50th Army (Soviet Union)
50th Army | |
---|---|
Active | August 1941 – October 1945 |
Country | East Prussian Offensive Battle of Königsberg |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Ivan Boldin |
The 50th Army was a
Formation
The Army became active on August 16, 1941, along the
- 217th Rifle Division
- 258th Rifle Division
- 260th Rifle Division
- 269th Rifle Division
- 279th Rifle Division
- 280th Rifle Division
- 55th Cavalry Division
- Artillery regiments of 2nd and 20th Rifle Corps
- 753rd and 761st Antitank Regiments
- 86th Separate Antiaircraft Battalion
- 10th Separate Armored Car Battalion
- 5th Separate Sapper Battalion[2]
Except for the 217th which formed in March, all of these rifle divisions had formed in July, as few as four weeks earlier.[3]
Bryansk Front was under the command of Gen.
Operation Typhoon
On September 30, 1941, the 2nd Panzer Army launched
"A continuous rumble of enemy artillery can be heard, and masses of their aircraft are flying overhead – our antiaircraft guns are shooting at them constantly. It is clear we are facing a major assault along our whole front, and in many sectors our troops have already been pushed back."
On October 7, Major General Petrov was given temporary command of Bryansk Front after Yeryomenko was wounded.[8] Major General Arkady Yermakov, who had been leading an operational group within the Front, took up command of 50th Army until late November.[9]
The pocketed forces were split in two when
Defense of Tula
By late October 50th Army had fallen back towards the city of Tula and partly repaired its strength. Three extremely depleted divisions, the 293rd, 413th and 239th Rifle Division, arrived from the front, each with between 500 and 1,000 men, who were exhausted and with little equipment. Within two months these divisions had been refitted and reinforced to authorized strength.[11]
With the disruption of Bryansk Front, 50th Army was reassigned to Western Front. Army Group Center's supplies had been barely adequate for the encirclement phases of Typhoon, and as the autumn rains turned the roads to mud, Guderian was forced to postpone his drive on Tula until October 23. The town of Chern fell on the 25th, leaving another 95 km to Tula. A battlegroup, forcing its way up the one available highway, got within 5 km of the city on October 29 and tried to take it off the march, but the defenders were prepared and drove the panzers off with strong antitank and antiaircraft fire. 50th Army was in a much better position for supplies, with munitions coming directly from Tula's factories.[12]
In mid-November General Yermakov came under investigation by the Special Department of the NKVD led by Viktor Abakumov, and was accused of dereliction of duty during the Bryansk encirclement. He was tried in secret and executed.[13]
In late November Lieutenant General Ivan Boldin was summoned to Moscow and offered command of the army to direct the continued defense of this crucial city. Boldin was a popular hero for having led a group of 1,650 men back from the frontier to Soviet lines near
Winter Offensive and 1942
In December, more divisions were added to the army: four rifle divisions, three cavalry divisions, a depleted tank division, and independent tank regiments. The rapid reconstruction of this army was probably typical of many others in this period.[11]
On January 8, 1942 50th Army launched the second phase of the Moscow counteroffensive with a surprise attack on German positions southeast of Tula. On the 18th, Boldin introduced an army mobile group to the battle, which tore through the sagging German defenses and liberated the city of Kaluga. Boldin received much credit for this, which he shared with other commanders and the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps which led the group. Following this, the 50th pressed westward as part of the Rzhev-Vyasma Offensive, making repeated and increasingly futile efforts to cut the Smolensk – Moscow highway and encircle Army Group Center. On April 14 the Army attacked to try to join up with the encircled Group Belov, and at one point only 2 km remained between the two forces, but the next day German counterattacks forced it to fall back.[16] As the Army weakened through attrition and the German forces regained their balance, Boldin showed his frustration in numerous after-action reports. On April 22 he reported angrily to his superiors that he was being slowed down by lack of ammunition, due to poor road conditions for wheeled transport: "As an extreme measure, in some units the troops are carrying supplies by hand." He was also driven to distraction by the total lack of air support. In these conditions the offensive ground to a halt.[17]
During the balance of 1942 and into early 1943 the 50th, reduced to just four rifle divisions and a few supporting units, manned the defenses southwest of Moscow. It played a very limited role in the
In reality, directives from STAVKA on March 18 ordered Western Front to make a concerted effort to smash the new German line, in spite of its obvious strength. The effort failed at the cost of heavy Soviet casualties.[19]
Operation Kutuzov
On July 1, 1943, the 50th Army was still in Western Front, at the northern base of the Oryol Salient. Its order of battle was as follows.
