7th Army (Soviet Union)
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| 7th Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1939 - December 1944 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army, |
| Size | several Rifle corps |
| Part of | Northern Front then Karelian Front |
| Engagements | Winter War, Finnish reconquest of Ladoga Karelia, Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation |
The Soviet Red Army's 7th Army first saw action in the 1939-40 Winter War against Finland under Army General K.A. Meretskov. In November 1939, just before the initial Soviet attack, it consisted of the 19th Rifle Corps, 50th Rifle Corps, 10th Tank Corps, 138th Rifle Division, and an independent tank brigade.[1]
7th Army was reformed in Autumn (second half of) 1940 in the Leningrad Military District. Before the German Operation Barbarossa began it covered the Soviet frontier to the north of Lake Ladoga. Since June, 24th, 1941 the army including the 54th, 71st, 168th and 237th Rifle Divisions, the 26th Fortified Region and some artillery, aviation and engineering formations was included in the Northern Front, then the Karelian Front, and conducted defensive operations in Karelia, however losing Ladoga Karelia to the Finns in July-August 1941. On September, 25th, 1941 it was renamed the 7th Separate Army, directly subordinate to STAVKA, (VGK- the Supreme High Command), and it remained in that status until February 1944. In the middle of October 1941 - June 1944 it defended the Svir River line between Lakes Onega and Ladoga.
From June to August 1944 the army, comprising now the 37th Guards, 4th, 94th and 99th Rifle Corps, 150th and 162nd Fortified Regions, and a number of artillery, tank, engineering and other units, as part of the Karelian Front, participated in the Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation. It was disbanded in the beginning of January 1945. On the basis of its headquarters the 9th Guards Army of the Airborne Forces was created on 18 December 1944.[2]
Commanders:
- General-Lieutenant Pilip Danilovich Gorelenko (June - September 1941 and November 1941 - June 1942);
- General K.A.Meretskov (September - November 1941);
- General-Lieutenant S.G. Trofimenko (July 1942 - January 1943);[3]
- General-Major A.N. Krutikov (January 1943 - August 1944), (promoted to General-Lieutenant at the end of April 1943);
- General-Lieutenant A. Gluzdovsky (August - November 1944);
[edit] Source
- ^ Data of the Red Army in the Winter War, OOB
- ^ Axis History Forum discussion
- ^ Generals.dk, Sergei Georgievich Trofimenko, accessed January 2008
- Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005
- http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a07/arm.html
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