The Germans attacked the junction between 6th Army and 26th Army. On 23 June General Kirponos ordered 26th Army armour troops (8th Mechanized Corps) to move to Brody out of the command of Kostenko.[2] Meanwhile, German assault created a twenty-mile breach on 24 June.[3] During the night from 26th to 27 June, 6th and 26th retreated from frontier fortifications.[4] The 26th Army and 12th Army now held a line from Ostropol to Bar.[5] On 10 July Kostenko's Army together with 6th Army and 12th Army became threatened by south eastern swing of Kleist's 1st Panzer Group,[6] which could cut them off from Dnieper river.[7] On 20 July two Rifle Corps of 26th Army attacked in northern direction towards the Dnieper.[8] Only small part of the 26th Army with its commander reached the Dnieper. Most of its units were destroyed or captured by Germans. The 6th Army and 26th Army were split apart.
Second Formationedit
The 26th Army was quickly rebuilt in October 1941 by subsequent reinforcements and included elements of the 1st Guards Special Rifle Corps and now defended the Dnieper river at Kaniev and Rzhishchev south-west of Kiev. 6th and 12th Army ended up in Uman Pocket. 26th Army tried to relieve those armies and attacked in the Boguslav-Zwenigorodka direction. It didn't work.[9] In September 26 Army itself became surrounded in the Kiev Pocket. The Soviets tried to break out, 26th Army was supposed to attack on Lubny.[10] General Kostenko escaped from the encirclement with quite a large group of his soldiers.[11] The army was disbanded and the remaining forces were assigned to the 50th Army.
Third Formationedit
The third time, 26th Army formed in November 1941 in the Volga Military District. On 18 December it was assigned to the newly formed Volkhov Front. In late December 1941 the army was redesignated as the 2nd Shock Army.
Commander: Lieutenant General Grigory Grigorievich Sokolov (November–December 1941)
Fourth Formationedit
The army was reformed for the fourth time within the Karelian Front in March–April 1942.[12] On 1 January 1943 the army comprised 27th, 54th, 186th, and 263rd Rifle Divisions, 61st, 67th, 80th (less 2nd Battalion), and 85th Naval Infantry Brigades, artillery, and other units.[13]
Commander in 1943–1945 was Major General (later Lieutenant General) Lev Skvirsky.
The army ended the war in Romania and was assigned to the Southern Group of Forces. The army along with most of its subordinate units were disbanded in 1947. The 25th Guards and 23rd Mechanized Divisions were reassigned to Ukraine.
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. ISBN5-7511-1819-7.
Marchand, Jean-Luc (2011). Order of Battle Soviet Army World War, 24 Volumes. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, Inc.
External linksedit
April 30, 2024
26th, army, soviet, union, 26th, army, russian, армия, armiya, field, army, soviet, union, army, active, from, 1941, 26th, armyactive1940, 1947country, soviet, unionbranchred, armytypecombined, armsengagementsworld, operation, barbarossa, battle, uman, vyborg,. The 26th Army Russian 26 ya armiya 26 ya armiya was a field army of the Soviet Union s Red Army active from 1941 26th ArmyActive1940 1947Country Soviet UnionBranchRed ArmyTypeCombined armsEngagementsWorld War II Operation Barbarossa Battle of Uman Vyborg Petrozavodsk Offensive Petsamo Kirkenes Offensive Budapest Offensive Operation Spring Awakening Vienna OffensiveCommandersNotablecommandersLev SkvirskyContents 1 Operational history 1 1 First Formation 1 2 Second Formation 1 3 Third Formation 1 4 Fourth Formation 1 4 1 Composition 1 5 Commanders 2 Post War Service 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksOperational history editFirst Formation edit 26th Army was a part of the Southwestern Front and defended the Soviet German border between Przemysl and the Carpathian Mountains in June 1941 The Army was located on the eastern bank of San river manning the 8th Fortified District The 26th Army commander was Lt Gen Fyodor Kostenko who was a Ukrainian Its opponent was the German Seventeenth Army under command of General Carl Heinrich von Stulpnagel The 26th Army consisted of the 8th Rifle Corps with the 99th Rifle Division 173rd Rifle Division and the 72nd Mountain Rifle Division the 8th Fortified District a number of artillery units the 2nd Anti Tank Brigade 233rd Corps Artillery Regiment 236th Corps Artillery Regiment and the 28th Independent Anti Aircraft Squadron the 8th Mechanised Corps with the 