The 2nd Cavalry Corps were a corps 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 ...

, formed twice. Originally formed in 1922, the corps served in Ukraine during the Interwar period and fought in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

History

First Formation

The corps was formed on 31 October 1922 in

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

, with the 4th (later 3rd) Cavalry Division, part of the

Ukrainian Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

and commanded by

Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский, ro, Grigore Kotovski; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career ...

. After Kotovsky was killed on 6 August 1925, he was replaced by

Nikolai Krivoruchko Nikolai Nikolayevich Krivoruchko (Russian, Николай Николаевич Криворучко; December 6, 1887 – August 19, 1938) was a Soviet Komkor (corps commander). He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going ...

who was promoted to Komkor in 1935 and who led the corps until July 1937. On 29 April 1927, it was named in honor of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR. The

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

and 14th Cavalry Divisions joined the corps in 1930 and 1931, respectively. In 1935, the corps became part of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

when the Ukrainian Military District was split. In July 1937 Kombrig (later Komdiv)

Mikhail Hatskilevich Mikhail Georgyevich Khatskilevich (; 21 November 1895 – 25 June 1941) was a Red Army major general. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. Khatskilevich commanded th ...

took command of the corps. Komdiv

Fyodor Kostenko Fyodor Yakovlevich Kostenko (russian: Фёдор Яковлевич Костенко; 22 February 1896–26 May 1942) was a Soviet corps and army commander. Biography He was born in Bolshaya Martynovka, Martynovsky District, Rostov Oblast to ...

commanded the corps from April 1939 to 26 July 1940. It took part in the Soviet invasion of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in 1939 as part of the 6th Army. In 1940, the 9th Cavalry Division joined the corps, which had become part of the

Odessa Military District The Odesa Military District (russian: Одесский военный округ, ОВО; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 1998 most of its territory was transformed into the Southern Opera ...

. Until the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941, the corps were stationed in the area of

Lvov Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and

Northern Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berger ...

. On 14 March of that year, Major General

Pavel Belov Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans and personally le ...

took command of the corps. On 26 November 1941, the 2nd Cavalry Corps became the

1st Guards Cavalry Corps 1st Guards Cavalry Zhytomyr Red Banner Corps (Russian: 1-й гвардейский кавалерийский Житомирский Краснознаменный корпус) was a military unit of the Soviet Red Army which was renamed from ...

Second Formation

The corps was reformed on 23 December 1941, part of the Southern Front. It was commanded by Maj. Gen.

Matvei Usenko Matvei Alekseevich Usenko (russian: Матвей Алексеевич Усенко; , – May 12 1943) was a major general of the Red Army during the Second World War. Biography In 1918 he joined the Red Army, and during the Civil War served w ...

. It included the 62nd, 64th, and the 70th Cavalry Divisions. The corps moved to the Southwestern Front, where its 64th Cavalry Division was replaced by the 38th Cavalry Division. In May 1942, it fought in the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front during World War II. Its objec ...

as part of the 6th Army, and was almost entirely wiped out. The corps was officially disbanded on 15 July 1942.

Commanders

The corps' first formation was commanded by the following officers. *

(30.10.1922 – 06.08.1925; killed) * (promoted to Komkor 1935)

(13.08.1925 — 07.1937) *

Mikhail Khatskilevich Mikhail Georgyevich Khatskilevich (; 21 November 1895 – 25 June 1941) was a Red Army major general. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. Khatskilevich commanded th ...

(6.07.1937 — 04.1939) *

(04.1939 — 26.07.1940) *

Fyodor Kamkov Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name "Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name. It may refer to: Giv ...

(26.07.1940 — 14.03.1941) *

(14.03.1941 — 26.11.1941)

Subordination

* 1922 - 1922 - The Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea. * 1922-1935 - The Ukrainian Military District. * 1935 - 1938 - The Kiev military district. * 1938 -1940 - Cavalry Army Group, Kiev Special Military District,. * 1940 - 1941 - Odessa military district. * 1941-1941 - the 9th separate army. * c 1941 - the 9th separate army of the Southern Front.

Command structure of the corps

Military Commissioner: ( Commissar (in the military unit) )

*battalion commissar Ilyin (on 07.1938). *brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilyevich Krainyukov (since 12.04.1939, on 10.05.1939-1940).

Deputy corps commander

*brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilievich Krainyukov (since 12.04.1939, 1940-16.07.1941).

Military Commissioner

*brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilyevich Krainyukov (vrid since 12.04.1939, 16.07-25.08.1941). *regimental commissar, brigade commissar Alexey Varfolomeevich Shchelakovsky (25.08.1941-26.11.1941).

Chief of staff

*Alexander Sergeevich Sheydeman (in 1933). *brigade commander Sergei Ilyich Bailo (arrested September 12, 1937). *Pavel Alekseevich Kurochkin (06-10.1939). *Brigade Commander Pyotr Vasilievich Kotelkov (on 05-08.1940). *Colonel Mikhail D. Gretsov (06-11.1941).

Organization

* 3rd Cavalry Division * 5th Cavalry Division * 14th Cavalry Division * 24th Light Tank Brigade

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Soviet Union corps Cavalry corps of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1922 Military units and formations disestablished in 1942