The 57th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

that was created in 1941, and then disbanded and created a second time in 1943. The 57th Army was employed by the Soviets in the fight against Germany during World War II.

History

First formation

The 57th Army was formed in October 1941 and subordinated to the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the ''Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stav ...

(RVGK). Still under RVGK control in December 1941, the 57th Army was made up of the following units. : 333rd Rifle Division : 335th Rifle Division : 337th Rifle Division : 341st Rifle Division :

349th Rifle Division The 349th Rifle Division formed in September, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Astrakhan. It was assigned to the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, and first saw action in January, 1942, during the winter counteroffensive, b ...

: 351st Rifle Division : 60th Cavalry Division : 79th Cavalry Division During the May 1942

Battle of Kharkov The Battle of Kharkov was any one of four World War II battles in and near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv (known in Russian as ''Kharkov''). In usage the term is sometimes indistinct, perhaps meaning the collection of all fighting at Kharkov inclu ...

, the army was surrounded and practically destroyed. Attempting to break out, General Podlas, the army commander, was killed in action. Slowly rebuilt, by December 1942, the army was part of the Stalingrad Front. The 57th Army was disbanded in February 1943 to form the headquarters of the 68th Army.

Second formation

The 57th Army was formed a second time in April 1943 and subordinated to the Southwestern Front. The 68th Rifle Corps first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as part of the 57th Army, Southwestern Front. Subordinate divisions at this time were the

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

, 52nd, and

303rd Rifle Division The 303rd Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion, and in its first formation fought in the central part of the Soviet-German front for a few months, taking part in the first offensive su ...

s. The army subsequently fought in the Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Hungary until the end of the war. During the final months of the war, the army occupied the southernmost position of the Soviet front line; to the south of 57th Army on the eastern front were Bulgarian (including the Bulgarian First Army) and Yugoslavian forces. At war's end, the 57th Army was subordinated to the

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front (Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) 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 Southweste ...

, and commanded the following forces. Infantry units : 6th Guards Rifle Corps :: 10th Guards Airborne Division :: 20th Guards Rifle Division ::

61st Guards Rifle Division The 61st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 159th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The divisio ...

: 64th Rifle Corps ::

73rd Guards Rifle Division The 73rd Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in March 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 38th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. As the 38th it ...

:: 113th Rifle Division :: 299th Rifle Division : 133rd Rifle Corps ::

84th Rifle Division The 84th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army before and during World War II. History Prewar The 84th Rifle Division was formed in 1923 at Tula as one of several Red Army territorial divisions, assigned to the Moscow Mi ...

:: 104th Rifle Division :: 122nd Rifle Division Artillery units :160th Gun-Artillery Brigade :42nd Guards Corps Artillery Regiment :374th Antitank Regiment :523rd Mortar Regiment :71st Anti-Aircraft Regiment Engineer units :65th Engineer-Sapper Brigade The 57th Army became part of the

Southern Group of Forces Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

when it was formed in June 1945. It was stationed in Romania with its headquarters at Craiova. On 10 June 1946 the 57th Army became the 9th Mechanized Army. It included the

19th Tank Division 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

, 20th Mechanized Division, 24th Guards Mechanized Division, and the 6th Guards Rifle Corps. In December the 6th Guards Rifle Corps was disbanded, along with two of its divisions. In early 1947 the 19th Tank Division was moved back to the Soviet Union, where it was disbanded. On 15 July 1947 the army itself was disbanded, along with the 24th Guards and 20th Mechanized Divisions.Feskov et al 2013, pp. 421-423

Commanders

* 10.1941 - 02.1942 D. I. Riabyshev * 02.1942 - 05.1942 K. P. Podlas * 05.1942 - 06.1942 A. G. Batiunia * 06.1942 - 07.1942 Dmitry Nikishov * 07.1942 - 01.1943 F. I. Tolbukhin * 04.1943 - 05.1943

Pavel Rybalko Pavel Semyonovich Rybalko (23 October 1894 – 28 August 1948; russian: Па́вел Семёнович Рыба́лко, uk, Павло Семенович Рибалко) was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following Wor ...

* 05.1943 - 10.1944 Nikolai Gagen * 10.1944 - 05.1945 Mikhail Sharokhin * 06.1946 - 02.1947 Colonel General

Issa Pliyev Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev (also spelled as ''Pliev''; os, Плиты Алыксандры фырт Иссæ; russian: Исса Александрович Плиев; — 2 February 1979) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military commander. Pliyev wo ...

* 02.1947 - 07.1947 Colonel General Nikolai Gusev

Notes

References

* Keith Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 * * David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005 * Jean-Luc Marchand, Order of Battle Soviet Army World War 2, 24 volumes, The Nafziger Collection * Samuel J. Newland and Clayton K. S. Chun, The European Campaign: Its Origins and Conduct, U.S. Army War College SSI, Carlisle, PA, 2011 -
Online version

External links

* http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/arm.html - (Russian)
Combat Composition of the Soviet Army via tashv.nm.ru
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Field armies of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1947