Soviet Southwestern Front
Encyclopedia
The Southwestern Front was a name given to a Front
(or Army group
sized military formation) by the Imperial Russian Army
during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
during the Russian Civil War
, and by the Red Army
during the Second World War.
The Southwestern Front in this article describes several distinct organizations during the Second World War. This Red Army formation was first created on June 22, 1941 from the Special Kiev Military District
. The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, from the Pripyat River
and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany
at the border with Romania. It connected to the north with the Western Front
, which extended to the Lithuanian border, and to the south with the Southern Front
, which extended to the city of Odessa
on the Black Sea.
during Operation Barbarossa
. At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Front contained the Soviet 5th, 6th
, 26th
, and 12th
Armies along the frontier. 16th
and 19th
Armies were in reserve behind the forward forces. These forces took part in the tank battles in western Ukraine
and were surrounded and destroyed at the Battle of Uman
and the Battle of Kiev (1941)
in August and September 1941.
The Front was immediately re-established with new forces. During the period of the Battle of Moscow
it was under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, and included from north to south the 40th
, 21st
, 38th
and 6th
Armies. It was formally disbanded on July 12, 1942 and the forces transferred to the Stalingrad Front
and Southern Front
.
The Front was reformed from reserve armies on October 22, 1942. It was renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front
on October 20, 1943. 3rd Ukrainian Front's first operations were the Battle of the Dnieper
and the Battle of Kiev (1943)
.
Front (Soviet Army)
A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...
(or Army group
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...
sized military formation) by the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, and by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during the Second World War.
The Southwestern Front in this article describes several distinct organizations during the Second World War. This Red Army formation was first created on June 22, 1941 from the Special Kiev Military District
Kiev Military District
The Kiev Military District was a Russian unit of military-administrative division of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Ukrainian Army, RKKA, and Soviet Armed Forces...
. The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, from the Pripyat River
Pripyat River
The Pripyat River or Prypiat River is a river in Eastern Europe, approximately long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine again, draining into the Dnieper....
and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany
Lipcani
Lipcani is a town in Briceni District, Moldova. It is also a border crossing between Moldova and Romania.- Overview :Lipcani is located on the banks of the Prut river, which forms the border with Romania. The border with Ukraine is also only a few kilometers to the north. Lipcani is located in...
at the border with Romania. It connected to the north with the Western Front
Soviet Western Front
The Western Front was a Front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during the Second World War. This sense of the term is different from the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front usually operates within designated...
, which extended to the Lithuanian border, and to the south with the Southern Front
Soviet Southern Front
The Southern Front was a Front - a roughly Army group sized formation - of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The Southern Front directed military operations during the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940, and then was formed twice after the June 1941 German...
, which extended to the city of Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
on the Black Sea.
Operational history
The Southwestern Front was on the main axis of attack by the German Army Group SouthArmy Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Front contained the Soviet 5th, 6th
6th Army (Soviet Union)
The 6th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army formed four times during World War II and active with the Russian Ground Forces up until 1998...
, 26th
26th Army (Soviet Union)
The 26th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, active from 1941.- Operational history :...
, and 12th
12th Army (Soviet Union)
The Soviet Union's 12th Army was a field army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.-Civil War & Polish-Soviet War:...
Armies along the frontier. 16th
16th Army (Soviet Union)
The 16th Army was a Soviet field army active from 1940 to 1945.-First Formation, 16th Army:Before Operation Barbarossa, HQ 16th Army was formed in July 1940 in the Transbaikal Military District . General Lieutenant М. F. Лукин took command...
and 19th
19th Army (Soviet Union)
The 19th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed in 1941 and active during the Second World War. It was disbanded in 1945 or 1947.-First Formation:...
Armies were in reserve behind the forward forces. These forces took part in the tank battles in western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and were surrounded and destroyed at the Battle of Uman
Battle of Uman
The Battle of Uman was the German and allied encirclement of the 6th and 12th The Battle of Uman (15 July–8 August 1941) was the German and allied encirclement of the 6th (General Lieutenant I.N. Muzyrchenko) and 12th The Battle of Uman (15 July–8 August 1941) was the German and allied...
and the Battle of Kiev (1941)
Battle of Kiev (1941)
The Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II. It is considered the largest encirclement of troops in history. The operation ran from 23 August – 26 September 1941 as part of Operation...
in August and September 1941.
The Front was immediately re-established with new forces. During the period of the Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
it was under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, and included from north to south the 40th
40th Army (Soviet Union)
The 40th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was an army-level command active from 1941 to 1945 and then again from 1979 to circa 1990.It was first formed, after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, had commenced, from elements of the 26th and 37th Armies under the command...
, 21st
21st Army (Soviet Union)
-June to September 1941:21st Army was a part of the Second Operational Echelon of the RKKA. It was formed from the forces of the Volga Military District in May 1941 and was initially based on 63rd Rifle Corps and 66th Rifle Corps. The army was under the command of Lieutenant-General Vasilii...
, 38th
38th Army (Soviet Union)
The 38th Red Banner Army of was a field army of the Soviet Union that existed between 1941 and 1991.The army headquarters was formed in July 1941 by redesignation of the staff of 8th Mechanised Corps.On 1 May 1945, the army was part of 4th Ukrainian Front...
and 6th
6th Army (Soviet Union)
The 6th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army formed four times during World War II and active with the Russian Ground Forces up until 1998...
