The 24th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed in 1941 and active during the Second World War. The army was disbanded and reformed a number of times during the war.

First Formation

The army headquarters, formed from Headquarters Siberian Military District; under General Staff instructions of 25 June 1941 arrived on 28 June 1941 at Vyazma, accepting on arrival in this area six Siberian rifle divisions of the high command reserve (RVGK). Involved in the Yelnya Offensive, August–September 1941. Headquarters disbanded 10 October 1941, having been destroyed in the Vyazma Pocket.

Composition on 1 September 1941:^[1]

Second Formation

Reformed from 9 December 1941 to 4 January 1942 when it was redesignated as 1st Reserve Army (II).^[3][4] The army was assigned the 385th Rifle Division for less than a month. The army remained in the Moscow Defense Zone through April 1942 with no assigned forces.

Third Formation

Reformed again on 20 May 1942, from an Operational Group under the command of Major General Aleksei Grechkin^[5] while assigned to the Southern Front. The army was concentrated in the area of Salsk, Rostov Oblast. The army was then transferred to the North Caucasus Front on 28 July. In early August the units assigned were transferred to the 12th and 37th Armies, and its headquarters relocated to Grozny, Chechen Republic, Soviet Union, where it was assigned to the Transcaucasian Front. The army was disbanded on 23 August and the headquarters personnel were used to form the 58th Army (II) on August 28, 1942;^[6]

Composition on 1 June 1942:^[7]

73rd Rifle Division

140th Rifle Division

228th Rifle Division

255th Rifle Division

1660th Sapper Battalion

1663rd Sapper Battalion

On 1 August only the Sapper Battalions remained assigned to the Army.^[8]

Fourth Formation

Soon afterwards reformed again as part of the Stalingrad front from 9th Reserve Army on 1 September 1942. The army participated in the Battle of Stalingrad as part of both the Stalingrad and Don Fronts. In March–April 1943 relocated to the Voronezh area and was assigned to the Steppe Military District as part of the STAVKA reserves for rebuilding. Was redesignated 4th Guards Army in May 1943.

Commanders

• Lieutenant General Stepan Kalinin - (26 June – 15 July, 1941)^[11]
• Major General Konstantin Rakutin - (15 July – 7 October, 1941)(KIA)^[12]
• Major General Mikhail Ivanov - (10 December 1941 – 17 March 1942)^[13]
• Major General of Artillery Iakov Broud - (17 March – 1 May, 1942)^[14]
• Lieutenant General Ilia Smirnov - (12 May – 15 July, 1942)^[15]
• Major General Vladimir Marcinkiewicz (ru) - (15 July – 6 August, 1942)^[16]
• Major General Vasily Khomenko (NKVD) - (7–23 August 1942)^[17]
• Major General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov - (August–October 1942)^[18]
• Major General (Lieutenant General January 1943) Ivan Galanin (October 1942 – April 1943)^[19]
• Lieutenant General Alexander Gorbatov - (April 1943)^[20]
• Major General German Tarasov^[21]
• Lieutenant General Grigory Kulik (April 1943)^[22]