In 38th Rifle Corps:
Independent divisions:
- 49th Rifle Division
- 64th Rifle Division
- 212th Rifle Division
- 324th Rifle Division
Other units:
- 196th Tank Brigade
- 1536th Heavy SU Regiment
- 21st and 43rd Armored Train Battalions
- 447th, 523rd, 1091st Cannon Regiments
- 600th Antitank Regiment
- 541st, 542nd Mortar Regiments
- 54th Guards Mortar Regiment
- 1275th, 1482nd, 1483rd Antiaircraft Regiments
- 307th, 309th Separate Sapper Battalions[20]
Following the Soviet victory at the Battle of Kursk, STAVKA began developing its first summer offensive, beginning with Operation Kutuzov against the vulnerable salient centered at Oryol. 50th Army was given a supporting role, both due to its relatively small size and STAVKA's limited faith in Boldin's military capabilities. In this operation the army formed a right flank guard for 11th Guards Army as it attacked to cut off the salient. German 9th Army escaped encirclement, but Boldin's army managed a 50 km advance before the advance stalled.[21]
Following this, the army was reassigned back to Bryansk Front. Renewing the offensive, Boldin's forces made two secret re-groupings before striking the weak left flank of the German position south of
In keeping with its secondary role, during the balance of October and November, during the
During the spring of 1944, 50th Army was reinforced with the 8th SU Brigade of SU-76 self-propelled guns, backing up the rifle divisions in their limited assaults until being withdrawn into front reserves prior to the summer offensive. Also during the spring the army had the occasional support of the similarly-armed 1444th SU Regiment; in July this regiment would join the army for the duration.[24]
By April the army had been reassigned once again, to 2nd Belorussian Front.[25]
Operation Bagration
When the Soviet summer offensive began on June 22, 1944, the composition of 50th Army was as follows.
- 324th Rifle Division
- 362nd Rifle Division
38th Rifle Corps, with:
- 110th Rifle Division
- 139th Rifle Division
- 385th Rifle Division
121st Rifle Corps, with:
- 238th Rifle Division
- 380th Rifle Division
Independent division:
Other units:
- 4th Antitank Brigade and 1321st Antitank Regiment
- 1819th and 1830th SU Regiments
- 1484 Antiaircraft Regiment
- 1099 Corps Artillery Regiment
- 481 Heavy Mortar Regiment[26]
2nd Belorussian Front played a secondary role in
On the following day the objective was to reach the Dniepr north of
With 4th Army effectively smashed, 50th Army was left to take part in the destruction of its remnants east of
East Prussian Offensive
At the beginning of 1945, just prior to the start of the winter offensive, the order of battle of 50th Army was as follows.
