23rd Army (Soviet Union)
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2009) |
| 23rd Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1948 |
| Country | A. I. Cherepanov Lieutenant-General V. I. Shvetsov |
The 23rd Army was a
Field Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army
.
Formed in May 1941 in
Leningrad during World War II. After Finland withdrew from World War II in September 1944, the Army remained on the Finnish border and continued to garrison the Karelian Isthmus
after the war until it was disbanded in 1948.
World War II
The Army was formed in May 1941 in the Leningrad Military District for the defence of the southernmost part of the Soviet Union's border with Finland, north and northeast of Vyborg. The 7th Army was located on its right flank.
The Army initially included the
50th Rifle Corps, the 10th Mechanized Corps (which included the 21st Tank Division, the 24th Tank Division and the 198th Mechanised Division), the 27th Vyborg Fortified Region, the 28th Keksgolm Fortified Region
, plus artillery and other units.
On 24 June, the Army was included in the
43rd Rifle Division) was decisively defeated at the Battle of Porlampi
.
Due to a reorganization, the army was transferred to the Leningrad Front on 24 August. The 23rd Army had
suffered enormous losses
in battles against Finns in July to August 1941. When the Finnish Army halted the offensive on the command of Field Marshal Mannerheim on 1 September, the army consisted of only 80,000–90,000 men and had lost huge amounts of heavy weapons and material to the Finns. If Finland had not halted its attack and continued moving towards Leningrad, the 23rd Army probably would have had to withdraw to the city of Leningrad.
From 1942 to June 1944 the Army defended North Western approaches to Leningrad. In June 1944, the Army, including the
Vyborg offensive operation (10 June – 15 July 1944). In this operation, the 23rd Army followed the breakthrough of the 21st Army in this operation, cleared the southern bank of the Vuoksi river and crossed the river in the Battle of Vuosalmi
. After the termination of combat with Finland the Army formations were brought out to the state border against Finland, where they were located to the end of the war.
On 1 May 1945, operating under the
Fortified Regions
, the 47th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade, the 8th Guards and 21st Gun Artillery Regiments, the 94th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, the 174th Mortar Regiment, the 24th Guards Rocket Artillery Regiment, the 1469th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, the 71st, 168th, 177th, and 618th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalions, the 14th Separate Armored Train Battalion, the 172nd Separate Engineer Battalion, and the 67th Separate Minesweeper Engineer Battalion.
Postwar
On 9 July 1945, the Leningrad Front became the Leningrad Military District. In the postwar period, the Army initially included the
63rd, and 64th Guards Rifle Divisions.[1] In August, the 14th Guards Rifle Corps was transferred to the Kharkov Military District. By 1 October, along with the 30th Guards Rifle Corps, the army included the 9th, 16th, 17th, and 22nd Fortified Regions. The fortified regions had become the 1st and 22nd Machine Gun Artillery Brigades by 1 August 1946. In April 1948, the Army's headquarters was disbanded, and its units became directly subordinate to the district headquarters.[2]
Commanding officers
The following officers commanded the 23rd Army:
- Lieutenant-General Pyotr Pshennikov (25 May – 6 August 1941)
- Lieutenant-General M.N. Gerasimov (6 August – 8 September 1941)
- Major-General A. I. Cherepanov(9 September 1941 – 3 July 1944; promoted Lieutenant General in September 1943)
- Lieutenant-General Vasily Shvetsov (3 July 1944 – April 1948)[2]
Notes
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 438.
- ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, pp. 430–431.
References
- Bonn, Keith E., ed. (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Bedford, Pennsylvania: Aberjona Press. ISBN 9780971765092.
- 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 [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.
- Lenskii, Ground forces of RKKA in the pre-war years: a reference (Сухопутные силы РККА в предвоенные годы. Справочник.) – St Petersburg, B & K, 2000
External links
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| Guards | |
| Tank/Mechanized | |
| Guards Tank/Mechanized | |
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| Reserve Army |
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