Armies. It was formally disbanded on July 12, 1942 and the forces transferred to the Stalingrad Front
Stalingrad Front
The Stalingrad Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River....
and Southern Front
Southern Front
The Southern Front is a geographical area where armies are engaged in conflict* The Soviet Southern Front was one of the Soviet Fronts in WWII*Southern Front...
.
The Front was reformed from reserve armies on October 22, 1942. It was renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front was a Front of the Red Army during World War II.It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Guards Army, 8th Guards Army, 6th, 12th, and 46th Armies and 17th Air Army...
on October 20, 1943. 3rd Ukrainian Front's first operations were the Battle of the Dnieper
Battle of the Dnieper
The Lower Dnieper Offensive took place in 1943 during the Second World War. It was one of the largest Second World War operations, involving almost 4,000,000 troops on both sides and stretching on a 1400 kilometer long front...
and the Battle of Kiev (1943)
Battle of Kiev (1943)
The 1943 Battle of Kiev describes three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army, and one operational counterattack by the Wehrmacht which took place in the wake of the failed German offensive at Kursk during World War II...
.
Southwestern Front on 22 June 1941
Composition Subordinate Front units directly under Commander of the Front:- 31st Rifle Corps
- 193rd Rifle Division
- 195th Rifle Division
- 200th Rifle Division
- 36th Rifle Corps:
- 140th Rifle Division
- 146th Rifle Division
- 228th Rifle Division
- 49th Rifle Corps
- 190th Rifle Division
- 197th Rifle Division
- 199th Rifle Division
- 55 Rifle Corps
- 130th Rifle Division
- 169th Rifle Division
- 189th Rifle Division
- 1st Airborne Corps (Soviet Airborne Forces)
- 1st Airborne Infantry Brigade
- 204th Airborne Infantry Brigade
- 211th Airborne Infantry Brigade
- Fortified Regions
- 1st Kiev
- 3rd Latichov
- 5th Khorosten
- 7th Novogrudok-Volynsk
- 13th Shepetovka
- 15th Ostropol
- 17th Izaslav
- Front Artillery
- 5th Anti-Tank Brigade
- 205th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 207th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 368th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 457th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 458th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 507th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 543rd Corps Artillery Regiment
- 646th Corps Artillery Regiment
- 305th Cannon Artillery Regiment (RGK)
- 355th Cannon Artillery Regiment (RGK)
- 4th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 168th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 324th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 330th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGk)
- 526th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 331st Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 376th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 529th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 538th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 589th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
- 34th Independent Special Artillery Division
- 245th Independent Special Artillery Division
- 315th Independent Special Artillery Division
- 316th Independent Special Artillery Division
- 263rd Independent Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
- Front PVOPVOPVO may refer to:* DaimlerChrysler's Performance Vehicle Operations, also known as Street and Racing Technology* Private voluntary organization...
- 3rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (PVO)
- 4th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (PVO)
- 11th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade (PVO)
- PVO Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade Regions:
- Stanislavov
- Rovno
- Zhitomir
- Tarnopol
- Vinnitsa
- Front Armour Troops
- 19th Mechanized Corps:
- 40th Tank Division
- 43rd Tank Division
- 213th Mechanized Division
- 21st Motorcycle Regiment
- 24th Mechanized Corps:
- 45th Tank Division
- 49th Tank Division
- 216th Mechanized Division
- 17th Motorcycle Regiment
- 1st Independent Armoured Car Division
- Front Air Forces
- 44th Fighter Aviation Division
- 64th Fighter Aviation Division
- 19th Bomber Aviation Division
- 62nd Bomber Aviation Division
- 14th Mixed Aviation Division
- 15th Mixed Aviation Division
- 16th Mixed Aviation Division
- 17th Mixed Aviation Division
- 63rd Mixed Aviation Division
- 36th Fighter Aviation Division (PVO)
- 315th Air Reconnaissance Regiment
- 316th Air Reconnaissance Regiment
- Front Engineer Troops
- 45th Engineer Regiment
- 1st Pontoon Bridge Regiment
Commanders
- Colonel General Mikhail P. KirponosMikhail KirponosMikhail Petrovich Kirponos was a Soviet Ukrainian general of the Red Army. Being accorded the highest military decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union title, for the skill and courage in commanding a division in the 1939-1940 Finnish campaign, Kirponos is mostly remembered for his crucial role...
(June 1941-September 1941: killed in action) - Marshal Semyon K. TimoshenkoSemyon TimoshenkoSemyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko was a Soviet military commander and senior professional officer of the Red Army at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.-Early life:...
(September 1941-December 1941; April–July 1942) - Lieutenant General F. Ia. Kostenko (December 1941-April 1942)
- Lieutenant General Nikolai F. VatutinNikolai Fyodorovich VatutinNikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin was a Soviet military commander during World War II.-Before World War II:Vatutin was born in Chepuhino village near Valuiky in Voronezh Governorate , into a Russian peasant family. Commissioned in 1920 to the Red Army, he fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans...
[promoted to Colonel General in December 1942] (October 1942-March 1943) - Colonel General Rodion Ia. MalinovskyRodion MalinovskyRodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest...
(March 1943-October 1943)
Further reading
- Boevoi Sostav Sovietskoi Armii Czast I 1941 goda juni-dekabr 1941 Moskva 1966 http://docs.vif2.ru/
- Solonin, Mark, 22 June 1941 Bocka i obruci czili Kogda naczalas Vielikaja Oteczestvennaja vojna 2004
- Erickson, John, The Road to Stalingrad, Cassell Military Paperback, 2003
- Fugate, Bryan & Dvoriecki, Lev, Thunder on the Dnepr Presidio Press