Stalingrad Front

The Stalingrad Front ( Russian Сталинградский фронт ) was an association of the Red Army during the Second World War . It was first erected on July 12, 1942. This first-formed Stalingrad front was on 30 September 1942 in Don Front renamed, while from the division of Stalingrad front emerged southeastern front the name Stalingrad front was.

First formation

The Stalingrad Front was first formed on July 12, 1942 on the orders of the Soviet High Command from the dissolved Southwest Front (command elements of the 21st Army ) and the 62nd , 63rd and 64th Armies from the Stawka reserve . Subsequently, the 28th, 38th, 57th , 51st, 66th and 24th Army , the 1st Guard Army , 1st and 4th Panzer Army and the 16th Air Army were under the command of the front. Then came the Volga Flotilla and the troops of the Stalingrad Air Defense Corps. Due to the advance of German troops ( Operation Blau ) in the direction of the Volga, the Stalingrad Front received the order shortly afterwards to stop the advance of the enemy on the Don .

On July 17, 1942, the heads of the German 6th Army encountered the vanguard of the 62nd and 64th Armies. The stubborn resistance of the troops on the front forced the enemy to deploy his main forces, with which the Battle of Stalingrad began. Due to the increasing width of the front section (about 800 kilometers), the front formed the southeast front on August 7, 1942, which a few days later was subordinated to the Stalingrad front . By order of September 28, 1942, the joint command of the fronts was abolished and shortly thereafter the Stalingrad Front was renamed Donfront.

Second formation

The previous south-eastern front formed the second Stalingrad front on September 30, 1942, which existed until January 1, 1943, when it was renamed the second formation of the southern front , from which the 4th Ukrainian front emerged on October 20 . The Stalingrad Front of the second formation included the 28th, 51st, 57th, 62nd and 64th Army and the 8th Air Army. At the start of the Stalingrad Strategic Assault Operation on November 19, the strength of the front was 429,000 men, 323 tanks, 5,016 artillery pieces and 221 aircraft.

Front command

commander

• Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (July 12-22 , 1942)
• Lieutenant General Vasily Nikolajewitsch Gordow (July 22 - August 23, 1942)
• Colonel General Andrei Ivanovich Jerjomenko (23 August - 30 December 1942)

Member of the Military Council

• Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Communist Party NS Khrushchev (July 12th - December 30th 1942)

Chief of Staff

• Lieutenant General PI Bodin (July 12-24 , 1942)
• Major General Dimitri Nikititsch Nikischew (July 24 - September 12, 1942)
• Major General KA Kowalenko (September 12-28, 1942)
• Major General Ivan Semyonovich Warennikov (September 28 - December 30, 1942)

supporting documents

1. ↑ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 августа 1942 г. ( Russian ) -  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
2. ↑ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 октября 1942 г. ( Russian ) -  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
3. ↑ Grigori Fedotowitsch Kriwoschejew : Grifkretnost sniat. Moscow 1993.