The 6th Air Army was an

air army Air army is a term used in several countries, notably French Air and Space Force, France, as the equivalent term to air force. In Russia, an air army is a major command within the Russian Air Force. Historically, a Imperial Japanese Army Air Serv ...

of the Red Army's Air Force during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and from 1946-1949. It was formed twice : in 1942 as part of the Red Army's Air Forces, and redesignated in 1944, and in 1946 and redesignated in 1949. The 6th Air Army was first formed on 14 June 1942 from the Air Forces of the

North-Western Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

, and its first commander was Major General of Aviation Daniil Kondratyuk, who held command to January 1943. On 1 July 1942 the army included the 239th and

240th Fighter Aviation Division The 240th Fighter Aviation Division (240 IAD) was a fighter aircraft formation of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II. It saw its most eventful actions during that war, and in 1949 became the 119th Fighter Aviation Division. History World ...

s, 241st Bomber Aviation Division, 242nd Night Bomber Aviation Division, 243rd Assault Aviation Division, 514th and 645th Light Bomber Aviation Regiments, 642nd, 644th, 649th, and 677th Composite Aviation Regiments (сап), 699th Transport Aviation Regiment, and the 6th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron. During its World War II service, the 6th Air Army included for a time the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the all-female '

Night Witches "Night Witches" was a World War II German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Red Banner and Order of Suvorov Regiment, of the Soviet Air ...

'. It was assigned initially to the

until February 1944, and after that to the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...

s. In the summer and early fall of 1944, the army provided air support for

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

, the Soviet recapture of Belarus and eastern Poland, and the Lublin–Brest Offensive, which brought the Red Army to the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

. On 8 September, the army was withdrawn to the

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 () or RGK ( comprises reserve military formations and units; the ''Stavka'' ...

. During the war, the army's units flew more than 120,000 sorties. On 31 October 1944, the army headquarters was transformed into the headquarters of the

Air Force of the Polish Army The Air Force of the Polish Army (), unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force was the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force in the USSR between 1943 and 1947 created alongside the Polish People's Army (), a subordinate to th ...

. In 1946, the 6th Air Army was reformed in

Alma Ata Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border wi ...

to provide air support for the

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (, ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with its headquarters at Tashkent. The District was first created during the 1874 R ...

, under the command of Lieutenant General of Aviation Vladimir Izotov. In September 1947, Lieutenant General Mikhail Kosykh took command of the army. The 6th Air Army was redesignated the 73rd Air Army on 10 January 1949. Among the Army's units in the 1980s was the

9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment The 9th "Odessa" Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was a "regiment of aces" unit in the Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes r ...

. After being renamed the Air Forces of the Central Asian Military District from 1980 to 1988, 73rd Air Army was disbanded in 1993.

Army Commanders during World War II

* Major General of Aviation Daniil Kondratyuk (June 1942 - January 1943); * Major General of Aviation, from May 1943 Lieutenant General of Aviation Fyodor Polynin (January 1943 - October 1944).

References

{{Armies of the Soviet Air Forces Air armies of the Red Air Force in World War II