The 66th Army was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

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 ...

. It was established in August 1942 from the 8th Reserve Army. The 66th Army fought to break through to the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

to the north of

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

during September and October 1942. During

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus () was a Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad: the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romani ...

, the Soviet encirclement of German troops in Stalingrad, 66th Army troops linked up with those of the

62nd Army The 62nd Army () was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. History The Army was formed on 28 May 1942 as the 7th Reserve Army, a part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. The formation wa ...

, forming the inner encirclement. Until February the army fought to destroy the pocket and then was held in reserve. In May 1943 it became the

5th Guards Army The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition o ...

for its actions during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

Commanders

Vladimir Kurdyumov Vladimir Nikolayevich Kurdyumov ( 1 October 1895, Ilmen14 February 1970) was a Soviet Lieutenant General. Kurdyumov served in the Red Army since 1918 in World War I and the Russian Civil War. He graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1925 a ...

(05.08.1942 -15.08.1942) *

Stepan Kalinin Stepan Andrianovich Kalinin (; 28 December 1890 – 11 September 1975) was a Soviet army commander. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks during the subsequent civil war. He was promoted to ...

(15.08.1942 -27.08.1942) *

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (; ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Sov ...

(27.08.1942 -14.10.1942) *

Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov (), born with the surname "Zhidov" (, 30 March 1901 – 30 November 1977), was a Soviet military officer in the Red Army, who during World War II commanded the 66th Army, later renamed the 5th Guards Army, from the Battl ...

(14.10.1942 –16.04.1943)

Bibliography

*''Шестьдесят шестая армия'' // {{Armies of the Soviet Army Military units and formations established in 1942 Field armies of the Soviet Union Military units and formations disestablished in 1943