2nd Guards Army

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2nd Guards Army
Rifle Corps
EngagementsOperation Little Saturn
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Rodion Malinovsky
Georgy Zakharov
Porfiry Chanchibadze

The 2nd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army that fought in World War II, most notably at Stalingrad.

History

The 2nd Guards Army was formed according to the order of the Staff of the Supreme High Command (

387th divisions.[1]

By the time of the

Operation Saturn, the 2nd Guards Army was ordered by Joseph Stalin to prepare for an attack on Rostov
. The assault and capture of Rostov was the ultimate goal of the Red Army for Operation Saturn.

In December 1942, plans for Operation Saturn had to be altered. The

, had been transferred to the Stalingrad Front to halt the offensive. Stalin had agreed to this decision.

After Operation Wintergewitter had ended, Soviet forces in the

51st Army launched another counter-offensive, this time against Army Group Hoth, in the days before Christmas 1942. Not only had Operation Wintergewitter been halted, the Red Army had made substantial gains against Army Group Hoth, Army Group Don, and also Army Group A in the Caucasus
region that month.

Until late 1943, the

2nd Guards Mechanised Corps
was operating as part of the army.

The 2nd Guards Army made a very significant contribution to the Soviet halt of Operation Wintergewitter and the successful counter-attacks that followed.

In February 1944, the Army relocated to the area of the

Vilnius Offensive
/operation at the end of July, and in the Siauliai offensive reflect enemy counterattacks west and north-west of Siauliai. In October, the 2nd Guards Army participated in the Memel offensive. On December 20 it was reassigned to the 3rd Belorussian Front.

On 1 December 1944 the 2nd Guards Army, part of the

357th Rifle Divisions), artillery (including 21st Artillery Breakthrough Division and 2nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division), tank forces, and other formations and units.[4]

During the

East Prussian Offensive
in January–April 1945, the army broke through long-term German strategic defenses, eliminated in conjunction with other troops surrounded the front of its group (south-west of Königsberg and Samland group).

Post War

After the war ended, 2nd Guards Army, numbering six rifle divisions in two corps, was withdrawn to the Moscow Military District where it was disbanded in September 1945.

Commanders

  • Major General (from February 1943 – Lieutenant General) Yakov Kreizer (October–November 1942 and February–July 1943)
  • Lieutenant General Rodion Malinovsky (November 1942 – February 1943)
  • Lieutenant General
    Georgy Zakharov
    (July 1943 – June 1944)
  • Lieutenant General Porfiry Chanchibadze (June 1944 – until the end of the war)

Notes

  1. ^ "Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 ноября 1942 г." www.teatrskazka.com. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  2. .
  3. ^ "Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 May 1944". www.teatrskazka.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  4. ^ tashv.nm.ru, Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 December 1944 Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 2011

References

External links