The Reserve 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 ...
.
First Formation
The Reserve Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first version was created on July 30, 1941 in a reorganization of the earlier Front of Reserve Armies. STAVKA Order No.003334, of 14 July, directed that the Front of Reserve Armies include:
[STAVKA Order 003334, Collection of Combat Documents of the Great Patriotic War, ('SBDVOV'), Moscow, Voenizdat, 1958(?), Issue 37, p.13, cited in Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, p.215]
*
24th Army, with ten divisions, three gun, one howitzer, and three corps artillery regiments, and four anti-tank artillery regiments;
*
28th Army, with nine divisions, one gun, one howitzer, and four corps artillery regiments, and four anti-tank artillery regiments;
*
29th Army, with five divisions, five regiments of artillery, and two regiments and one squadron of aviation;
*
30th Army, with five divisions, one corps artillery regiment, and two AA artillery regiments;
*
31st Army, with six divisions, one corps artillery regiment, and two anti-tank artillery regiments; and
*
32nd Army, with seven divisions (apparently including the
8th Rifle Division), and one anti-tank artillery regiment.
This Front was encircled and destroyed at
Vyazma
Vyazma (russian: Вя́зьма) is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast, and Mozhaysk. Thr ...
.
The surviving forces transferred to the
Western Front on October 10, 1941 under the command of Zhukov.
2nd Formation
The second version of this Front was created on April 6, 1943. It incorporated the:
*
2nd Reserve Army (3rd Formation)
*
24th Army
*
53rd Army
*
66th Army
*
47th Army
*
46th Army
*
5th Guards Tank Army
The 5th Guards Tank Army (Russian: 5-я гварде́йская та́нковая а́рмия) was a Soviet Guards armored formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II. The army was formed in February 1943. Until the afte ...
*eight mobile corps
It was reorganized as the Steppe Military District on April 15, 1943 and eventually designated the
Steppe Front.
Commanders
* Lieutenant General of NKVD
Ivan A. Bogdanov ront of Reserve Armies(14–30 July, 1941)
* General
Georgy K. Zhukov (August–September 1941)
* Marshal
Semyon M. Budenny (September – 10 October, 1941)
* Lieutenant General
Markian M. Popov (6–15 April, 1943)
See also
*
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 ...
*
Reserve duty (Israel)
Notes
References
*
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 ...
, Stumbling Colossus, University Press of Kansas, 1998
*
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
Western Front
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