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32nd Army
Active 16 July - 12 October 1941
10 March 1942 - August 1945
1969 - 4 June 1991
Country Flag of the Soviet Union USSR
Branch Red Army
Type Field Army
Size Army
Engagements World War II
Battle of Moscow
Svir–Petrozavodsk Offensive
Commanders
Notable
commanders
See List

The 32nd Army was a formation of the Soviet Army during World War II. The army was formed twice during the war, disbanded as part of the post-war demobilization and then reformed in 1969 to protect the Soviet-Chinese border.

First Formation[]

Formed on 16 July 1941 in the Moscow Military District near the cities of Naro-Fominsk, Kubinka, and the settlement of Dorokhovo. The army was formed with four divisions of Moscow Militia. The assigned units included: 2nd, 7th, 8th, 13th.[1] In addition, on 20 July 1941, 18th Moscow People's Militia Divisions was assigned to the Army, west of Moscow, with about 10,000 men assigned. On 18 July the army was incorporated into the Moscow line of defense and took up defensive positions in the vicinity of Karacharovo. On 30 July the army was assigned to the Reserve Front.

Composition on 1 October:[2]

2nd Rifle Division
8th Rifle Division
29th Rifle Division
140th Rifle Division
685th Corps Artillery Regiment
533rd Antitank Artillery Regiment
877th Antitank Artillery Regiment
200th Naval Artillery Battalion
36th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

On 3 October the army was heavily engaged in a defensive battle against German forces advancing on Vyasma as part of the northern wing of Operation Typhoon. On 5 October the army was reassigned to the Western Front and two days later along with the 16th, 19th, 20th and 24th Armies were encircled by the German 4th and 9th Armies and 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups. The 32nd Army was disbanded on 12 October 1941. Small elements of the army were able to break out of the encirclement and were assigned to the 16th and 19th Armies.

Second Formation[]

STAVKA ordered the army reformed on 2 March 1942 and this was completed on 10 March 1942. The army was formed from the Medvezhegorshaya and Maselskaya Operational Groups in the Karelian Front.[1] On 1 April 42 the army was composed of:[3]

37th Rifle Division
71st Rifle Division
186th Rifle Division
263rd Rifle Division
289th Rifle Division
313th Rifle Division
61st Naval Rifle Brigade
65th Naval Rifle Brigade
66th Naval Rifle Brigade
1st Ski Brigade
2nd Ski Brigade
196th Ski Battalion
197th Ski Battalion
198th Ski Battalion
17th Mortar Battalion
208th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
6th Aerosleigh Battalion
9th Aerosleigh Battalion
36th Aerosleigh Battalion
227th Separate Tank Company
261st Engineer Battalion
1211th Sapper Battalion
1212th Sapper Battalion

Until the end of May 1944 the 32nd Army defended the frontier in the Medvezhyegorsky District and from 21 July to 9 August the army participated in the Svir-Petrozavodsk Offensive, when part of the army reached the Finish border in the vicinity of Longonvara. When Finland was knocked out of the war on 19 September 1944 the army was relegated to protecting the state border. During the offensive the army consisted of:[4]

289th Rifle Division
313th Rifle Division
376th Rifle Division
65th Naval Rifle Brigade
80th Naval Rifle Brigade
33rd Ski Brigade
1237th Gun Artillery Regiment
173rd Mortar Regiment
280th Mortar Regiment
298th Mortar Regiment
63rd Guards Mortar Regiment (minus 297th Battalion)
275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
208th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
446th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
376th Tank Battalion (minus Tank Company KV)
21st Aerosleigh Battalion
22nd Aerosleigh Battalion
26th Aerosleigh Battalion
261st Engineer Battalion

Composition on 1 November 1944:[5]

135th Rifle Corps
176th Rifle Division
289th Rifle Division
313th Rifle Division
621st Mortar Regiment
63rd Guards Mortar Regiment
275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
32nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
446th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
29th Tank Brigade
90th Separate Tank Regiment
261st Engineer Battalion
6th Flamethrower Battalion
194th Flamethrower Company
196th Flamethrower Company

On 15 November 1944 the 32nd Army was put into STAVKA reserve and on 21 April 1945 was directly assigned to the STAVKA.

On 1 May 1945 the Army was composed of:[6]

203rd Gun Artillery Brigade
621st Mortar Regiment
275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
194th Flamethrower Company
196th Flamethrower Company

The army was disbanded in August 1945.

Third Formation[]

This army was reformed using the command staff of the 1st Army Corps in 1969 when the Central Asian Military District was reestablished to protect the Soviet Chinese border.

Composition:[7]

155th Motorized Rifle Division
167th Motorized Rifle Division
203rd Motorized Rifle Division
78th Tank Division

The army was redesignated on 4 June 1991 as the 40th Army.[8]

Commanders[]

  • Lieutenant General Nilolai K. Klykov (July - August 1941)[9]
  • Major General Ivan Fedyuninsky (August - September 1941)
  • Major General Sergei V. Vishnevskii (September 1941 - October 1941)[10]
  • Major General Sergei Trofimenko (March - June 1942)
  • Lieutenant General Filip D. Garelenko (June 1942 - 1944)[11]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Soviet Military Encyclopedia. - T. 8. - S. 112.
  2. Marchand, Vol II, page 10
  3. Marchand, Vol IV, pages 65-6
  4. Marchand, Vol XII, pages 77-8
  5. Marchand, Vol XX, pp 2-3
  6. Marchand, Vol XXIII, pg. 65
  7. Feskov, pg. 44
  8. (Russian) A.Volkov - 40th Army: history of establishment, composition, changes in structure. (А. Волков - 40-я Армия: история создания, состав, изменение структуры.)[dead link]
  9. Ammentorp, Steen. "The Generals". http://www.generals.dk/general/Klykov/Nikolai_Kuzmich/Soviet_Union.html. Retrieved 28 July 2013. 
  10. Ammentorp, Steen. "The Generals". http://www.generals.dk/general/Vishnevskii/Sergei_Vladimorovich/Soviet_Union.html. Retrieved 28 July 2013. 
  11. Ammentorp, Steen. "The Generals". http://www.generals.dk/general/Gorelenko/Filipp_Danilovich/Soviet_Union.html. Retrieved 27 July 2013. 
  • Feskov, V.I.; K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov. (2004). The Soviet Army in the Years of the 'Cold War' (1945-1991). Tomsk: Tomsk University Press. ISBN 5-7511-1819-7. 
  • Marchand, Jean-Luc (2011). Order of Battle Soviet Army World War, 24 Volumes. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, Inc.. 
  • Thirty-second Army / / Soviet Military Encyclopedia / ed. A. Grechko . - M .: Military Publishing, 1976. - T. 8. - 690 p. - (In 8 m). - 105,000 copies.

External links[]


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