19th Tank Corps
The 19th Perekop Red Banner Tank Corps was a tank corps of the Red Army during World War II.
Formed in December 1942, the corps saw its first action in the Sevsk–Dmitrovsk offensive in spring 1943. That summer it took part in the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk and Operation Kutuzov.
Formation and Sevsk–Dmitrovsk Offensive
The corps began its formation process on 24 December in the region of the railway station of Turdey, Tula Oblast. Major General Ivan Dmitryevich Vasilyev took command on 5 January and led it for the majority of the rest of the war.[1] The corps was initially assigned the 101st Tank Brigade, the 42nd and 43rd Tank Regiments, and the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade, but on 19 January the tank regiments, not having arrived, were replaced by the 79th and 202nd Tank Brigades.[2] The 101st Tank Brigade was equipped with 51 American Lend-Lease M3 Lee medium tanks, while the 202nd included an assortment of tanks mainly gathered from training units: 22 KV and British Lend-Lease Matilda II tanks, and twenty T-60 light tanks. The 79th Tank Brigade rounded out the corps' tank units with twenty T-34 medium tanks and 26 T-60. The tank brigades possessed 65 percent of their authorized transport vehicles, while the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade lacked transport vehicles, its organic artillery and mortar battalions, and anti-tank rifle company. To address the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade's lack of vehicles, it was proposed to use horse transport instead, and 108 horses and 45 sledges were added to the brigade structure, but a lack of feed prevented this in practice. The brigade was given twenty vehicles without spare parts which were regularly inoperable as a result, and having been formed from ski battalions continued to move on skis.[3] These four brigades remained with the corps for the rest of the war.[4]
Not having completed its formation, on 19 January, the corps began a 400-kilometer march through Yefremov and Yelets to Livny. Reinforcements that did not reach the corps while it was forming partially arrived in the course of the march. The 79th and 202nd Tank Brigades did not arrive to the corps while it was forming and operated on their previous sectors of the front in the general direction of Livny, where they were slated to join with the remainder of the corps. The march was made difficult by the still insufficient cohesion of the tank crews, with many driver-mechanics having weak skills in the driving and maintenance of foreign tanks. The diversity of its tanks complicated maintenance and logistics, while blizzards hampered the movement of wheeled transport, light tanks, and Matildas, making the roads impassable.[3] The corps was forced to employ locals in settlements along the march route to clear the snow off the road. With the movement taking place along one road and only at night, the movement of the corps was slow as it could cover only twenty to thirty kilometers each night.[5] The 19th Motor Rifle Brigade suffered particular difficulties due to a lack of transport for provisions and fodder for horses and due to exhaustion about 600 men were left along the route.[3]
The corps was left with two tank brigades when the 79th Tank Brigade was detached on 25 January. The corps proceeded its assigned concentration area in the region of Bolshoy Lyubash and Golovinka, 40 kilometers north of Fatezh, where on arrival on 13 February it was assigned to the Operational Group of Lieutenant General Yury Novoselsky of the Bryansk Front. On 11 February, a 30-strong M3 Lee tank battalion of the 101st Tank Brigade, arriving ahead of the rest of the corps, was committed to a mobile detachment that included a tank rider company and a motor rifle battalion. The detachment was tasked with rapidly advancing in cooperation with the group of Major General Pyotr Sobennikov and taking Kromy by the morning of 12 February. The detachment was to hold the town until the approach of the 211th Rifle Division, advancing from Cheremoshchnoye. At 16:30 on 11 February the mobile detachment arrived in the region of Verkhny Lyubazh and was joined by the battalion from the 101st Tank Brigade. On 12 February Novoselsky detached the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade from the corps and gave it its own mission to destroy the German grouping in the region of Vetryanka in cooperation with the 230th Rifle Division. Thus, on 12 February, the 19th Tank Corps only had one complete tank brigade, the 202nd Tank Brigade with one KV tank, nine Matildas, and thirteen T-60s.[3]
