A rifle corps (Russian: стрелковый корпус, romanized: strelkovyy korpus) 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 field armies in areas not fighting the Germans (such as the Far East) 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]

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 converted to 'Army Corps' in 1955 though they still mostly consisted of Rifle and then Motor Rifle Divisions.

List of Soviet rifle corps

Formed before 22 June 1941

1–10 Corps

11–20 Corps

21–30 Corps

31–40 Corps

41–50 Corps

51–60 Corps

61–70 Corps

Named corps

World War II

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

1–70 Corps

71–80 Corps

81–90 Corps

91–100 Corps

101–110 Corps

111–120 Corps

121–130 Corps

131–140 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

See also

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" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  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. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 49
  9. ^ a b c Leo Niehorster, Transcaucasus Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  10. ^ 3rd Army, Western Special Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  11. ^ Feskov et al 2013
  12. ^ Holm, Michael. "5th Rifle Corps". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  13. ^ Odessa Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 265
  15. ^ Robert Forczyk, Where The Iron Crosses Grow, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2014, p 34, and Glantz, Stalin's Generals, Phoenix Press, 2001, p 37
  16. ^ Marchand, Vol. 23, p.19-20. Full reference at 5th Shock Army article
  17. ^ Holm, 9th Rifle Corps
  18. ^ a b c Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 261
  19. ^ Holm/Feskov 2013, 10th Rifle Corps.
  20. ^ a b c d Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 262
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h Feskov 2013, 407.
  22. ^ niehorster.orbat.com
  23. ^ http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/corps/12ak.htm, and Feskov V.I., Golikov V.I., Калашников К.А., В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска) Томск, 2013, 522 onwards.
  24. ^ Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1945, via Soldat.ru.
  25. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 51.
  26. ^ Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/corps/31ak.htm
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gurkin & Malanin 1963, p. 10.
  28. ^ Feskov 2013, 132, 407.
  29. ^ a b c Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 264
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h Feskov et al 2013, 132.
  31. ^ a b c Dvoinykh, Kariaeva & Stegantsev 1993, p. 33–34.
  32. ^ Gurkin & Malanin 1963, p. 13.
  33. ^ Gurkin et al. 1972, p. 16.
  34. ^ a b Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964, p. 14.
  35. ^ a b Gurkin et al. 1972, p. 65.
  36. ^ "18th Rifle Corps".
  37. ^ a b Dvoinykh, Kariaeva & Stegantsev 1993, pp. 34–35.
  38. ^ Gurkin & Malanin 1963, p. 7.
  39. ^ Pokrovsky 1956, p. 14.
  40. ^ a b Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964, p. 15.
  41. ^ Vozhakin 2006, p. 484.
  42. ^ Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 149.
  43. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, pp. 525–527.
  44. ^ Dvoinykh, Kariaeva & Stegantsev 1993, pp. 35–36.
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Meltyukhov 2008, p. 479.
  46. ^ Gurkin & Malanin 1963, p. 11.
  47. ^ a b Pokrovsky 1956, p. 15.
  48. ^ Glantz 2010, p. 393.
  49. ^ Gurkin et al. 1972, p. 67.
  50. ^ Kirillin et al. 2005, p. 42.
  51. ^ a b Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 160.
  52. ^ a b Feskov et al. 2013, p. 132.
  53. ^ Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg 263.
  54. ^ 27th Army, Baltic Special Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  55. ^ a b c Nigel Thomas, Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2): Baltic Forces, Osprey, 5.
  56. ^ Bleiere, Daina; Ilgvars Butulis; Antonijs Zunda; Aivars Stranga; Inesis Feldmanis (2006). History of Latvia : the 20th century. Riga: Jumava. p. 327. ISBN 9984-38-038-6. OCLC 70240317.
  57. ^ V.I. Feskov et al 2013, 133.
  58. ^ Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse, Aberjona Press, 2005, 341.
  59. ^ Crofoot, Avanzini, Armies of the Bear
  60. ^ Holm, 35th Combined Arms Army, 2015.
  61. ^ Leo Niehorster, Orel Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  62. ^ Восточно-Карпатская наступательная операция
  63. ^ 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.
  64. ^ "33rd Army Corps". Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  65. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 47.
  66. ^ "25th Army, Far East Front, Red Army, 22.06.41".
  67. ^ Moscow Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41
  68. ^ Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg 261
  69. ^ Soviet General Staff, Perechen No.4 Headquarters of Corps, Moscow, 1956, p.23.
  70. ^ a b "STAVKA Strategic Reserves, Red Army, 22.06.41".
  71. ^ Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 263
  72. ^ Glatz, Stumbling Colossus, pg. 261
  73. ^ a b Leo Niehorster
  74. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Trofim Kalinovich Kolomiets - (Трофим Калинович Коломиец) (1894 – 1971), Soviet Union". The Generals of WWII. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  75. ^ niehorster.orbat.com
  76. ^ Source Combat composition of the Soviet Army
  77. ^ tashv.nm.ru
  78. ^ a b Crofoot, Craig. Armies of the Bear.
  79. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 133, and Holm 2015.
  80. ^ http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/corps_057-rifle.htm[permanent dead link]
  81. ^ V.I. Feskov et al 2004, 45.
  82. ^ Niehorster, http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/corps_087-rifle.htm[permanent dead link]
  83. ^ David Glantz, "The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: 'August Storm'", p. 250
  84. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 408.
  85. ^ a b tashv.nm.ru, Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 May 1945 Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 2011
  86. ^ V.I. Feskov et al. 2013, p. 48.
  87. ^ V.I. Feskov et al. 2013, p. 204
  88. ^ V.I. Feskov et al 2013, p. 422.
  89. ^ Sharp, p 76
  90. ^ Glantz and others "The Battle for Lvov: The Soviet General Staff Study"
  91. ^ Glantz, David (2002). The Battle for Leningrad 1941–1944. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press. p. 360. ISBN 0-7006-1208-4.
  92. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 537.
  93. ^ "Журнал боевых действий 120 ск с приложением кратких сводок, с разбором боевых действий и схемы". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  94. ^ Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 159.
  95. ^ Kirillin et al. 2005, p. 49.
  96. ^ Gurkin et al. 1988, p. 15.
  97. ^ a b Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964, p. 39.
  98. ^ Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 153.
  99. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 380.
  100. ^ Gurkin et al. 1988, p. 8.
  101. ^ Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 148.
  102. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 558.
  103. ^ "Вооруженные Силы СССР после Второй мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)" by V.I. Feskov, V.I. Golikov, K.A. Kalashnikov and S.A. Slugin, Tomsk.
  104. ^ Gurkin et al. 1988, p. 30.
  105. ^ Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 151.
  106. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 478.
  107. ^ "Журнал боевых действий 128 ск". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  108. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 459.
  109. ^ LATVIAN UNITS IN THE RED ARMY.
  110. ^ Scott Hegerty, The Latvian Legion.
  111. ^ Feskov et al 2013, 463.
  112. ^ Michael Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/, 2015.
  113. ^ a b Feskov et al 2004, 46.
  114. ^ Michael Holm, 10th Guards Combined Arms Army
  115. ^ a b V.I. Feskov et al 2004, 46.
  116. ^ a b Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: the Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, 345.
  117. ^ "Префектура ЮВАО". Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  118. ^ Michael Holm, 14th Guards Combined Arms Army, 2015.
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Sources

External links

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