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A rifle corps ([стрелковый корпус, strelkovyy korpus] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.

Unlike army corps formed by Germany and the Western Allies, Soviet rifle corps were composed primarily of combat troops and had only a small logistical component. Because the rifle divisions themselves were also primarily made up of combat troops, the rifle corps were numerically smaller than corps of other nations. The Soviets also formed Guards rifle corps during World War II, although these were often assigned control of regular rifle divisions and sometimes controlled no Guards rifle divisions.

The Red Army as a whole had 27 rifle corps headquarters in its order of battle on 1 June 1938; this had been expanded to 62 by June 1941.[1] When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Red Army initially had some 32 rifle corps headquarters as part of their order of battle in action against the Germans. Because Joseph Stalin's prewar purge of the Red Army had removed so many experienced leaders, the rifle corps echelon of command in Soviet forces engaged against the Germans dwindled in the face of massive Red Army losses of 1941. The stark shortage of experienced leaders forced the Red Army to have rifle army headquarters directly supervising rifle divisions without the assistance of intervening rifle corps headquarters.[2] The use of rifle corps headquarters never disappeared entirely from the Red Army during World War II, as rifle armies in areas not fighting the Germans (such as the Far Eastern military region) maintained their use of rifle corps headquarters during the entire war.

An example of wartime rifle corps organization is that of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps in 1942:[3]

  • 8th Rifle Corps
    • 7th Rifle Division
    • 249th Rifle Division
    • 85th Corps Artillery Regiment
    • 36th Sapper Battalion
    • 86th Medical Battalion
    • 482nd Reconnaissance Company
    • 162nd Machine Gun Battalion

Of the 8th Rifle Corps' 1942 strength of 26,466 men, only 2,599 (less than 10 per cent) made up the corps headquarters and corps assets, the remainder being assigned to the two rifle divisions.

By November 1941, the Soviet order of battle showed only one rifle corps headquarters still active among the forces fighting the German invasion. By early 1942, however, the Soviets began to reactivate rifle corps headquarters for use as an intermediate command echelon between the rifle armies and rifle divisions. Doubtlessly, the direct command of divisions by army headquarters resulted in too-large spans of control for army commanders and the Red Army desired to reintroduce the rifle corps headquarters once enough experienced commanders and staff officers were available. By the end of 1942, 21 rifle corps headquarters were in action with Soviet forces engaging the Germans. This grew to over 100 by the end of 1943, and reached a peak of 174 either in action against the Germans or as part of the strategic reserve of the Stavka by the end of the war with Germany in May 1945.

Circa September 1945, the 11, 15, 16, 21, 22, 25, 28, 36, 42, 43, 44, 47, 51, 52, 55, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 70, 71, 74, 77, 80, 89, 91, 93, 95, 96, 98, 100, 106, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 133, and 135th Rifle Corps were disbanded.[4]

A limited number of Rifle Corps remained as part of the Ground Forces post 1945. They were slowly converted to 'Army Corps' though they still mostly consisted of Rifle and then Motor Rifle Divisions.

List of Soviet Rifle Corps 22 June 1941[]

1–10 Corps[]

11–20 Corps[]

21–30 Corps[]