By the time operations began in the Maloarkhangelsk Offensive, many tanks lagged behind, leaving the 19th Tank Corps with fifteen remaining M3 Lees from the 101st and the 202nd with two KV tanks, ten Matildas, and sixteen T-60s. A consolidated tank battalion from the 79th Tank Brigade with seven T-34s and eight T-60s returned to the corps, but five of the T-34s could only operate from stationary positions or on good roads, and deep snow made employing T-60s in mobile roles impossible. By the time combat operatins began, the brigades had half of their wheeled transport, and eleven ChTZ tractors assigned for recovery. However only three tractors reached the concentration area and were unfit due to mechanical wear. The corps had 1.5 to two combat loads of ammunition, 1.5 to two refills of fuel, and up to six days of rations when it entered combat, aside from the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade which still lacked provisions and forage for its horses.[3]
In the fighting between 14 and 20 February, the 101st Tank and 19th Motor Rifle Brigades, operating alongside the 280th and 211th Rifle Divisions, forced their German opponents to retreat to a new defensive line running through Lebedikha, Voronets, Morozikha, Trosna, Grankina, and Novy Svet. The 19th Motor Rifle Brigade took eight settlements, but lost up to 145 men in a failed attack on Gnilets, a result attributed to its lack of artillery and mortars. With the mobile group, the 101st Tank Brigade reached the northern outskirts of Shapelovo and Hill 248. The 19th Motor Rifle Brigade, and 79th and 101st Tank Brigades were returned to the corps by Order No. 19 of the front operational group.[3]
Between 14 February and 19 March the corps took part in offensive and defensive battles in the Trosna region. The corps was shifted to the
Kursk
The corps was placed under the operational control of the
On the Dnieper
On 19 September, the corps was dispatched by rail to the
Crimean Offensive
Between 13 and 15 March, the corps marched to the region of Novo-Nikolayevka, Gromovka, and Voskresenovka. By 25 March its tanks crossed the
Into the Baltics
The corps was relocated by rail to the 1st Baltic Front between 13 and 31 July. After unloading at the stations of Vitebsk and Polotsk, the corps marched 200 kilometers and on 4 August concentrated in the region of Panevezhis, under the operational control of the 43rd Army. The corps attacked from the region of Stepanovka, Bobolishiki, and Dambitse towards Birzhai and Radvilishkis on 5 August. The corps was pulled out of action on 11 August to the region of Boltati, Smilgan, and Trishkai. The corps was shifted to the operational control of the 6th Guards Army on 14 August, and on 15 August attacked towards Kalni and Yuglas. The corps was pulled out of action again on 16 August and marched to the region of Ionishkis, where it concentrated on 18 August.[10]
The corps was shifted to the 51st Army, attacking towards Dobele and
Courland Pocket
The corps attacked as part of the front's
Postwar
After the end of the war, the corps was reorganized as a tank division in June 1945.
References
Citations
- ^ HQ BTMV 1951, p. 143.
- ^ Shavrov 1995, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e f "Отчет о боевых действиях 19 тк". Pamyat Naroda (in Russian). 3 March 1943.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 147.
- ^ Shavrov 1995, p. 9.
- ^ HQ BTMV 1951, p. 153.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 154.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 155.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 156.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 157.
- ^ HQ BTMV 1951, p. 158.
- ^ a b HQ BTMV 1951, p. 159.
- ^ HQ BTMV 1951, p. 146.
- ^ Holm, Michael. "19th Tank Division". Soviet Armed Forces: 1945-1991: Organisation and order of battle. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
Bibliography
- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска) [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
- Isaev, Alexei; et al. (2021). Битва за Крым 1941–1944 гг [Battle for Crimea 1941–1944] (in Russian) (2nd ebook ed.). Moscow: Yauza/Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-04-121991-8.
- Танковые Корпуса: Боевой состав и боевая деятельность за 1941-1945 гг. в Великой Отечественной войне [Tank Corps: Combat Composition and Combat Operations during 1941–1945 in the Great Patriotic War] (PDF) (in Russian). Vol. 2. Moscow: Department for the Analysis of Questions of Tactics, Operational Art, and Study of War Experience, Headquarters Armored and Mechanized Forces, Soviet Army. December 1951.
- Shavrov, Ivan (1995). 19 Краснознаменный Перекопский танковый корпус, 1942-1945 [19th Red Banner Perekop Tank Corps, 1942–1945] (in Russian). Moscow. ISBN 5-88604-004-8.)
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Ushkalov, Sergey (2018). Неизвестное сражение маршала Рокоссовского, или Как образовался Курский выступ [The Unknown Battle of Marshal Rokossovsky, or how the Kursk Bulge was Formed] (in Russian). Alistorus. ISBN 978-5-907120-48-8.