12th Tank Division 34th Tank Division and the 7th Mechanized Division and the 17th Pontoon Bridge Regiment on 22 June 1941 1 Headquarters was at Borislav The Germans attacked the junction between 6th Army and 26th Army On 23 June General Kirponos ordered 26th Army armour troops 8th Mechanized Corps to move to Brody out of the command of Kostenko 2 Meanwhile German assault created a twenty mile breach on 24 June 3 During the night from 26th to 27 June 6th and 26th retreated from frontier fortifications 4 The 26th Army and 12th Army now held a line from Ostropol to Bar 5 On 10 July Kostenko s Army together with 6th Army and 12th Army became threatened by south eastern swing of Kleist s 1st Panzer Group 6 which could cut them off from Dnieper river 7 On 20 July two Rifle Corps of 26th Army attacked in northern direction towards the Dnieper 8 Only small part of the 26th Army with its commander reached the Dnieper Most of its units were destroyed or captured by Germans The 6th Army and 26th Army were split apart Second Formation edit The 26th Army was quickly rebuilt in October 1941 by subsequent reinforcements and included elements of the 1st Guards Special Rifle Corps and now defended the Dnieper river at Kaniev and Rzhishchev south west of Kiev 6th and 12th Army ended up in Uman Pocket 26th Army tried to relieve those armies and attacked in the Boguslav Zwenigorodka direction It didn t work 9 In September 26 Army itself became surrounded in the Kiev Pocket The Soviets tried to break out 26th Army was supposed to attack on Lubny 10 General Kostenko escaped from the encirclement with quite a large group of his soldiers 11 The army was disbanded and the remaining forces were assigned to the 50th Army Third Formation edit The third time 26th Army formed in November 1941 in the Volga Military District On 18 December it was assigned to the newly formed Volkhov Front In late December 1941 the army was redesignated as the 2nd Shock Army Commander Lieutenant General Grigory Grigorievich Sokolov November December 1941 Fourth Formation edit The army was reformed for the fourth time within the Karelian Front in March April 1942 12 On 1 January 1943 the army comprised 27th 54th 186th and 263rd Rifle Divisions 61st 67th 80th less 2nd Battalion and 85th Naval Infantry Brigades artillery and other units 13 Commander in 1943 1945 was Major General later Lieutenant General Lev Skvirsky Composition edit At the end of the war the army consisted of 14 30th Rifle Corps36th Guards Rifle Division 68th Guards Rifle Division 21st Rifle Division dd 104th Rifle Corps74th Rifle Division 93rd Rifle Division 151st Rifle Division dd 135th Rifle Corps233rd Rifle Division 236th Rifle Division dd Artillery engineer and tank units Commanders edit Lieutenant General Fyodor Kostenko June September 1941 Major General Alexey Kurkin October 1941 Lieutenant General Grigory Grigorievich Sokolov November December 1941 Major General Nikolai Nikishin March 1942 May 1943 Major General later Lieutenant General Lev Skvirsky May 1943 January 1945 Lieutenant General Nikolai Gagen January May 1945 Post War Service editThe army ended the war in Romania and was assigned to the Southern Group of Forces The army along with most of its subordinate units were disbanded in 1947 The 25th Guards and 23rd Mechanized Divisions were reassigned to Ukraine See also editOrder of Battle for Operation BarbarossaReferences edit http www tashv nm ru BoevojSostavSA 1941 19410622 html Archived 2010 03 06 at the Wayback Machine Boevoi Sostav Sovietskoi Armii czast I juni dekabr 1941 goda Moskva 1966 Erickson John The Road to Stalingrad Cassell 2003 page 163 Erickson page 164 Nowakowski Tomasz Skotnicki Mariusz Kijow 1941 Altair Warszawa 1995 page 20 Erickson page 168 Erickson page 169 Nowakowski Tomasz Skotnicki Mariusz page 25 Nowakowski Tomasz Skotnicki Mariusz page 27 Erickson p 203 Nowakowski Tomasz Skotnicki Mariusz page 46 Fugate Bryan Lev Dvoriecki Blitzkrieg nad Dnieprem Bellona Warszawa 2001 page 226 Keith E Bonn Slaughterhouse Aberjona Press 2005 p 318 Boevoj sostav Sovetskoj Armii na 1 yanvarya 1943 g Archived from the original on 2013 05 29 Retrieved 2013 04 07 Marchand Vol XXIII pg 45 6 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 External links edithttps web archive org web 20081216013802 http docs vif2 ru Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 26th Army Soviet Union amp oldid 1199047183, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
