifle Corps (Major General FA Volkov ).

From October 20, 1943, the army carried out further attacks on Vitebsk as part of the 1st Baltic Front .

1944

In February 1944, the 43rd Army was reformed in the Gorodok area, where a defensive strip of the outgoing 11th Guard Army was taken over. From June 23 to 28, 1944, the army broke through the German lines at Vitebsk in the course of Operation Bagration in cooperation with the 6th Guard Army (General Iwan Tschistjakow ), whereby the German LIII. Army Corps in cooperation with the 39th Army and liberated Vitebsk on June 26 and Lepel on June 28 . From June 29 to July 4, during the Polotsk operation, the army advanced towards the village of Glubokoje, and on July 8, advancing towards Panevėžys, occupied Švenčionėliai . Several German counter-attacks were repulsed and on July 14 the railway line Wilna - Dünaburg - Kaunas north of Salakas-Ovanta was reached. During the subsequent advance on Riga , fierce fighting took place over the town of Birsen , which was finally occupied on August 6th. Since August 13, the 43rd Army has been defending the line along the Lielupe River - south and west of Bauske . At the end of September to October 22, 1944, the troops took part in the Riga operation . From October 1944 to mid-January 1945 the army was involved in the Memel operation and in the first two Kurland battles between Vaiņode and Prekuln in the blockade of the German Army Group Kurland grouping.

Subordinate formations from July to October 1944

1st Rifle Corps - July to September 1944

  • 179th Rifle Division - July to August
  • 204th Rifle Division - July to August 1944
  • 216th Rifle Division - August to September 1944
  • 306th Rifle Division - July to September

60th Rifle Corps - July to September 1944

  • 179th Rifle Division - from August to September 1944
  • 235th Rifle Division - July to August 1944
  • 334th Rifle Division - July to September 1944
  • 357th Rifle Division - July to August 1944

84th Rifle Corps - August to September 1944

  • 158th Rifle Division
  • 164th Rifle Division
  • 251st Rifle Division - August to October 1944

92nd Rifle Corps

  • 145th Rifle Division - July to September 1944
  • 179th Rifle Division - from October 1944
  • 204th Rifle Division - until July 1944
  • 235th Rifle Division - from August 1944
  • 306th Rifle Division - September to October 1944

1945

Subordinate formations from October 1944 to April 1945

90th Rifle Corps - from October 1944 to February 1945

  • 208th Rifle Division - October to December 1944
  • 26th, 182nd and 70th Rifle Divisions

44th Rifle Corps - from December 1944 to January 1945

  • 115th and 319th Rifle Divisions - from December 1944 to January 1945

54th Rifle Corps - from November 1944 to February 1945, March 1945

  • 126th Rifle Division - from November 1944 to February 1945, March 1945
  • 263rd Rifle Division - since November 1944

103rd Rifle Corps - from January 1945

  • 115th and 325th Rifle Divisions - from January 1945

23rd Guards Rifle Corps - April 13-17, 1945

  • 51st and 67th Guards Rifle Divisions

During the Battle of East Prussia , the 43rd Army took part in the Tilsit-Insterburger operation and advanced on Königsberg and Samland . The army stood with eight rifle divisions between Ruß and Schmalleningken on the northern bank of the Memel . Frozen since December 20, 1944, the river could be crossed. In addition, the 39th Army (Lieutenant General II Lyudnikow ) with six rifle divisions was deployed in the Schmalleningken – Schillfelde section . Opposite the Soviets was the IX. Army corps of the German 3rd Panzer Army leading on the Memel section . The army troops captured Tilsit on January 20th.

Army organization on January 13, 1945

103rd Rifle Corps, Lieutenant General Ivan Ilyich Missan

  • 9th Guards Rifle Division, Colonel Fyodor Grigoryevich Kriswomlin
  • 166th Rifle Division, Major General Anisim Illarisowitsch Svetlyakov
  • 115th Rifle Division, Colonel Alexander Pavlovich Blinow
  • 325th Rifle Division

90th Rifle Corps, Lieutenant General Gaik Aganesjewitsch Martirosjan

  • 26th Rifle Division Major General Vasily Andreevich Belonogow
  • 70th Rifle Division Colonel Seraphim Andrianowitsch Krasnowski
  • 319th Rifle Division Colonel LA Dulow

54th Rifle Corps, Lieutenant General Alexander Sergejewitsch Ksenofontow

  • 263rd Rifle Division, Colonel Cornelius G. Cherepanov
  • 126th Rifle Division, Colonel Ivan Ivanovich Vasilenko
  • 235th Rifle Division, Major General Ivan L. Lutskewich

On January 20, 1945 the 43rd Army was subordinated to the 3rd Belarusian Front , on February 13th to the 1st Baltic Front and on February 25th to the 3rd Belarusian Front again. On April 24, 1945, the 43rd Army was withdrawn into the reserve of the 3rd Belarusian Front and regrouped to Danzig and Gotenhafen and from May 1st to the 2nd Belarusian Front , where their fighting ended. In June 1945 the army was part of the Northern Army Group and was disbanded in May 1946.

guide

Commanders

Members of the Military Council

  • Department Commissioner Wassili Anfisowitsch Nikitin, August 1-7, 1941
  • Brigadier General Grigory Grigoryevich Yakovlev, 7 August to 25 September 1941
  • Brigadier Commissar Grigori Grigorjevich Kowalkow, 25 September to 25 October 1941
  • Major General Sergei I. Shabalov, October 25, 1941 to May 9, 1945

Chiefs of Staff

  • Colonel FA Sujew, September - October 1941
  • Major General AN Bogolyubov, October 1941 - December 1942
  • Colonel II Tschinnow, December 1942 - February 1943
  • Major General WG Posnyak, February - August 1943
  • Major General FF Maslennikow, August 1943 - until the end of the war

literature

  • AP Beloborodov: 43-ja armia v Vitebskoi operazii , Viz . God 16, No. 7, 1947
  • А.П. Белобородов: Всегда в бою. - Экономика, Мoskwa 1984 ( Russian )

Web links