The 2nd Mechanised Corps was a formation in the Soviet

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 ...

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 ...

First formation (June 1940 – Aug 1941)

Initially formed in June 1940 in response the German victories of 1940 it was attached to the

Odessa Military District The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...

, & attached to the 9th Army in the

Odessa Fortified Region The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavia and five Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa (then spelled ''Odessa''), Mykolaiv, Kherson, Crimea an ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

It was under the command of Lieutenant General Yury Novoselsky when the German

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 ...

began in June 1941. It initially comprised the 11th and 16th Tank Divisions, & the

15th Mechanized Division In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

. On 22 June 1941 2nd Mechanized Corps comprised 32,396 men, 517 tanks, 186 armoured cars, 162 artillery pieces, 189 mortars, 3794 vehicles, 266 Tractors & 375 Motorcycles including lighter models

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 ...

, Bt 7, &

T-28 T28 may refer to: Aircraft * Enstrom T-28, an American helicopter * North American T-28 Trojan, an American trainer * Slingsby T.28, a British glider Armoured land vehicles * T-28 (medium tank), a Soviet tank * T28 super-heavy tank, an ...

's & 60 of the newer

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV; ) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour ...

models. On 22 July 1941 2nd Mechanized Corps consisted of 11th Tank Division 181 (81 Operational) tanks, 1070 vehicles & 71 tractors. 16th Tank Division with 99 tanks, 870 vehicles & 16 tractors & 15th Mechanized Division with 188 (102 operational) tanks, no vehicles & 122 tractors. After the invasion began the

was renamed Southern Front, Commanded by Colonel General

Ivan Tyulenev Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev (; 28 January 189215 August 1978) was a Soviet military commander, one of the first to be promoted to the rank of General of the Army in 1940. Biography Tyulenvev was born into a soldier's family in the Simbirsk Go ...

. The front fielded the 9th and 18th Armies. The 2nd Mechanized Corps was heavily involved in the first battles of

, helping to defend Soviet occupied

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

with Colonel General

Yakov Cherevichenko Yakov Timofeyevich Cherevichenko (; 12 October 1894 – 4 July 1976) was a Soviet military leader and colonel general. Biography First World War and Civil War Yakov Cherevichenko was born to peasant parents in the village of Novosyolovka in the ...

's 9th Army against ''Generaloberst'' Schobert's 11th Army, which had penetrated Soviet defenses, captured Iassy & reached the

Prut River The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , ) is a river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube, and is long. Part of its course forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates on the eas ...

on the first day of action in

Operation München Operation München () was the Romania, Romanian codename of a joint Nazi Germany, German-Romanian offensive during the Operation Barbarossa, German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessa ...

. However, after initially withdrawing to behind the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

River on Tiulenev's orders

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

ordered 6th Army & 2nd Mechanized Corps to recapture the

line. By 18 July Schobert's 11th Army, had crossed the

River &

finally realised that the 6th,

12th Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

& 18th Armies faced encirclement & ordered the 2nd Mechanized Corps to the

Uman Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative c ...

region to halt the German advance into Southern Front's rear. The line was already in German hands & this decision was far too late.

Mikhail Kirponos Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (, , ; 12 January 1892 – 20 September 1941) was a Soviet general of the Red Army during World War II. Being accorded the highest military decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union title, for the skill and courage in ...

commander of Southwestern Front now ordered 26th Army to wheel about & cover their withdrawal & for 6th & 12th Armies to attack eastwards to meet up. By 20 July, 2nd Mechanized Corps was holding open a narrow corridor upon to the east between XXXVIII Panzer Corps & 17th Army. Two days later the trap was shut, and although the 2nd Mechanized Corps tried to free the surrounded armies on 8 August the fighting was over: 107,000 officers & men, including Generals

Pavel Ponedelin Pavel Grigoryevich Ponedelin (; 4 March 1893 Moscow 25 August 1950) was a Soviet general executed after World War II for being taken prisoner by the Germans. Early life He fought in World War I in the Imperial Russian Army before going over t ...

Ivan Muzychenko Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the Bul ...

, four corps commanders & 11 division commanders, 286 tanks & 953 guns were captured. Another two corps commanders & six division commanders perished in the fighting. 2nd Mechanized Corps was largely destroyed. Rkkaww2 states: The residual men of the 11th Tank Division joined the 12th Army. The division's remnants were reorganised into the 132nd Tank Brigade (21 August 1941), later the 4th Guards Tank Brigade. The entire headquarters of the 15th Motorised Division was captured. However, later, the divisional commander, Colonel Laskin, managed to escape from captivity. The residual personnel of the 14th Tank Regiment eventually formed the 71st Separate Tank Battalion, which joined the

12th Rifle Corps The 12th Rifle Corps () was an infantry corps of the Red Army during the interwar period and World War II, formed four times. The corps headquarters was briefly active between late 1922 and early 1923 as part of the Separate Caucasus Army, and a ...

of the Southern Front.

