3rd Army (Soviet Union)
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| Country | East Prussian Offensive Battle of Berlin others |
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The 3rd Army (Russian: 3-я армия) was a field army of the Red Army during World War II.
Polish Campaign
The 3rd Army was formed on 15 September 1939 from the
27th Rifle Divisions, in addition to the 5th Rifle Division, the 24th Cavalry Division, and the 22nd and 25th Tank Brigades.[3] The units numbered 121,968 men and fielded 752 guns and 743 tanks on 17 September.[4]
The 3rd Army saw its first action in September 1939, taking part in the operation in Belarus and Poland. The invasion was conducted under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Poland between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and guaranteed that neither country would attack the other.
Order of Battle on 2 October 1939:[5]
- 10th Rifle Corps
- 3rd Rifle Corps
- 139th Rifle Division
- 150th Rifle Division
- 3rd Cavalry Corps
- 15th Tank Corps
- 25th Tank Brigade
Eastern Front
After the start of
37th and 50th Rifle Divisions) and 11th Mechanised Corps (29th and 33rd Tank Division and 204th Motorised Division).[6]
The 3rd Army took part in the operations of the
.The 3rd Army also took part in the
East Prussian Offensive, and the advance into eastern Germany, where it participated in the Battle of Berlin
.
On 1 May 1945 the 3rd Army consisted of the
120th Guards, 269th, and 283rd Rifle Divisions), 4th Corps Artillery Brigade, 44th Gun Artillery Brigade, 584th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, and other formations and units.[7]
Post-World War II
The army headquarters was withdrawn to the
120th Guards 'Rogachev' Rifle Division
were disbanded.
The army was briefly reformed with headquarters at
Belorussian Military District was being reformed, under the command of Colonel General Nikolai Gusev from July 1946, but was again disbanded in March 1947.[8]
Commanders
- Vasily Kuznetsov (1 September 1939 – 25 August 1941)
- Yakov Kreizer (25 August – 13 December 1941)
- Pyotr Pshennikov (13–28 December 1941), killed in action
- Pavel Batov (28 December 1941 – 11 February 1942)
- Filipp Zhmachenko (11 February – 12 May 1942)
- Pavel Korzun (12 May 1942 – 26 June 1943)
- Alexander Gorbatov(27 June 1943 г. – 9 July 1945)
Notes
Citations
- ^ 'Vitebsk army group BOVO (СВЭ, Ô.8, ß.106.)(СВЭ, т.8, с.106.); ЗапОВО (А. Г. Ленский, Сухопутные силы РККА в предвоенные годы. Справочник. — Санкт-Петербург Б&К, 2000)
- ^ Meltyukhov 2001, p. 286.
- ^ Meltyukhov 2001, p. 299.
- ^ Meltyukhov 2001, p. 300.
- ^ Meltyukhov 2001, p. 350.
- ^ Leo Niehorster, 3rd Army, 22 June 1941
- Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 May 1945
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 451.
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 [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.
- Meltyukhov, Mikhail (2001). Советско-польские войны. Военно-политическое противостояние 1918–1939 гг [Soviet–Polish War: Military and Political Confrontation 1918–1939] (in Russian). Moscow: Veche. ISBN 978-5-7838-0951-4.
Further reading
- Koltunov, Grigory (1995). Третья армия: история, люди, подвиги [Third Army: History, People, and Feats] (in Russian). Moscow: Ergo-Press. ISBN 9785870810188.
External links
- Nafziger Collection, Combined Arms Research Library, Fort Leavenworth, KS.
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