68th Army (Soviet Union)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
68th Army
Active1943
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army
TypeField army
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Fyodor Tolbukhin

The 68th Army was a field army of the

5th Army.[1]

History

Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda

The 68th Army was formed on 1 February 1943 based on a Stavka directive dated 30 January, from the headquarters of the 57th Army. It consisted of the

Redya Rivers. Until May the army defended the line of the Redya.[1]

Battle of Smolensk (1943)

On 5 May the army became part of Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Stavka Reserve). In reserve the army received eight newly formed rifle divisions.[4]On 12 July it was transferred to the Western Front and fought in the Battle of Smolensk from 7 August. The army was to be committed in the second echelon and spearhead the advance on Roslavl and Smolensk, advancing along the Yukhnov-Roslavl Highway.[5]During the operation, the army in conjunction with other troops of the Western and Kalinin Fronts defeated troops on the left wing of Army Group Centre and captured many towns in Smolensk Oblast. The army captured Smolensk on 25 September along with the 5th and 31st Armies. The army then advanced into eastern Belarus. 68th Army was disbanded on 5 November. Its troops became part of the 5th Army.[1]

Army commanders

  • Lieutenant General Fyodor Tolbukhin (February 3 - March 21, 1943);
  • Major General, on September 9, 1943 Lieutenant General Yevgeny Zhuravlev (March 21 - October 24, 1943)

References

  1. ^ a b c "68-я АРМИЯ" [68th Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  2. ^ Forczyk 2012, p. 88.
  3. ^ Erickson 1999, pp. 61–62.
  4. ^ Dunn 1997, p. 81.
  5. ^ Glantz 1989, pp. 187, 190.