Second formation (September 1942 – July 1943)

A new 2nd Mechanized corps started to be formed in September 1942 on the basis of the directive of NPO No. 1104308ss of 8 September 1942. The corps entered into battle on the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions ...

as part of the 43rd Army, after which it was almost immediately included in the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

. In April 1943, the corps was withdrawn to the reserve and in May of that year it was included in the

3rd Guards Army The 3rd Guards Army () was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The army fought in the Battle of Berlin, during which it mopped up German resistance around Cottbus. 1942 to 1945 It was formed o ...

, and in September of that year - in the

2nd Tank Army The 2nd Guards Tank Army () was a large military formation of the Red Army and Soviet Army, later part of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the firs ...

. The Corps fought in the

Battle for Velikiye Luki The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation (), started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the ob ...

and

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German ''Ger ...

. Commander of the Corps was Major General of the Tank Forces, later Lieutenant General of the Tank Forces,

Ivan Korchagin Ivan Petrovich Korchagin (; – 24 July 1951) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Korchagin volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, during which he was wounded multiple times and decorated. ...

7th Guards Mechanized Corps (July 1943 – September 1945)

By the order of NCO No. 0404 July 26, 1943, the 2nd Mechanized Corps was transformed into the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps for heroism and courage, stamina and courage of personnel in battles against Nazi invaders, as well as for exemplary performance of combat missions shown during the Oryol offensive operation (Operation Kutuzov). It included the 24th, 25th and 26th Guards Mechanized Brigades, the 57th Guards Tank Brigade, two self-propelled artillery regiments, and other units. Lieutenant General of the Tank Forces

remained commander of the Corps for the rest of the War. The 7th Guards Mechanized Corps fought in the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. Being one of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost four million troops at one point and stretched over a front. Ov ...

(Autumn 1943) until December 1943, when the corps was withdrawn to the Headquarters reserve. In the fall of 1943 Grigory Kabakovsky was a lieutenant and company commander in the motor rifle battalion of the 57th Guards Tank Brigade. When the company reached the

Desna River The Desna ( Russian and ) is a river in Russia and Ukraine, a major left-tributary of the Dnieper. Its name in means "right hand". It has a length of , and its drainage basin covers .Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

was reached by 25 September. The company led by Kabakovsky crossed the river north of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. With grenades, rifle fire and a machine gun, Kabakovsky reportedly killed 60 German soldiers in the battle to hold the bridgehead. In pursuit of retreating German troops, the company reportedly advanced to the northern outskirts of Domantovo,

Chernobyl Raion Chernobyl Raion () or Chornobyl Raion () was a raion in the Soviet Union located in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was one of 26 administrative raions (districts) of Kyiv Oblast in northern Ukraine. After the Chernobyl disaster, the ...

, reportedly killing about 50 German soldiers. The German forces counterattacked but were reportedly repulsed three times. While repulsing a counterattack, Kabakovsky was reportedly seriously wounded but continued to command. On 17 October 1943 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

for his actions. By VGK Order No 12 of 15 September 1943, and NKO Order № 0236 of 2 August 1944, the corps gained the Nezhin and Kuzbass honors respectively (Kuzbassko-Nezhinskaya). Only in September 1944, the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps was transferred to the

3rd Belorussian Front The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fr ...

, and from January 1945 to the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

, in which it ended the war. The Corps fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, Lower Silesian Offensive and

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

. It suffered a major setback in late April 1945 on the southern flank of the front during a counterattack of German troops, when part of the Corps was surrounded and destroyed.

Post War

By a directive of 7 September 1945, the corps was reduced in status to the 7th Guards Mechanised Division. This division was part of the 4th Mechanized Army of the GSVG. It was stationed in the 1936 Olympic Village ( :de:Olympisches Dorf (Berlin)) (Dallgow-Döberitz barracks). In November 1947, the division was reduced to the 7th Guards Personnel Mechanized Regiment. By a directive of 17 May 1957, the 11th Guards Motor Rifle Division was created on the base of the reformed division. In the summer of 1958, it was moved to Smolensk. In the spring of 1968, it was relocated to

Bezrechnaya Bezrechnaya-2 (also given variously as Bezrechnaya, Bezrechnoy, Khodabulak, Khada Bulak North, or Mirnaya) was an interceptor aircraft base in Chita Oblast, Russia. It featured a linear ramp. It was located north of Borzya and east of Mirnaya ...

station in the

Chita Oblast Chita Oblast ( rus, Чити́нская о́бласть, r=Čitínskaja óblastj, p=tɕɪˈtʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. ...

. On 1 December 1989, the 11th Division was reduced into the 5890th Guards Base for the storage of military equipment (VKhVT). The 5890th Guards VKhVT was disbanded in September 1992.

First formation (June 1940 – Aug 1941)

Second formation (September 1942 – July 1943)

7th Guards Mechanized Corps (July 1943 – September 1945)

Post War

References

Further reading