The Volkhov Front () was a major formation 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 ...

during the first period of 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 ...

. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

in its offensive thrust towards

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Initially the front operated to the south of Leningrad, with its flank on

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

First formation

The Volkhov Front was formed on 17 December 1941 from the left wing of the

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front () was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately ...

and elements of 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'' ...

('' Stavka'' Reserve) during the conduct of the Tikhvin Offensive operation under the command of the

Army General Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

Kirill Meretskov, with General Grigory Stelmakh (former commander of the 4th Army) as Chief of Staff and Army Commissar of 1st rank A.I.Zaporozhets.Meretskov, On the service of the nation, Ch.6 Initially Sokolov's 26th Army (later

2nd Shock Army The 2nd Shock Army (), sometimes translated to English as 2nd Assault Army, was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to ''o ...

) and Galanin's 59th Armies were allocated to the Front's formation. The Front also included Meretskov's 4th Army and Klykov's 52nd Army. The Front's air support was provided by the 14th Air Army () of General-Major I.P. Zhuravlev. The 8th Army that was formed in early January was also added to the Front. Initially the Front held a frontage of 250 km. The Front's neighbouring formations were the 54th Army of the

(later incorporated into the Volkhov Front) and the 11th Army of the North-Western Front. Volkhov Front's goal was to move westward, pushing towards the Leningrad Front. In order to do this, it had to deceive the German army in several respects. This was carried out, for instance, by attacking the enemy in a swampy region, the least trafficable area where the German weakness compensated for the difficulty in movement. This constituted a deception because the Soviets have been focusing their attacks on a very narrow attack sector (16 kilometers). Secondly, Meretskov also directed a series of false and diversionary maneuvers. There was the case of tactical strategy that made the Germans believe the troops were amassing in the Malaya Vishera, which is located east of the Volkhov region. This gave the impression that the Volkov Front's target was Novgorod while the attack took place elsewhere. Meretskov's front's aimed to inflict the main blow south to Chudovo while the 8th army's main target was north of Mga.

2nd Shock Army and Vlasov

Andrey Vlasov Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Russian Red Army general. During the Eastern Front (World War II), Axis-Soviet campaigns of World War II, he fought (1941–1942) against the ''Wehrmacht'' in the Battle of Moscow ...

was named Deputy Commander under Meretskov and in charge of the

(). On January 7, 1942, he spearheaded the Lyuban Offensive Operation to break the Leningrad encirclement. Planned as a combined operation between the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts on a 30 km frontage, other armies of the

(including the 54th) were supposed to participate at scheduled intervals in this operation. Crossing the Volkhov River Vlasov's army was successful in breaking through the German Eighteenth Army lines and penetrated 70–74 km deep inside the German rear area. The other armies (Volkhov Front's 4th, 52nd, and 59th Armies, 13th Cavalry Corps, and 4th and 6th Guards Rifle Corps), however, failed to provide the required support, and Vlasov's army became stranded. Permission to retreat was refused. With the counter-offensive in May 1942, the Second Shock Army was finally allowed to retreat, but by now, too weakened, it was annihilated. Vlasov was taken prisoner by the Wehrmacht troops on July 6, 1942.

Volkhov Operational Group

The Front was disbanded and its elements reorganised as the ''Volkhov Operational Group'' and incorporated into the

on 23 April 1942.Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

Strategic operations

* Tikhvin strategic offensive operation of 1941 ()

Front and Army operations

* Tikhvinsk-Kirishsk offensive operation of 1941 () * Malo-Vishersk offensive operation of 1941 () * Lyubansk offensive operation of 1942 ().

Second formation

The Front was reformed on the 9 June 1942 from the Volkhov Operational Group of the

and served until 15 February 1944, participating in the relief of the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

and taking part in other operations including:

Campaigns

* Winter Campaign on 1942–43 * Summer Autumn Campaign of 1943 * Winter-Spring Campaign of 1944

The strategic operations

* Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation of 1944 () * Relief of the Leningrad blockade through Operation Spark in 1943 ()

Front and army operations

* Operation for the conclusion of extricating of the 2nd Shock Army of 1942 () * 1942 Sinyavin offensive () * Minsk offensive operation of 1943 () * Novgorod-Luzhsk offensive operation of 1944 ()

References

Sources

*Meretskov, K.A., On the service of the nation. Moscow, Politizdat, 1968 () *Bonn/Glantz, Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 * John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, 1975, p. 278, 332 * Lubbeck, William and David B. Hurt. ''At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North'', Philadelphia, PA: Casemate, 2006 (). {{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II Soviet fronts Siege of Leningrad