  • 21st Rifle Corps - assigned to the WSMD with the 17th, 24th, and 37th Rifle Divisions.[20]
  • 22nd Rifle Corps -180th and 182nd Rifle Divisions, part of 27th Army, BSMD[21] Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps.[22] The 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps of about 7.000 Estonians was destroyed while fighting for the Soviets in 1941: 2,000 were killed, and 4.500 taken prisoner by the Germans. The rest, the recruits, were initially used in Construction Battalions”, effectively mobile forced labour.[23]
  • 23rd Rifle Corps - in the Transcaucasus Military District comprising 136th Rifle Division and 138th Mountain Rifle Division under General Major K.F. Baranov[8]
  • 24th Rifle Corps - After the occupation of Latvia in June 1940 the annihilation of the Latvian Army began. The army was renamed the People’s Army and in September–November 1940- the Red Army’s 24th Territorial Rifle Corps. In September the corps contained 24,416 men but in autumn more than 800 officers and about 10,000 instructors and soldiers were discharged. The arresting of soldiers continued in the following months. In June 1940, the entire Territorial Corps was sent to Litene camp. Before leaving the camp, Latvians drafted in 1939 were demobilised, and replaced by about 4000 Russian soldiers from area around Moscow. On June 10, the corps senior officers were sent to Russia where they were arrested and most of them- shot. On June 14 at least 430 officers were arrested and sent to Gulag camps. After the German attack to Soviet Union, from June 29 to July 1 more 2080 Latvian soldiers were demobilsed, fearing that they might turn their weapons against the Russian commissars and officers. Simultaneously, many soldiers and officers deserted and when the corps crossed the Latvian border only about 3000 Latvian soldiers remained.[24] On June 22, 1941 it comprised the 181st and 183rd Rifle Divisions, part of 27th Army, BSMD. Latvian Territorial Rifle Corps.[22] It finished the war in 1945 in Germany as part of 13th Army - 117th Rifle Division, 380th Rifle Division, 395th Rifle Division.
  • 25th Rifle Corps - 127th, 134th and 162nd Rifle Divisions, part of 19th Army[25]
  • 26th Rifle Corps - comprised the 21st, 22nd Rifle Division, and 26th Rifle Divisions, part of First Red Banner Army, Soviet Far East Front
  • 27th Rifle Corps - assigned to the 5th Army and composed of the 87th, 124th, and 135th Rifle Divisions.[18]
  • 28th Rifle Corps - comprised the 6th, 42nd, 49th, and 75th Rifle Divisions as part of 4th Army
  • 29th Rifle Corps - assigned to the 11th Army in the Baltic Military District, including the 179th and 181st Rifle Divisions.[16] Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps.[22]
  • 30th Rifle Corps - in the Orel Military District, including the 19th, 149th and 217th Rifle Divisions.[26] Reformed and assigned to 18th Army, 4th Ukrainian Front in 1944 in the Mukachevo - Uzhgorod area during Carpathian-Uzhgorod Offensive Operation (9 September 1944 - 28 September 1944)[27]

31–40 Corps[]

41–50 Corps[]

51–60 Corps[]

  • 51st Rifle Corps, with 98th, 112th, and 153rd Rifle Divisions, part of the 22nd Army[36]
  • 52nd Rifle Corps, with its HQ in Novosibirsk, Siberian Military District along with the 133rd Rifle Division, additionally had the 166th Rifle Division at Barabinsk and the 178th Rifle Division at Omsk, part of 24th Army.[37] Became 30th Army on 13 July 1941.
  • 53rd Rifle Corps at Krasnoyarsk, Siberian Military District, where the 119th Rifle Division was stationed, also included the 107th Rifle Division at Barnaul and the 91st Rifle Division at Achinsk, part of 24th Army[37]
  • 55th Rifle Corps - composed of the 130th, 169th, and 189th Rifle Divisions [12]
  • 58th Rifle Corps - composed of the 68th, 83rd, and 194th Mountain Rifle Divisions in the Central Asia Military District.[38] In February 1944, 68th Mountain Rifle Division

75th Rifle Division, 89th Rifle Brigade, and 90th Rifle Brigade with 4th Army.[39]

61–70 Corps[]

List of Soviet Rifle Corps formed during World War II[]

Almost all Soviet Rifle Corps were disbanded in the first several months of the war and reformed as the Soviet High Command gained experience in commanding large numbers of forces.

1–70 Corps[]

