8th Army (Soviet Union)
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| 8th Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1939 - 1945 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Size | several corps |
| Part of | Leningrad Front |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa, Operation Barbarossa, Siege of Leningrad, Battle of Narva |
The 8th Army was an field army of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
The 8th Army was formed in October 1939 (or 14 September 1939[1]) from the Novgorod Army Operational Group of the Leningrad Military District with the task of providing security of the Northwestern borders of the USSR. (The Novgorod Group had been created a month before, on 13 August 1939 by the order No. 0129 of the Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Defence, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov. The Group was created for operations in Estonia and Latvia.)
In 1940 the Army became a part of the Baltic Special Military District.
From the morning of June 22, 1941 as part of the Northwestern Front the army (10th and 11th, 12th Mechanised Corps, 9th anti-tank artillery brigade and a number of other units) joined the heavy fighting with the superior forces of the German Wehrmacht in the Shyaulyay direction.
On the 23-25 June its 12th Mechanized Corps with the part of the 3rd Mechanised Corps of the 11th Army southwest of Shyaulyaya executed a counterblow on the forces of the enemy’s Panzer Group 4, as a result of which their advance was delayed by several days. During July-August the troops of the 8th Army conducted persistent defensive actions in the territory of Estonia. On 14 July army is transferred into the composition of the Northern Front, and on 27 August of the Leningrad Front. At the beginning of September 1941 the army's troops fought on the neighboring approaches to Leningrad, retaining in interaction with the forces of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet on the Oranienbaum bridgehead which played an important role in the heroic Siege of Leningrad. At the beginning of November the Army headquarters and some formations and units of the 8th Army were relocated into the eastern sector of the defense of the Leningrad Front and to the bridgehead on the Neva river in Moscow Dubrovki (Neva Pyatochok). During November- December they conducted persistent offensive combat for achieving Leningrad blockade break-through. At the end of January of 1942 the administration of army, crossed on Lake Ladoga ice to the Volkhov direction, combined formations and units of the Sinyavinsk operations group of 54th Army, which occupied defenses from the south coast of Ladoga lake to the Kirov railroad.
On June 9 the army was subordinated to the Volkhov Front. In August- September it acted as a part of the Front's assault group for the Sinyavinsk Offensive Operation. During January 1943 the 8th Army participated in the Leningrad blockade break-through, covering the southern flank of the Front’s assault group. During July-August it conducted furious fighting in the Mga Offensive Operation.
During January 1944 the army headquarters and its support units were moved into the region west of Novgorod.
After accepting new formations, the Army participated in the Novgorod-Luga Offensive Operation. After regrouping as part of the Leningrad Front (from 16 February) in March-June the Army took up defensive positions on the Narva bridgehead, and in July it participated in the Narva Offensive Operation. During September in cooperation with the 2nd Shock Army and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet the Army conducted the Tallin Offensive Operation, as result of which the entire mainland part of Estonia, and its capital Tallin were librated from German occupation.
In October-November the army together with the Baltic Fleet conducted the Moonzund Amphibious Operation to liberate the Moonzund archipelago.
From December 1944 the Army carried out coastal defense tasks in Estonia to the end of the war.
In September 1945 the Army was disbanded by being redesignated HQ Western Siberian Military District in Novosibirsk.
[edit] Commanding officers
Major General Sobennikov (March- June 1941); lieutenant general Ivanov F.S. (June-July 1941); Major General Lyubovtsev I.M. (July August 1941); the lieutenant general Pshennikov P.S. (August- September 1941); Major General Shcherbakov V.I. (September 1941.); lieutenant general [Shevaldin] T.I. (September- November 1941); Colonel, since October 1941. Major General Bondaryev A.L. (November 1941. - January 1942.); Major General Sukhomlin A.V. (January- April of 1942); Major General, since November 1942 Lieutenant General Starikov F.N. (April of 1942 - to the end of the war).
Members of the military council: divisional commissar Shabalov S.I. (June July 1941.); divisional commissar Chukhnov I.F. (July- September 1941); the brigade commissar Okorokov A.D. (September 1941. - April 1942.); brigade commissar, December 1942. divisional commissar Sosnovikov V.V. (May- December of 1942); Major General Zubov V.A. (December 1942. - to the end of the war).
Chiefs of staff : Major General Larionov G.A. (1940 - August 1941.); Colonel Smirnov V.I. (August- September 1941); Major General Kokorev P.I. (September 1941. - December 1942.); Colonel, June 1944. Major General Golovchiner B.M. (December 1942 - to the end of the war).
[edit] Sources
- ^ Meltukhov M.I., Stalin's missed chance: Soviet Union and the struggle for Europe 1939-1941 (documents, facts, judgments), Moscow, Veche, 2000 (Russian: Мельтюхов М.И. Упущенный шанс Сталина. Советский Союз и борьба за Европу: 1939-1941 (Документы, факты, суждения). — М.: Вече, 2000.)
- [1] Commemorating 60 years since Victory in the Great Patriotic War
- See also:http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a08/arm.html
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