59th Army (Red Army)

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59th Army

Lineup 1941-1945
Armed forces Red Army
Armed forces Land Forces
Type army
Butcher Second World War
Battle of the Volkhov
Leningrad-Novgorod operation
Vyborger operation
Vistula-Oder operation
Lower Silesian Operation
Prague operation

The 59th Army ( Russian 59-я армия ) was a large unit of the Red Army that was deployed on the northern eastern front during World War II and advanced via Silesia into the Protectorate at the end of the war in 1945 .

First formation

The 59th Army was formed in the Siberian Military District on November 15, 1941, on a directive of the High Command dated November 2, 1941.

  • The first composition consisted of the 366th, 372nd, 374th, 376th, 378th, 382nd Rifle Divisions and the 78th and 87th Cavalry Divisions.

After the army was moved to the area of ​​the Arkhangelsk military district , the troops took part in the expansion of the fortifications in the Cherepovets area and the construction of a line of defense along the bank of the Sheksna to the Myaksa settlement until mid-December 1941 . From December 18, 1941, the 59th Army was transferred to the Volkhov Front and occupied a line of defense along the right bank of the Volkhov River. The first major battles took place on December 31, 1941, when units of the 376th Rifle Division were able to take the places Perteschno and Tschudowo .

From January to April 1942, the troops of the 59th Army took part in the Ljuban operation , in which, in cooperation with the 4th and 52nd Armies , and later with the 2nd Shock Army, took part in the main attack. Although the objective of the operation was not achieved, the 59th Army was able to liberate the towns of Peresweta, Ostrow and Kiprovo in January 1942 and secure a bridgehead on the left bank of the Volkhov River in February. The attacks of the 59th Army thwarted the German intention of completely enclosing the 2nd Shock Army, which had been cut off at the same time. On April 24, the 59th Army was briefly subordinated to the Leningrad Front , but returned to the Volkhov Front on June 9, where it secured the bridgehead on the Volkhov near Myasny Bor, as well as the line on the right bank of the river to Novgorod and to the northeast coast of Lake Ilmen . On June 25, 1942, the Volkhov Basin was completely closed to the 2nd Shock Army. From this time until May 1943 the 59th Army was on the defensive, but held in its own bridgehead from Dymno in the north to Lyubtsow in the south, where it joined the 52nd Army .

1944 and 1945

In January – February 1944 the troops of the 59th Army were attacking the German Army Group North . During the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive conquered the troops on 20 January Novgorod back and eliminated the inclusion of Leningrad . Then the troops continued the attack in the direction of Luga and on January 26th crossed the Leningrad- Dno railway line . In cooperation with the 67th Army , the enemy in the Luga area was pushed back.

Second formation

On February 15, 1944, the 59th Army was transferred to the Leningrad Front ; handed over the army command to the front reserve and transferred the troops to the 67th and 8th Armies.

  • The new formation of the 59th Army initially comprised the 117th (120th, 123rd and 201st Rifle Divisions) and the 122nd Rifle Corps (11th, 43rd and 189th Rifle Divisions) as well as one in addition to the 30th Guards Tank Brigade A number of other tank and artillery units.

By the summer of 1944, the 59th Army took up new defensive positions on the east bank of Lake Chudsky, which continued via Vasknarva to Gdow . At the beginning of June, large parts of the 59th Army were relocated to the Karelian Isthmus . During the Vyborg Operation , parts of the armed forces, in cooperation with the armed forces of the Baltic Fleet, carried out a landing operation on the Bay of Vyborg . On the night of July 1, 1944, the first landing of parts of the 124th Rifle Division on the island of Teykarsaari failed, on July 4th the 224th Rifle Division landed more successfully on the islands of Swaninsaari and Ravansaari. The following night the small islands of Hietasaari, Melansaari and Kuolansaari were also occupied. Units of the 59th Army held the occupied islands until September 4, when the 21st Army took over their positions along the mouth of the Salmenkuito across the western bank of the Vuoksi. Until Finland left the war and an armistice was concluded, the 59th Army with the newly subordinated 43rd and 97th Rifle Corps protected the state border on the Karelian Isthmus from the Vuoksa to the Gulf of Finland . On December 2, the army was relieved by the 21st Army and withdrawn to the Stawka reserve and transferred to Polish territory in the Rzeszow , Lancut , Żołynia region , where it was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front on December 20 .

During the Vistula-Oder operation in 1945, the army in its new composition between the 5th Guard and the 60th Army took to the attack across the Nida River in the direction of Skalmesch, Mostek and south of Soskowetz.

Structure on January 12, 1945

43rd Rifle Corps, Major General Anatoly I. Andreev

  • 80th Rifle Division, Colonel Dmitri Naumowitsch Kuzmin
  • 135th Rifle Division, Colonel Filipp N. Romashin
  • 314th Rifle Division, Colonel Pyotr Filimonovich Yefimenko

115th Rifle Corps, Major General Sergei Borisowitsch Kozachek

  • 13th Rifle Division, Major General Sergei Nikolayevich Alexandrov
  • 92nd Rifle Division, Major General Matvey V. Vinogradov
  • 286th Rifle Division, Major General Mikhail Danilowitsch Grishin
  • 245th Rifle Division, Major General Vladimir A. Rodionov

During the offensive, their units, in collaboration with the troops of the 60th Army, liberated the city of Krakow (January 19), the Auschwitz concentration camp (January 27) and, together with the 21st Army, the Katowice coalfield (January 28). At the end of January 1945, the troops of the 59th Army reached the Oder west of Leschnitz and formed a bridgehead on the left bank. From February to March the 59th Army took part in the Upper Silesian Operation . In cooperation with the 21st and 4th Panzer Army , their troops surrounded the German group consisting of 5 divisions in the Opole area . During the fighting, the 59th Army liberated the cities of Cosel (March 18), Krappitz (March 19), Oberglogau (March 19) and other settlements. As a continuation of the offensive, the troops reached the foothills of the Sudeten Mountains on the border with Poland on March 20. The 59th Army concluded its combat path in May 1945 by participating in the Prague Operation .

guide

Commanders

Chiefs of Staff

  • Major General Ivan Mikhailovich Tokarev, November 2, 1941 - February 1, 1942
  • Major General Lembit Abramowitsch Pärn , February 1 - April 16, 1942
  • Major General Nikolai Vasilyevich Gorodetsky, April 16 - May 14, 1942
  • Colonel Viktor Frantzewitsch Bogdanowitsch, May 14 - June 4, 1942
  • Colonel Nikolai Nikolayevich Pachomov, May 26 - May 31, 1942
  • Colonel Leonid Gavrilowitsch Sergejew, June 4 - July 7, 1942
  • Major General Pavel Alexsejewitsch Artjuschenko, July 7, 1942 - August 7, 1943
  • Major General Nikolai Prokopyevich Kovalschuk, August 8, 1943 - September 7, 1945

Members of the Military Council

  • Corps Commissioner Pyotr Akimowitsch Dibrow, November 17, 1941 - July 2, 1942
  • Major General Pyotr Semenovich Lebedev, July 7, 1942 - September 5, 1945

literature

  • Справочник "Освобождение городов: Справочник по освобождению городов в период Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945" / М.Л.Дударенко, Ю.Г.Перечнев, В.Т.Елисеев и др. - Воениздат, Moskva 1985.