The Bryansk Front (russian: Брянский фронт) was a major formation of the

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

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

First Formation (August - November 1941)

General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, "on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three cavalry divisions, and one tank division but many of these formations were badly whittled down by battle losses." Two other armies from Soviet Central Front,

21st 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. In mathematics 21 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7, and a defici ...

and 3rd Army, which had avoided encirclement at the Battle of Smolensk (1941), were promised but also badly worn down. In late August along with the

Western Front (Soviet Union) The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II. The Western Front was created on 22 June 1941 from the Western Special Military District (which before July 1940 was known as Belorussian Special ...

and the Reserve Front, the Bryansk Front launched a large but unsuccessful counteroffensive in the

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, El'nia, and Roslavl regions to halt

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army for ...

's advance on Moscow. Despite some success by the Reserve Front at El'nia, the efforts by Bryansk Front were a failure. After the failure of the Smolensk offensives, the seriously weakened front became trapped in an enormous encirclement in the lead-up to the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive ...

. "Most of the troops found themselves encircled, and were fighting their way to the east," according to Zhukov. On 23 Oct., "thanks to heroic efforts they managed to break out of encirclement." On 10 Nov., the Bryansk Front was "disbanded".

Second Formation (December 1941 - March 1943)

On its second formation in late 1941 under Yakov Cherevichenko, part of the troops and forces of the Bryansk Front defending the Voronezh region, being designated as

Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front ( Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to ...

on 7 July 1942. By the time of Operation Blau, the German summer offensive of 1942, the Front comprised the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...

, 13th, 40th, 48th Armies, the

5th Tank Army 5th Tank Army is the name of several Soviet units during World War II (not to be confused with the 5th Guards Tank Army). Its first formation occurred on 5 June, 1942, commanded by Major-General Alexander Lizyukov, serving under the Bryansk Fro ...

, and the 2nd Air Army.Axis History Forum
Order of Battle Fall Blau, June 28 1942
/ref> It was then reformed, then disbanded on 11–12 March 1943 and its headquarters became HQ Kursk Front after a short time expecting to be the headquarters and the basis of the new Reserve Front.

Third Formation (March 1943 - October 1943)

It was later reformed from the Orel Front on 28 March 1943.
By the time of the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...

the Front consisted of * 11th Army, * 3rd Army, *

4th Tank Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after t ...

, * 61st Army, * 63rd Army. Colonel General Markian Popov led it to liberate its namesake town

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban la ...

in August and September 1943. On 10 October 1943 the

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...

incorporated most of the Front's forces into the 1st Belorussian Front (former Central) and used Bryansk Front's HQ to form the HQ Baltic Front, which then became the 2nd Baltic Front.

Commanders

First Formation *Lieutenant-General Andrey Yeryomenko (16.08.41 to 13.10.41), *Major-General Georgiy Fedorovich Zakharov (14.10.41 to 10.11.41). Second Formation *Colonel-General Yakov Cherevichenko (24.12.1941 to 02.04.1942), *Lieutenant-General Filipp Golikov (02.04.1942 to 07.07.1942), *Lieutenant-General Nikandr Yevlampyevich Chibisov (07.07.42 to 13.07.1942), (Чибисов Никанор Евлампиевич) *Lieutenant-General Konstantin Rokossovsky (14.07.42 to 27.09.1942), *Colonel-General Max Andreyevich Reyter (28.09.42 to 12.03.1943). Third Formation *Colonel-General Max Andreyevich Reyter (12.03.1943 to 05.06.1943), *Colonel-General Markian Popov (05.06.43 to 10.10.1943).

References and sources

David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz re ...

, ''Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War 1941–43'', University Press of Kansas, 2005 {{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II Soviet fronts Military units and formations established in 1941