  • 38th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet Order of Battle (OOB) 1 June 1943, as part of the 50th Army, Western Front. Subordinate divisions at this date were the 17th, 326th, and 413th Rifle Divisions.
  • 43rd Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 June 1943, as part of the 2nd Shock Army, Leningrad Front. Subordinate divisions at this date were the 11th, 128th, and 314th Rifle Divisions.
  • 46th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as part of the 61st Army, Bryansk Front. Subordinate divisions at this time were the 356th and 415th Rifle Divisions.
  • 54th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 June 1943, as part of the 51st Army, Southern Front. Subordinate divisions at this time were the 87th, 99th, and 302nd Rifle Divisions.
  • 56th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as part of the 16th Army, Far Eastern Front. Subordinate divisions at this time were the 79th and 101st Rifle Divisions. Assignment of numeric designation to the Special Rifle Corps that disappears from the Soviet OOB on the same date.
  • 57th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 September 1943, as part of the 37th Army, STAVKA Reserve. Subordinate divisions at this time were the 62nd Guards, 92nd Guards, 110th Guards, and 53rd Rifle Divisions. In early October 1943 the corps, forcing the Dnieper, seized and held a bridgehead on the west bank of the river. On 06.03.1944 elements of the corps, participating in the Odessa Offensive (part of the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive), parts of the corps breached the German defenses on the western bank of the Igulets River (I believe it's a typo; it's likely they mean the Ingulets River) and moved forward. Having stormed the inhabited locality of Lozovatka and after slight regrouping, the corps began the pursuit of the enemy. On March 16, 1944, the corps deterred the counterattacks by the enemy, who was attempting to force back our units from the Ingul River and to hold the river crossings near Sofiyevka with 35–40 tanks and several infantry battalions. On March 22, the units of the corps reached the Southern Bug River. On the night of March 27, (two divisions of) the corps, having crossed the Southern Bug, moved forward under the enemy's heavy fire and captured the large inhabited locality of Akmechet. On April 1, 1944, parts of the corps, acting as a part of the 37th Army, captured the inhabited localities of Stryukovo, Shvartsevo, Korneyevka, and the Tiligul River crossing. On April 5, the divisions of the corps fought a battle for the station of Migayevo. On April 11, 1944, the corps, having been reinforced from the reserve with the 15th Guards Rifle Division and with the support of the 23rd Tank Corps, liberated Tiraspol, forced the Dniester River, and stormed into Varnitsa. Commander: Major General AI Petrakovskii (- 18/01/1944 ) Major General FA Ostashenko (01.19.1944 - military commissar, deputy political commissar Colonel IN Karasev Chief of Staff : V.I. Mineev. On 9 August 1945 the corps, now part of the Soviet Far East command, comprised 52nd and 203rd Rifle Divisions under General Major A.A. Dakonov.[43]
  • 68th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as part of the 57th Army, Southwestern Front. Subordinate divisions at this time were the 19th, 52nd, and 303rd Rifle Divisions.
  • 70th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Western Front.

71–80 Corps[]

  • 71st Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the 31st Army, Western Front.
  • 72nd Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the 68th Army, Western Front. Part of 5th Army, 3rd Belorussian Front, on 1 November 1944. Part of 5th Army, 1st Far East Front, on 3 September 1945, comprising 63rd, 215th, and 277th Rifle Divisions. (BSSA via http://www.tashv.nm.ru)
  • 73rd Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the 52nd Army, STAVKA Reserve.
  • 74th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the Moscow Military District.
  • 75th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the Moscow Military District.
  • 76th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the Moscow Military District. In Transcaucasus Military District postwar, until it became the 31st Army Corps in 1955.
  • 77th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and as part of the Moscow Military District.
  • 78th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Ural Military District.
  • 79th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Ural Military District. This corps commanded units that stormed the Reichstag on 2 May 1945. (150th, 171st, 207th Rifle Divisions on July 9, 1945, on formation of Group of Soviet Forces in Germany). Disbanded by being redesignated 2nd Rifle Corps in 1957 in Sakhalin.[44]
  • 80th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 August 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Trans-Volga Military District.

81–90 Corps[]

91–100 Corps[]

  • 91st Rifle Corps
  • 92nd Rifle Corps
  • 93rd Rifle Corps
  • 94th Rifle Corps (124th, 221st, 358th Rifle Divisions) and 113th Rifle Corps (192, 262, 338th Rifle Divisions) with 39th Army, RVGK on 1 May 1945),[46]
  • 95th Rifle Corps
  • 96th Rifle Corps
  • 97th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Moscow Military District.
  • 98th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Moscow Military District.
  • 99th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Moscow Military District. Later part of 14th Army, and 19th Army.
  • 100th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Moscow Military District.

