61st Rifle Corps

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
61st Rifle Corps
ActiveFirst formation: 1939–1941
Second formation: 1943–1945
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army
TypeInfantry
Part ofWestern Front 1941,
Western Front 1943,
1st Belorussian Front 1944–45
EngagementsWorld War II
Battle honoursRadom (Second formation)
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Major General Fyodor Bakunin (1941)
Lt. General Ivan Grigorievsky (1944–45)

The 61st Rifle Corps (

Berlin Offensive
. The corps was disbanded after the end of the war in summer 1945.

First formation

The corps was formed in September 1939.

Škłou, Mogilev and Bykhaw.[3]

From June 1941, the corps fought in the

172nd Rifle Divisions.[4] On 3 July, the vanguard of the 2nd Panzer Army reached the approaches to Mogilev and fought with the outposts of the corps.[3]

On 7 July 1941, it was composed of the

Shkloŭ, Mogilev and Buinichi. Around this time, the corps was subordinated to the 13th Army.[3]

On 10 July, the

210th Motorized Division of the 20th Mechanized Corps.[6]

On 17 July, the corps was concentrated in the area of Horoditshe, Dubrovka and Ordat. In the morning it attacked towards

161st Rifle Division and other 20th Army units were in the corps positions. The wounded were left behind in the city. However, most of the 61st Rifle Corps was captured in the breakout attempt. [7] After two days of heavy fighting and the total defeat of the corps, Bakunin ordered the remnants of the corps to move east in small groups. Bakunin personally led 140 troops of the corps out of the encirclement.[3]

The 61st Rifle Corps was disbanded on 5 August 1941, although it had ceased to exist as an organized unit during the breakout from Mogilev.[3]

Second formation

The Corps was formed in the spring of 1943. It was part of the active army from 12 July 1943. At the time, the corps included the

Operation Suvorov. After fighting in the operation during the summer and early fall, the corps headquarters was transferred to the reserve.[8]

From January to March 1944, the corps supervised the 62nd,

During the

In January 1945, the corps broke out of the bridgehead in the

Frankfurt-an-der-Oder.[12] By Stavka Order No. 9 of 19 February 1945, the corps was given the honorific "Radom" for its actions in the offensive.[13]

In April 1945, the corps fought in the Berlin Offensive. On 16 April, the corps went on the offensive from its bridgehead north of Frankfurt and broke through German lines. During the offensive, it reached the Spree near Fürstenwalde, where large German forces were positioned. The corps then fought in the Battle of Halbe against the encircled 9th Army.[14] By 25 April, the 9th Army was pushed back to Luckenwalde, where it was destroyed. On 26 April, the 61st Rifle Corps captured Treuenbrietzen and advanced to the Elbe near Magdeburg. On 1 May, it linked up with American troops.[12]

An order of 29 May 1945, connected to the formation of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, ordered the disbandment of a number of rifle corps, including the 61st.[15]

Corps command

External images
image icon ru:Файл:BakuninFA.jpg Major-General F.A.Bakunin
image icon ru:Файл:Генерал-майор Григорьевский Иван Фёдорович и гв. полковник Власенко Илья Архипович.jpeg Major General I.F.Grigorievsky and Guards Colonel I.A.Vlasenko

Command appointments within the corps were as follows:

Commander:

  • Major General F.A.Bakunin[3]
  • Major General A.M. Ilyin (10 July 1943 – 28 May 1944; KIA)[11]
  • Lieutenant General I.F.Grigorievsky (28 May 1944 – July 1945)[12]

Military commissar:

  • Brigade Commissar I.V.Voronov (KIA 26 July 1941 during the breakout)[3]
  • Colonel
    I.A.Vlasenko (June 1944 – June 1945)[16]

Chief of staff:[3]

  • Major General Ivan Biritchev (wounded 6 July 1941)
  • Lieutenant Colonel A.N.Koriakov
  • Lieutenant Colonel Asafov

References

  1. ^ "Стрелковые и воздушно-десантные корпуса РККА 1941–1945 гг" [The infantry and airborne corps of the Red Army, 1941–1945.].
  2. ^ "Biography of Major-General Fedor Alekseevich Bakunin – (Source: Courtesy of Ilya Mukhin) – (Федор Алексеевич Бакунин) (1898–1984), Soviet Union". generals.dk. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Стрелковые 61–80 |" [Rifle 61–80]. myfront.in.ua (in Russian). Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. ^ Glantz 2010, p. 598.
  5. ^ Glantz 2010, pp. 95–96.
  6. ^ Glantz 2010, p. 122.
  7. ^ Glantz 2010, pp. 276–281.
  8. ^ Yarovenko, Sergey (21 July 2010). "61-й стрілецький корпус" [61st Rifle Corps]. yarovenkokosp.ucoz.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  9. Combat composition of the Soviet Army
  10. .
  11. ^ a b "Biography of Major-General Aleksandr Mikhailovich Ilin – (Александр Михайлович Ильин) (1899–1944), Soviet Union". generals.dk. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Григорьевский Иван Фёдорович" [Grigorievsky Ivan Fedorovich]. www.warheroes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  13. ^ Stavka Order No. 9, 19 February 1945
  14. .
  15. ^ Stavka Order No. 11095
  16. ^ "Власенко Илья Архипович" [Vlasenko Ilya Arkhipovich]. www.warheroes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  • Glantz, David M. (2010). Barbarossa Derailed: The German Advance to Smolensk, the Encirclement Battle, and the First and Second Soviet Counteroffensives, 10 July – 24 August 1941. Casemate. .