6th Rifle Corps
6th Rifle Corps 6-й стрелковый корпус | |
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Active |
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Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army (Soviet Army from 1946) |
Engagements |
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Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Pavel Dybenko Gaspar Voskanyan Konstantin Avksentevsky Ivan Gryaznov Anton Lopatin Stepan Povetkin Semyon Kurkotkin |
The 6th Rifle Corps (Russian: 6-й стрелковый корпус) was a rifle corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed three different times.
The corps was first formed in 1922, and spent most of the
History
Interwar period
The 6th Rifle Corps was first formed in
On 26 July 1938, the Kiev Military District was converted to the
A new headquarters was formed for the corps in Odessa. On 16 September 1939 the corps joined the
At that time the corps consisted of
Operation Barbarossa
On 22 June, the German invasion of the Soviet Union,
On 25 June, the 41st Rifle Division and the 159th Rifle Division held defensive positions; the 97th Rifle Division, in conjunction with the 3rd Cavalry Division and parts of the 4th Mechanized Corps, was tasked to restore the position on the flank of the German units, advancing along the highway to reach the Drogomysl–Swidnica–Morantse line. Although the divisions held fortified area, the morale of the troops dwindled. From 22 to 25 June, there were large numbers of deserters, many of whom were shot.
The 97th Division was unsuccessful in securing the corps' flank, and although 41st Rifle Division and the 159th Rifle Division still defended the area, they were forced to leave the position and started a planned withdrawal. The disorganized and battered 97th Rifle Division was meanwhile concentrated in the area of the Stazhiska highway and the forest to the south.
On 8 July the corps, supported by the 186th Anti-Tank Regiment, the 109th and 229th corps artillery regiments, and 30 tanks of the 12th Tank Division, went on the offensive. Providing the right flank of 26th Army's assault group, they advanced a few dozen kilometers. However, the troops were forced to retreat to the north, in the direction of Kiev, on the flank of the enemy troops. After this onset the corps as a combat unit ceased to exist. That is, the corps' individual units were directly subordinated to the army. The corps officially ceased to exist by late July.[1] The corps headquarters was officially disbanded on 25 September 1941, after being destroyed during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa.
Second Formation
The corps' second formation was formed in summer 1942.
During the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive (Operation Mars) the 150th Division and the 6th Rifle Corps were referred to as "Stalin" units and were regarded as an elite force.
The corps became 19th Guards Rifle Corps on 19 April 1943.[citation needed]
Third Formation
The corps' third formation was established in May 1943, and fought through the rest of the war. On 1 Jan 1944, the corps was in the
The corps fought in the
Postwar
The corps headquarters was moved from Latvia to the North Caucasus, and was established at Stalingrad in August 1945.
On 10 June 1957 both the divisions and the corps headquarters was redesignated, the corps becoming the 6th Army Corps which consisted of the
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993, p. 22.
- ^ 6th Army, Kiev Special Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
- ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Volume X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 57
- ^ David M. Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad, 1941 - 1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, p 521
- ISBN 978-951-593-070-5.
- ^ Michael Holm 6th Army Corps, 2015, and V.I. Feskov et al 2013.
Bibliography
- Dvoinykh, L.V.; Kariaeva, T.F.; Stegantsev, M.V., eds. (1993). Центральный государственный архив Советской армии [Central State Archive of the Soviet Army] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Minneapolis: Eastview Publications. ISBN 1-879944-03-0. Archived from the originalon 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
Further reading
- Pokrovsky, Gen.Col., Perecheni No.4: Headquarters of corps included in the structure of the active army during the years of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, Military-Scientific Directorate of General Staff, Moscow, 1954