101–110 Corps[]

  • 101st Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 September 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Trans-Volga Military District.
  • 102nd Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Trans-Volga Military District.
  • 103rd Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the Trans-Volga Military District.
  • 104th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the North Caucasus Military District.
  • 105th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the North Caucasus Military District. The 193rd Rifle Division was joined with the 354th Rifle Division in April to form the 105th Rifle Corps, commanded by General D. F. Alekseev, where it would remain for the duration of the war.[47]
  • 106th Rifle Corps - first appears in Soviet OOB 1 November 1943, as a headquarters with no troops assigned and part of the North Caucasus Military District.
  • 107th Rifle Corps
  • 108th Rifle Corps - 372nd Rifle Division assigned to this corps from 1 September 1944 to 1 May 1945.
  • 109th Rifle Corps
  • 110th Rifle Corps

111–120 Corps[]

  • 111th Rifle Corps
  • 112th Rifle Corps
  • 113th Rifle Corps
  • 114th Rifle Corps
  • 115th Rifle Corps
  • 116th Rifle Corps
  • 117th Rifle Corps
  • 118th Rifle Corps
  • 119th Rifle Corps - Formed 25 January 1944 from forces assigned to the 8th Army.[48]
  • 120th Rifle Corps

121–130 Corps[]

  • 121st Rifle Corps
  • 122nd Rifle Corps
  • 123rd Rifle Corps - in Summer 1945, the 123rd Rifle Corps arrived in the Ural Military District and its headquarters was established at Kuibyshev. It comprised the 29th, 43rd, and 376th Rifle Divisions. They were established at Shikhany (Saratov Oblast), Kuibyshev, and Serdobsk. In 1946-53 they were reduced into the 10th, 21st, and 48th Rifle Brigades, and the 48th may have been disbanded in 1947. In 1953 the 63rd Mechanised Division was formed on the basis of the 29th Rifle Division at Shikhan. In 1955 the 123rd Rifle Corps became the 40th Rifle Corps, and in May 1957 the 40th Army Corps. That year the 43rd Rifle Division became the 43rd Motor Rifle Division, and the 63rd Mechanised Division the 110th Motor Rifle Division. In November 1964 the 110th was redesigned the 29th Motor Rifle Division. In 1968 the 29th MRD was moved to Kamen-Rybolov, Primorskiy Krai, in the Far East Military District. The 40th Army Corps was active until at least 1962, and Feskov et al 2013 lists its commanders until October 1960 (p.508).
  • 124th Rifle Corps
  • 125th Rifle Corps
  • 126th Rifle Corps
  • 127th Rifle Corps
  • 128th Rifle Corps
  • 129th Rifle Corps
  • 130th Latvian Rifle Corps of the Order of Suvorov. This Red Army national formation was formed on June 5, 1944, shortly before the Red Army attacked Latvia. Their strength was about 15,000 men, which consisted three divisions – 43rd Guards, and 308th Latvian Rifle Division and a Soviet division. The corps commander was Major General Detlavs Brantkalns, Staff headquarters head Major General P. Baumanis, Corps rear commander was Regiment Commander E. Blekis.[49] The Latvian Rifle Corps (2nd Baltic Front) fought in Latvia at Rēzekne and Daugavpils, Madona, Krustpils and Riga Offensive (1944) and combat at Courland Pocket. During the Courland battles it was subordinate to 2nd Baltic Front 22nd and later 42nd Army. The Corps units fought against Latvian Legion 19th Division units.[50]

131–140 Corps[]

  • 132nd Rifle Corps - formed part of 19th Army
  • 133rd Rifle Corps
  • 134th Rifle Corps - formed part of 19th Army
  • 135th Rifle Corps

Guards Rifle Corps[]

1st–40th Guards Rifle Corps formed after June 22, 1941:

1–10 Guards Rifle Corps[]

11–20 Guards Rifle Corps[]

21–30 Guards Rifle Corps[]

31–41 Guards Rifle Corps[]

Notes[]

