The Central Front was a
major formation of the
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 ...
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 ...
formed on July 24, 1941.
The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war.
The first entity existed for just a month during the German invasion of 1941, before it was annihilated.
A year and a half later, the name was revived for the second creation, which existed for about eight months in 1943, until it was incorporated into the Belorussian group of Fronts and renamed accordingly.
First formation
The first version was created on July 24, 1941 from the right wing of the forces in the
Western Front, including a new designation of the
3rd Army and the headquarters of the (disbanded)
4th Army, whose former HQ formed the Front headquarters.
Colonel General Fyodor I. Kuznetsov took command.
The Front was a combination of the 13th and
21st Armies.
* The
13th Army (
Konstantin Golubev
Konstantin Dmitryevich Golubev (27 March 1896 – 9 June 1956) was a Soviet general and army commander.
He was born in Petrovsk, Saratov Governorate (in present-day Saratov Oblast). He fought in World War I in the Imperial Russian Army before goi ...
) had under command
** in the area of
Mogilev
Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...
, the
*** 61st Rifle Corps,
*** 20th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union), 20th Mechanised Corps,
** in the area of Krichevsky, the
*** 45th Rifle corps,
*** 20th Rifle Corps.
* The 21st Army (Soviet Union), 21st Army, under Lieutenant General Mikhail Grigoryevich Yefremov, Mikhail Yefremov, was the other initial component of the Front:
** 25th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union), 25th Mechanised Corps,
** 66th Rifle Corps,
** 63rd Rifle Corps,
** 21st Rifle Corps,
** 67th Rifle Corps.
The new Front's air component was 136 aircraft (75 patched and repaired) under the command of Major General (Aviation) Grigory Vorozheykin, Grigory Vorozheikin.
[John Erickson (2003)[1975]. ''The Road to Stalingrad''. Cassel Military Paperbacks edition. p. 197.] The Central Front thus became the first new Front formed after the German invasion.
At the time the Front was created its boundary with the Western front was along the Bryansk-Roslavl-Shklov-Minsk line (all inclusive for the Western front), and the main operational direction of the front was along the Gomel–Bobruisk–Volkovysk axis.
On August 1,
3rd Army joined the Front, and on August 7 Kuznetsov was recalled to Moscow to be given a new assignment. The command was transferred to Mikhail Grigoryevich Yefremov, General Mikhail Yefremov.
On August 8, Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group, Panzergruppe 2 began its attack along the 13th Army sector. Four days later the German 2nd Army (Wehrmacht), Second Army joined the attack. On August 17, the 63rd Rifle Corps was routed at the village of Skepnya (20 km to the east of Zhlobin), and two days later elements of the Second Army occupied Gomel. On August 22, the
3rd Army fell back from Mozyr. Under these blows the Front was eventually encircled and destroyed near Chernigov, and was formally disbanded on August 25, 1941. The surviving forces transferred to the first version of the Bryansk Front.
Second formation
The second version of this Front was created on February 15, 1943 from the Don Front. Then Colonel General Konstantin Rokossovsky, Konstantin K. Rokossovsky took command, and was promoted to full General in April 1943. Lieutenant General Mikhail Malinin was named as Front Chief of Staff, while Major General K.F.Telegin was made the member of the Front's Military Council.
The Front incorporated the headquarters and forces of the Don Front, plus additional armies were made part of the Front :
* 2nd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union), 2nd Tank Army - Alexey Rodin (general), Alexey Rodin,
* 21st Army (Soviet Union), 21st Army - Ivan Chistyakov,
* 65th Army (Soviet Union), 65th Army - Pavel Batov,
* 70th Army (originally formed from NKVD forces) - German Tarasov
* 16th Air Army - General Lieutenant Sergei Rudenko (general), Sergei Rudenko.
The Front's headquarters was established around 10 km to the east of Yelets.
As part of Stavka's general move to integrate and rationalise its Army Groups, the Front was renamed the 1st Belorussian Front on October 20, 1943.
Sources and references
{{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II
Soviet fronts
Military units and formations established in 1941