Northern Front (Red Army)

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The Northern Front ( Russian Северный фронт ) was a military formation of the Red Army during the Second World War , it existed only two months after the start of the war until August 23, 1941, when it was divided into the Karelian Front and the Leningrad Front .

history

The Northern Front was formed from the Leningrad Military District after the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 24, 1941 . Their main mission was the defense of the Kola Peninsula and the North Sea coast, as well as the area north of the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia . For this purpose, the 7th , 14th and 23rd Army and a large number of smaller units were subordinate to the high command of the front . The front had 15 rifle divisions in three rifle corps, two mechanized corps with 4 armored divisions and 2 motorized rifle divisions, a total of about 21 divisions. In addition, the front was subordinate to an air army and from June 28, 1941 also the Baltic fleet .

On August 19, 1941, the 8th and 48th Armies of the Northwestern Front were placed under the command of the Northern Front. From June 25th to 29th, the aviation associations of the front, in cooperation with the naval forces of the northern and Baltic fleets, carried out attacks on opposing air bases in Finland and northern Norway.

The front was unable to advance the advance of the German and Finnish troops , which had attacked on June 29 in the area of ​​the northern front, west of the Liza, 90 kilometers west of Kandalakschi, west of Uchti, on Lake Rogo, on Lake Onega , on Swir , and on of the Karelian Isthmus stop on the 1939 border line.

By order of the Soviet High Command, the front was assigned the defense of Leningrad on July 10th, supported by the Luga Operational Group under Lieutenant General Pyadyshev , the aviation units of the Northern Front, the Baltic and Northern Fleets, and the 7th Flak Corps. The stubborn defense at the level of the Luga defense line could hold up the advance of German troops on Leningrad for almost a month.

By order of August 23, 1941, the Soviet High Command ordered the division of the front into the Leningrad and Karelian fronts, which was carried out on August 26.

High command

  • Lieutenant General Markian Michailowitsch Popow (June – August 1941)
  • Corps Commissioner NN Kljementew (Leonid Alexandrowitsch Goworow, June – August 1941)
  • Major General DN Nikischew (Chief of Staff, June-August 1941)
  • Colonel NW Gorodetsky (Chief of Staff, August 1941)

swell

  • David M. Glantz: Stumbling Colossus , 1998, Appendix A.

See also