  1. Glantz, Colossus, p. 107
  2. Stavka Circular 01 of July 15, 1941 directed several changes to Red Army force structure, the elimination of rifle corps headquarters and subordination of rifle divisions directly to rifle army headquarters among them. Glantz and House, p. 65.
  3. historycommission.ee
  4. Feskov et al 2004, 77.
  5. V.I. Feskov et al 2004, 45
  6. Minsk Minsk fortified region - general information
  7. Battle of Minsk
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Leo Niehorster, Transcaucasus Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  9. Bonn, 324.
  10. 3rd Army, Western Special Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  11. Odessa Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 265
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 261
  14. 14.0 14.1 Feskov et al 2004, 46.
  15. Feskov et al
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 262
  17. niehorster.orbat.com
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 264
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 [1]
  20. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg 263.
  21. 27th Army, Baltic Special Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Nigel Thomas, Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2): Baltic Forces, Osprey, 5.
  23. 'Tartu in the 1941 Summer War,' Baltic Defence College.
  24. Bleiere, Daina; Ilgvars Butulis; Antonijs Zunda; Aivars Stranga; Inesis Feldmanis (2006). History of Latvia : the 20th century.. Riga: Jumava. pp. 327. ISBN 9984-38-038-6. OCLC 70240317. 
  25. 25.0 25.1 [2]
  26. Leo Niehorster, Orel Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  27. Восточно-Карпатская наступательная операция
  28. [3]
  29. For the January–February 1945 period, see also 'Breakthrough [of] prepared defenses [by] infantry units (according to experience of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.). Collection of articles. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1957. - 376 p., / Military Academy named for MV Frunze, chapter 9.
  30. [4]
  31. Moscow Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  32. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg 261
  33. Soviet General Staff, Perechen No.4 Headquarters of Corps, Moscow, 1956, p.23.
  34. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 263
  35. Glatz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 261
  36. 36.0 36.1 Leo Niehorster
  37. 37.0 37.1 Leo Niehorster
  38. niehorster.orbat.com
  39. Source Combat composition of the Soviet Army
  40. 40.0 40.1 Leo Niehorster, 21st Army, 22 June 1941 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Niehorster21" defined multiple times with different content
  41. tashv.nm.ru
  42. 42.0 42.1 Crofoot, Craig. Armies of the Bear. 
  43. http://niehorster.orbat.com/012_ussr/45-08-08/corps_057-rifle.htm
  44. V.I. Feskov et al 2004, 45.
  45. Niehorster, http://www.orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/012_ussr/45-08-08/corps_087-rifle.htm
  46. 46.0 46.1 tashv.nm.ru, Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 May 1945, accessed October 2011
  47. Sharp, p 76
  48. Glantz, David (2002). The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press. p. 360. ISBN 0-7006-1208-4. 
  49. LATVIAN UNITS IN THE RED ARMY.
  50. Scott Hegerty, The Latvian Legion.
  51. Michael Holm, 10th Guards Combined Arms Army
  52. 52.0 52.1 V.I. Feskov et al 2004, 46.
  53. 53.0 53.1 Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: the Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, 345.
  54. Feskov et al 2004, 46.
  55. http://www.uvao.ru/uvao/ru/pages/print/o_105604
  56. Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 May 1945
  57. Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: the Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, 345-6.
  58. Michael Holm, 49th Guards Rocket Division, and Feskov et al 2004, 46, 133.
  59. Marchand, Jean-Luc (2011). Order of Battle Soviet Army World War 2 1945 March and April Berlin: The Final Battle. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection. pp. 85–86. ISBN 1-58545-331-5. 
  60. Журнал Санкт-Петербургский университет ISSN 1681-1941 / № 1-2 (3657-3658), 19 January 2004 года
  61. Andrew Duncan, article in Jane's Intelligence Review, 1998
  62. Clark 2012, p. 230, 399–402.
  63. Feskov et al 2004, 45.

Sources[]

  • БОЕВОЙ СОСТАВ СОВЕТСКОЙ АРМИИ 1941 - 1945 (Official Soviet Army Order of Battle from General Staff Archives).
  • V.I. Feskov, et al. The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War: 1945-91, Tomsk: Tomsk University Publishing House, 2004.
  • David M. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. ISBN 0-7006-0879-6.
  • David M. Glantz and Jonathan House, When Titans Clashed, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.
  • Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. ISBN 0-89141-237-9.
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