- 110th Rifle Division
- 324th Rifle Division
- 191st Rifle Division
- 153rd Rifle Division
81st Rifle Corps, with:
Independent divisions:
- 2nd Rifle Division
- 307th Rifle Division
- 330th Rifle Division
- 369th Rifle Division
Other units:
The
Beginning on April 6, the army formed the right flank of the Soviet forces in the assault on Königsberg. One corps was to hold the line while two corps with a total of six rifle divisions took part in the attack. 50th Army was reinforced with artillery, 65 tanks and 42 heavy self-propelled guns (ISU-122 and ISU-152), and one assault engineer-sapper brigade. On the first day the army's units had advanced up to two kilometres, capturing a fort west of Baydritten and clearing 39 city blocks. On the 7th an additional 1.5 – 2 km penetration was made, helping to force the German garrison back to their second position. On the 8th the army, closely cooperating along its right flank with the 43rd Army, captured the Palfe area. The German forces capitulated late in the day on the 9th, and on the 10th the remaining pockets of resistance were eliminated.[35]
Postwar
50th Army disbanded in late 1945 when it was reorganised as the headquarters of the
Commanders
The following officers commanded the army.[25]
- Major General Mikhail Petrov(August 1941 – October 1941), killed in action,
- Major General Arkady Yermakov (October 1941 – November 1941)
- Colonel General Ivan Boldin (November 1941 – February 1945)
- Lieutenant General Fyodor Ozerov (February 1945 to the end of the war)
References
- ^ "Biography of Major-General Mikhail Petrovich Petrov - (Михаил Петрович Петров) (1898 – 1941), Soviet Union". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- ^ David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, p 71
- ^ Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, pp 71, 75–6
- ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, ch. 3 and 4
- ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, p 573
- ^ Glantz & Jonathan House, When Titans Clashed, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1995, p 89
- ^ Glantz & House, p 80
- ^ Michael Jones, The Retreat, John Murray (Publishers), London, 2009, pp 38, 46
- ^ Glantz & House, p 337n16
- ^ David Stahel, Operation Typhoon, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2013, pp 118–19, 158–59
- ^ a b Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p 90
- ^ Stahel, pp 257–58
- ^ Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, pp 681-82n82
- ^ Glantz, "Ivan Vasilievich Boldin", in Stalin's Generals, ed. Harold Shukman, Orion Books, Ltd., London, 1993, pp 49–50
- ^ Glantz & House, p 89
- ^ Svetlana Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, pp. 47-48
- ^ a b Glantz, in Stalin's Generals, pp 50–51
- ^ F.D. Pankov, Ognennye rubezhi [Firing positions], Moscow, 1984, quoted in Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, p 333
- ^ Glantz, After Stalingrad, p 333
- ^ http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/943RGCC.PDF Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, pp 29–30
- ^ a b Glantz, in Stalin's Generals, p 51
- ^ Dr. Boris Sokolov, Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, p 273
- ^ Sokolov, p 274
- ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Hammers", Soviet Self-Propelled Artillery and Lend Lease Armor 1941 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. XII, Nafziger, 1998, pp 18, 67
- ^ a b "50-я АРМИЯ" [50th Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, p. 164
- ^ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, pp 165–68
- ^ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, pp 170–72
- ^ Sharp, p 64
- ^ a b Glantz, in Stalin's Generals, p 52
- ^ "Biography of Colonel-General Ivan Vasilevich Boldin – (Иван Васильевич Болдин) (1892–1965), Soviet Union". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
- ^ "Biography of Marshal of Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovskii – (Константин Константинович Рокоссовский) (1896–1968), Soviet Union". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1945, p 13
- ^ Sokolov, pp 376, 380
- ^ Soviet General Staff, Prelude to Berlin, ed. and trans. Richard W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Solihull, UK, 2016, pp 262, 264–65, 614–15
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 557
- 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.
Further reading
- Boldin, Ivan (1961). Страницы жизни [Pages of Life] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. OCLC 903639670.
- Isaev, Alexey (2005). Котлы 41-го. История ВОВ, которую мы не знали [Boilers '41. History of the Great Patriotic War, we did not know] (in Russian). Moscow: Eksmo. ISBN 5699128999.
- Mikheyenkov, Sergey (2013). Остановить Гудериана. 50-я армия в сражениях за Тулу и Калугу. 1941–1942 [Stop Guderian: The 50th Army in the Battles for Tula and Kaluga]. Забытые армии. Забытые командармы [Forgotten Armies, Forgotten Commanders] (in Russian). Moscow: Tsentrpoligraph. ISBN 9785227044174.
- Pankov, F.D. (1984). Огненные рубежи: 50-й армии в Великой Отечественной войне [Firing Positions: 50th Army in the Great Patriotic War] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. OCLC 17110382.
- Eratov, V.R. (2001). "О чем молчит сегодня Рессета" [The Resseta is Silent Today]. Karachev Regional Newspaper "Zarya" (in Russian). No. 59, 51, 67, 69.