The 27th Mechanized Corps (

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: войсковая часть, в/ ч; Ukrainian: військова частина, в/ ч) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet ...

2850) was a mechanized corps of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. Stationed in present-day

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

after its formation in March 1941, the corps was relocated westwards after the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

. As a result of the reorganization of the Soviet mechanized corps, the 27th Mechanized Corps was disbanded before it saw combat.

History

Formation

The corps was formed in March 1941 in

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

in the

Central Asian Military District The Red Banner Central Asian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, which existed in 1926–1945 and 1969–1989, with its headquarters at Tashkent (1926–1945) and Almaty (1969–1989). By USSR Order No.304 of 4 ...

. The corps included the previously formed 9th Tank Division at Mary, and the new 53rd Tank Division at

Kyzyl-Arvat Serdar (also known as Gyzylarbat and formerly Kyzyl-Arvat or Gyzylarbat and Farāva) is a city subordinate to a district in Turkmenistan, located north-west of the capital, Ashgabat on the M37 highway to the Caspian Sea. The population of Gyzylar ...

, as well as the new 221st Motorized Division at

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. The corps was commanded by Major General

Ivan Yefimovich Petrov Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (; – 7 April 1958) was a Soviet Army General. Early military career Born in Trubchevsk in 1896, he began his military service in the Red Army in 1918, the year when he also joined the Bolshevik Party. Petrov fought in th ...

World War II

On 22 June 1941,

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began. At the time the corps was equipped with 356 tanks. On 25 June the corps was alerted for movement to the west. On 27 June the first echelon of the 9th Tank Division moved west by rail, followed by the rest of the division. Moving through

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

and

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

, the division's first echelon reached

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

on 8 July. On 8 July, the

Soviet General Staff The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation () is the military staff of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the central organ of the military command of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational command of the arme ...

decided to disband the mechanized corps and reorganize the tank divisions as a result of heavy tank losses in the first days of the war. The division's headquarters arrived at Voronezh on 10 July. The 27th Mechanized Corps was to become part of the 28th Army at Kirov. Unloading was to be carried out at the Fayansovaya railway station to the north of Kirov. The trains transporting the corps began to arrive at the station the next day, unloading only at night due to German air superiority. Many trains were delayed due to damage to the railway tracks, including one tank battalion that was stuck at

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station for three days. By 15 July, the concentration of the 9th Tank Division had been completed with 208 tanks (mostly

T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...

s and

BT-7 } The BT-7 was the last of the BT series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. It was lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for the time, and had much better mobility than other contemporary t ...

s). At the same time the 9th Tank Division had become the 104th Tank Division, the 53rd Tank Division the 105th Tank Division, and the 221st Motorized Division the 106th Tank Division. The corps was disbanded on 15 July, and the 106th Tank Division became the 106th Motorized Division on 19 July.

References

* {{Soviet Union corps Mechanized corps of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941