2nd Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)

The 2nd Cavalry Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army, formed twice.

First Formation
The corps was formed on 31 October 1922 in Uman, with the 4th (later 3rd) Cavalry Division, part of the Ukrainian Military District and commanded by Grigory Kotovsky. After Kotovsky was killed on 6 August 1925, he was replaced by (promoted to Komkor from 1935) Nikolai Krivoruchko, who led the corps until July 1937. On 29 April 1927, it received the honorific "named for the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR." The 5th and 14th Cavalry Division s joined the corps in 1930 and 1931, respectively. In 1935, the corps became part of the Kiev Military District when the Ukrainian Military District was split. In July 1937 Kombrig (later Komdiv) Mikhail Hatskilevich took command of the corps. Komdiv Fyodor Kostenko commanded the corps from April 1939 to 26 July 1940. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 as part of the 6th Army. In 1940, the 9th Cavalry Division joined the corps, which had become part of the Odessa Military District. Until the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941, the corps was stationed in the area of Lvov and Northern Bukovina. On 14 March of that year, Major General Pavel Belov took command of the corps.

On 26 November 1941, the 2nd Cavalry Corps became the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps.

Second Formation
The corps was reformed on 23 December 1941, part of the Southern Front. It was commanded by Maj. Gen. Matvei Usenko. It included the 62nd, 64th, and the 70th Cavalry Divisions. The corps moved to the Southwestern Front, where its 64th Cavalry Division was replaced by the 38th Cavalry Division. In May 1942, it fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov as part of the 6th Army, and was almost entirely wiped out. The corps was officially disbanded on 15 July 1942.

Full name
The 2nd Cavalry Corps is named after the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine

Commanders
The corps' first formation was commanded by the following officers.
 * Grigory Kotovsky (1922 – 6 August 1925; killed)
 * (promoted to Komkor 1935) Nikolai Krivoruchko

Subordination

 * 1922 - 1922 - The Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea.
 * 1922-1935 - The Ukrainian Military District,.
 * 1935 - 1938 - The Kiev military district.
 * 1938 -1940 - Cavalry Army Group, Kiev Special Military District,.
 * 1940 - 1941 - Odessa military district.
 * 1941-1941 - the 9th separate army.
 * c 1941 - the 9th separate army of the Southern Front.

Corps commanders:

 * 1922 - 1925 - Kotovsky, Grigory Ivanovich.
 * 1925 - 1937 - Krivoruchko, Nikolay Nikolayevich.
 * 1937 - 1938 - Kozachek, Sergey Borisovich.
 * from 1937 - Khatskelevich, Mikhail Georgievich.
 * 1939 - 1940 - Kostenko, Fedor Yakovlevich.
 * 1940 - 1941 -
 * 1941 - 1941 - Belov, Pavel Alekseevich.

Military Commissioner: ( Commissar (in the military unit) )
battalion commissar Ilyin (on 07.1938).

brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilyevich Krainyukov (since 12.04.1939, on 10.05.1939-1940).

Deputy corps commander:
brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilievich Krainyukov (since 12.04.1939, 1940-16.07.1941).

Military Commissioner:
brigade commissar Konstantin Vasilyevich Krainyukov (vrid since 12.04.1939, 16.07-25.08.1941).

regimental commissar, brigade commissar Alexey Varfolomeevich Shchelakovsky (25.08.1941-26.11.1941).

Chief of staff:
Alexander Sergeevich Sheydeman (in 1933).

brigade commander Sergei Ilyich Bailo (arrested September 12, 1937).

Pavel Alekseevich Kurochkin (06-10.1939).

Brigade Commander Pyotr Vasilievich Kotelkov (on 05-08.1940).

Colonel Mikhail D. Gretsov (06-11.1941).

Organization

 * 3rd Cavalry Division
 * 5th Cavalry Division
 * 14th Cavalry Division
 * 24th Light Tank Brigade

Literature

 * 1) Жуков Г.К. Воспоминания и размышления. В трёх томах. Десятое издание, дополненное по рукописи автора. Издательство "Новости". Москва, 1990. С.274-277.
 * 2) http://militera.lib.ru/docs/da/komsostav/index.html Командный и начальствующий состав Красной Армии в 1940–1941 гг. Структура и кадры центрального аппарата H КО СССР, военных округов и общевойсковых армий. Документы и материалы. — М.; СПб.: Летний сад, 2005.
 * 3) Краснознамённый Киевский. Очерки истории Краснознамённого Киевского военного округа (1919–1979). Издание второе, исправленное и дополненное. Киев, издательство политической литературы Украины. 1979. С. 85 - Структура кавалерийского корпуса и кавалерийской дивизии, с.с. 112-114,
 * 4) Мельтюхов М.И. Упущенный шанс Сталина. Советский Союз и борьба за Европу: 1939–1941. — М.: Вече, 2000. Книга на сайте: http://militera.lib.ru/research/meltyukhov/index.html
 * 5) Мельтюхов М. И. Советско-польские войны. Военно-политическое противостояние 1918–1939 гг. Часть третья. Сентябрь 1939 года. Война с запада — М., 2001.
 * 6) Центральный государственный архив министерства обороны, ф. 25899, он. 34, д. 26, л. 288 - Подготовка Больших Киевских манёвров.
 * 7) Meltyukhov, Mikhail. Освободительный поход Сталина. Moscow, Yauza, Eksmo, 2006. ISBN 5-699-17275-0. Chapters: Сосредоточение и группирова советских войск, Бессарабский поход, Праздник освобождения. (at lib.rus.ec/b/300044/read)
 * 8) ЦГАСА, ф. 25899, оп. 34, д.42, л.44. – Структура кавалерийского корпуса и кавалерийской дивизии.
 * 9) РГВА. Ф. 37977. Оп. 1. Д. 684. Л. 219,232; Д. 687. Л. 125 - Южный фронт 1940 г.
 * 10) Генерал-полковник П. Белов. Кавалеристы на Южном фронте.
 * 11) Белов П. А. За нами Москва. — М.: Воениздат, 1963.
 * 12) Военный энциклопедический словарь. М., Военное издательство, 1984. С.169-Вторая мировая война 1939–45; с.189-Германо-польская война 1939; с.500-Общевойсковые армии; с.525-Освободительные походы 1939–40; с. 763 – Украинский фронт 1939.
 * 13) Первый Гвардейский кавалерийский корпус. Сост. Лепехин А.Н., Лепехин Ю.А.- Дедилово, 2016.- 698 с., ил.