63rd Army (Soviet Union)
| 63rd Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 10 Jul 1942 - 4 Nov 1942 27 Apr - 18 Feb 1944 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Combined arms |
| Size | Army |
| Engagements | World War II*Battle of Stalingrad |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Vasily Kuznetzov Vladimir Kolpakchi |
The 63rd Army (
.First Formation
The Army was formed on July 10, 1942 from the 5th Reserve Army, a part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command.
Since July 12, 1942 the army was incorporated into the newly created
Stalingrad
.
On August 20, 1942 the 63rd Army attacked with
3rd Guards Cavalry Corps (which had crossed the Don on August 23) and by the 14th Guards Rifle Division. Eventually, the arrival of Italian reinforcements on August 28 allowed the XXXV Corps and the German XVII Corps to stop the expansion of the bridgehead.[1]
On September 30, 1942
Southwestern Front for the Operation Uranus
counter-offensive.
On November 4, 1942, the 63rd Army was granted
Guards status and briefly transformed into the 1st Guards Army (Second Formation) before being split and reformed into the 3rd Guards Army
on 5 December.
Second Formation
April 27, 1943 the Army was formed for the second time on the basis of the 2nd Reserve Army. Originally it consisted of the
Central Front (renamed as Belorussian Front on October 20, 1943). It was disbanded on February 18, 1944, with its troops transferred to the 3rd and 48th armies
.
Commanders
- Lieutenant General Vasily Kuznetzov (4 July – 1 November 1942)
- Lieutenant General Vasily Morozov (8 March – 14 May 1943)
- Lieutenant General Vladimir Kolpakchi (14 May 1943 – 10 February 1944)
Structure on 1 August 1942
- Army headquarters
- 14th Guards Rifle Division – General-major Afanasy Gryaznov (17 July to 31 December 1942)
- 1st Rifle Division- General-major Semenov (17 July to 31 December 1942)
- 127th Rifle Division– Colonel Zaitsev (17 July to 22 September 1942)
- 153rd Rifle Division – Colonel Nikolay Nikitin (17 July to October 1942); Colonel Karnov (from 11 October 1942)
- 197th Rifle Division – General-major M. I. Zaporozhchenko (17 July to 31 December 1942)
- 203rd Rifle Division– Colonel Kashlayev (17 July to 31 December 1942) ; Colonel Zdanovich (from 3 September 1942)
- 36th Tank Brigade
- 134th Tank Brigade
- 193rd Tank Brigade
- 646th Tank Battalion
- 647th Tank Battalion
- 1110th Artillery Regiment
- 1180th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 1249th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 1250th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 51st Guards Mortar Regiment
- 58th Guards Mortar Regiment
- 79th Guards Mortar Regiment
- 1413rd Sapper Battalion
- 1486th Sapper Battalion
Structure on 1 October 1942
- Army headquarters
- 14th Guards Rifle Division
- 1st Rifle Division
- 153rd Rifle Division
- 197th Rifle Division
- 203rd Rifle Division
- 6th Guards Cavalry Division- Colonel Belogorodskyi (26 July – 31 December 1942)
- 1110th Artillery Regiment
- 1180th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 1249th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 1250th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
- 1257th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 26th Machine-gun Battalion
- 28th Machine-gun Battalion
- 350th Independent Engineer Brigade
- 1486th Sapper Battalion
References
- ISBN 978-1-4728-4265-7.
Further reading
- Filippov H.C., Don Shield of Stalingrad, Volgograd, 1969
- http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a63/arm.html – Further Reading