The 1st Red Banner Army () was a

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 ...

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 ...

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: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that served in the

Soviet Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Eastern Fe ...

Before 1941

The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) in the Far East, part of the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front (Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front wa ...

. Previously, the Special Far Eastern Army had been the theatre command in the Far East, but due to increased tensions with Japan it was expanded into the Far Eastern Front. The 1st Army was created from the Primorsky Group of Forces, and was responsible for the

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

area with its headquarters at Voroshilov (now

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...

). Elements of the army fought in the

Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (Chinese and Japanese: zh, s=張鼓峰事件, labels=no; Chinese pinyin: zh, hp=Zhānggǔfēng Shìjiàn, labels=no; Japanese romaji: ), was an attempted military incursion b ...

. On 4 September, the front was dissolved, and the army became the 1st Separate Red Banner Army, controlling troops in Ussuriysk Oblast and parts of

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

and Primorsky Oblasts. It was directly subordinated to the People's Commissariat of Defense and operationally controlled the Pacific Fleet. It included the 21st, 22nd, 26th, 32nd, 39th, 40th, 59th, 66th, 92nd, and

105th Rifle Division The 105th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army. Formed in the 1930s, the division spent World War II on the border in Primorye, seeing its only combat in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. It was disbanded shortly after the ...

s, as well as the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

, 22nd, and 31st Cavalry Divisions from 4 September. Elements of the army fought in the

Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...

in mid-1939. By an order of the People's Commissariat of Defense dated 21 June 1940, the Far Eastern Front was reformed. The army became part of the front and was redesignated the 1st Red Banner Army. Its initial commander was the later

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (, ) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin wore the uniform and insignia of Marshal after World War II. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in ...

Andrei Yeremenko Andrey Ivanovich Yeryomenko (; Ukrainian: Андрій Іванович Єрьоменко; November 19, 1970) was a Soviet general during World War II and Marshal of the Soviet Union. During the war, Yeryomenko commanded the Southeastern Front ...

. When Yeremenko arrived in early 1941, the Army was responsible for all the frontier between

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

and

; on 18 March 1941, the 25th Army was established to cover the southern sector. The 32nd, 40th, and 105th Rifle Divisions transferred to the 25th Army in May. In June, the 79th Fighter Aviation Division began forming as part of the army's Air Force. The 32nd and 34th Mixed Aviation Divisions had joined the army by June as well. In June 1941 the 32nd Fighter Aviation Division was located at Voroshilov (

), and included the 6th, 40th, 47th, and 48th Fighter Aviation Regiments.

Order of battle

22 June 1941

The official Soviet archives list the composition of the Army on 22 June 1941: * 26th Rifle Corps ** 21st Rifle Division ** 22nd Rifle Division ** 26th Rifle Division * 59th Rifle Corps ** 39th Rifle Division ** 59th Rifle Division ** 1st Rifle Brigade ** 4th Rifle Brigade ** 8th Cavalry Division ** 105th Fortified Region * 30th Mechanized Corps

9 Aug 1945

* 26th Rifle Corps * 59th Rifle Corps 6 rifle divisions, 3 tank brigades (75th, 77th, 257th), 3 SP regiments, 6 SP battalions, 1 heavy tank/SP gun regiment, 5 artillery brigades.

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

Until the war's end in 1945, the 1st Red Banner Army covered some of the long far eastern borders of the

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 ...

. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and the

Soviet Far East Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front w ...

attacked into Japanese-occupied

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, as part of the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

, led by Marshal of the Soviet Union

Aleksandr Vasilevsky Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky ( 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet general who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, he served as the Chief of the General ...

. The area the Army was to operate through was mountainous, rugged taiga, and it was specifically tailored to the conditions it would face, in common with the other formations earmarked for the operation. The Army's forces at the beginning of the offensive included 26th and 59th Rifle Corps, 6 rifle divisions, 3 tank brigades (75th, 77th, 257th), 3 SP regiments, 6 SP battalions, 1 heavy tank/SP gun regiment, 5 artillery brigades, and 410 tanks/SP guns and 1,413 guns/mortars.

David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz ...

''August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria''
, CGSC The 6th and 112th Fortified Regions also formed part of the Army. The First Army's attack was aimed at northern

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

Postwar

In September 1945 the army became part of the newly formed Transbaikal–Amur Military District after moving its headquarters to

Blagoveshchensk Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благовещенск, p=bləɡɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur River, Amur and the ...

, where it absorbed troops from the disbanded 15th Army and

2nd Red Banner Army The 2nd Red Banner Army () was a Soviet field army of World War II that served as part of the Far Eastern Front. The army was formed at Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East in 1938 as the 2nd Army. After the Far Eastern Front was split in Septembe ...

. On 1 October it included the 26th Rifle Corps with the 3rd, 12th, and 231st Rifle Divisions, the 59th Rifle Corps with the 39th and 59th Rifle Divisions, and the 101st Fortified Region. By the end of the year, the 35th Rifle Division had joined the 59th Rifle Corps and the 4th and 102nd Fortified Regions became part of the army. In 1946, the three fortified regions were converted into the 13th and 14th Machine Gun Artillery Brigades. The headquarters of the 26th Rifle Corps was disbanded in July, and the 3rd and 59th Rifle Divisions disbanded on 30 August. The 59th Rifle Corps was disbanded in March 1947. In May, the army was transferred to the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District () was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific Fleet and part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Eastern Military District. Histo ...

after the Transbaikal–Amur Military District was disbanded. It included the 37th Guards Airborne Corps with three divisions, the 13th and 14th Machine Gun Artillery Brigades, and the 12th and 39th Rifle Divisions, the former at Kuybyshevka-Vostochnaya and the latter at Khabarovsk. In 1948, the army included the 11th and 13th Machine Gun Artillery Divisions, formed from the 34th Rifle Division and the 11th, 13th, and 14th Machine Gun Artillery Brigades, previously reorganized into regiments. The army headquarters was disbanded in April 1953.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the army during its existence: * Kuzma Podlas 1938 – 1939 *

Markian Popov Markian Mikhaylovich Popov (; 15 November 1902 – 22 April 1969) was a Soviet military commander, Army general (Soviet Union), Army General (26 August 1943), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1965). Early life Markian Popov was born in 1902 in U ...

07.1939 – 01.1941 *

01.1941 – 06.1941 *Lieutenant General

Vasily Vasilyev Vasily Pavlovich Vasilyev or Wassiljew (Василий Павлович Васильев; 1818-1900) was the preeminent Russian Sinologist of the 19th Century. Vasiliev was born in Nizhny Novgorod and entered the Oriental department of the Kazan ...

06.1941 – 10.1942 *Lieutenant General Mikhail Savushkin 10.1942 – 06.1945 *Colonel General

Afanasy Beloborodov Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov (; – 1 September 1990) was a general in the Red Army during the Second World War who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Between 1963 and 1968, he commanded the Moscow Military District. Ea ...

(28 June 1945 – 12 June 1946) *Lieutenant General

Alexei Danilov Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олек ...

(12 June – 30 July 1946) *Colonel General Vladimir Kolpakchi (30 July 1946 – 12 March 1950) *Colonel General Dmitry Lelyushenko (13 March 1950 – 24 April 1953)

Sources

Citations

Bibliography

* * *
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAP/is_2_13/ai_n15623829
{{Armies of the Soviet Army 001 Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Military units and formations disestablished in 1953