59th Army (Soviet Union)

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59th Army
Active	1941–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Field army
Engagements	World War II Lyuban offensive operation Leningrad–Novgorod offensive Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive Vistula–Oder offensive Lower Silesian offensive Upper Silesian offensive Prague offensive
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ivan Galanin Ivan Korovnikov

The 59th Army was a field army of the

On 24 April the army was transferred to the Leningrad Front, and on 9 June returned to the Volkhov Front (second formation). With the Volkhov Front, the army defended the Myasnoy Bor bridgehead on the Volkhov river for eighteen months, and also on the line along the right bank of the Volkhov up to Novogorod and the northeast coast of Lake Ilmen.^[1]

During January and February 1944 the forces of the 59th Army participated in the destruction of Army Group North. During the Novogorod–Luga offensive from 14 January to 15 February the army took Novogorod on 20 January and eliminated the encircled uncoordinated German units. Subsequently, the army conducted an offensive in the Luga sector and on 26 January reached the Leningrad-Dno rail line. Operating jointly with the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front it destroyed the German troops in the Luga area.^[1]

The army returned to the Leningrad Front when the Volkhov Front was abolished on 15 February 1944, its field headquarters was withdrawn to the front reserve, and its forces transferred to the

At the beginning of June the army was relocated to the Karelian Isthmus and during the Vyborg offensive (10 to 20 June) elements of the 59th Army, in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, conducted a landing operation and cleared islands in Vyborg Bay from Finnish troops. From 10 July to 21 September the army defended the islands and the coast of Vyborg Bay, and after Finland left the war, the army guarded the border on the Karelian Isthmus, from the Vuoksi river to the Gulf of Finland.^[1]

The army was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command on 2 December, relocated to Poland in the area of Rzeszów, Łańcut, and Żołynia and was assigned to the 1st Ukrainian Front on 20 December. The 13th, 80th, 314th, 92nd, 135th, 286th, and 245th Rifle Divisions were assigned to the army, as well as artillery, engineer and support units.^[1]

During the

The army had two commanders during its existence.[1]^[3]

• Major General Ivan Galanin (2 November 1941 – 25 April 1942)
• Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General November 1942) Ivan Korovnikov (25 April 1942 – 9 May 1945)

References