| 14th Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | October 1939-1945 |
| Country | USSR |
| Size | three to six divisions |
| Part of | Northern Front, Karelian Front |
| Engagements | Winter War, Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Valerian A. Frolov |
The 14th Army (Ist formation) was formed in October 1939 in the Leningrad Military District. It participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which its 52nd and 104th Rifle Divisions fought in the Battle of Petsamo.
From 24 June 1941 the Army included[1]
- 42nd Rifle Corps (Ist Formation 22 June 1941, disbanded 14 October 1941; was used to reinforce the Kandalaksha operational group)[2]
- 293 separate signals battalion
- 279 separate sapper battalion
- 104th Rifle Division
- 122nd Rifle Division
- 14th Rifle Division
- 52nd Rifle Division
- 1st Tank Division
- 23rd Murmansk Fortified Region
- 1st Mixed Air Division (disbanded February 1942)
- 258th Fighter Aviation Division was formed from the Air Forces of the 14th Army in 1942
- a number of artillery and other units
The Army was initially subordinated to the Northern Front and conducted defensive operations on the Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Ukhtinsk directions against the German-Finnish Operation Silver Fox (29 June 1941 - 19 September 1941) and in coordination with the 7th Separate Army, in the Defensive Operations on the Petrozavodsk, Ukhtinsk, Rugozersk, and Olonetsk directions (1 July 1941 - 10 October 1941). From the middle of July it was able to stop Finnish enemy forces advance, and subsequently until October 1944 (from 23 August 1941 as part of the Karelian Front) it solidly retained its sector positions, and conducted active offensive combat for the purpose of improvement in the position it occupied.
On 18 October 1944, the 14th Army after rearrangement was involved in the second stage of the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation. From south to north in the battle were introduced 127th Light Rifle Corps, the reserve of the 31st Rifle Corps, 99th Rifle Corps, 126th Light Rifle Corps, 131st Rifle Corps. At that time, battles were mainly in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. 127th Light Rifle Corps and 31st Rifle Corps advanced on Nikel, the 99th Rifle Corps and the 126th Light Rifle Corps on Ahmalahti, 131st Rifle Corps on Tarnet.
By 20 October 1944 127th Light Rifle Corps and 31st Rifle Corps semicircle covered Nickel from the north, south and south-west, 21 October 1944 126th Light Rifle Corps reached the lake Klistervati, 99th Rifle Corps 22 October 1944 released the road Ahmalahti - Kirkenes. 131st Rifle Corps has released 10/17/1944 to the state border and entered 18 October 1944 on Norwegian soil. Nikel was taken 22 October 1944.
Forcing Yar Fjord 24–25 October 1944 year Army troops fanned out in Norway. 31st Rifle Corps, without forcing the bay, and ran down the deep south, and reached Nausta 27 October 1944, coming on the Norwegian-Finnish border. 127th Light Rifle Corps carried out an offensive in the same direction, but on the western shore of the fjord. 126th Light Rifle Corps undertook deep inroads in the west and reached the city 27 October 1944 Neiden 99th Rifle Corps and the 131st Rifle Corps rushed to Kirkenes, which was released on 25 October 1944, the then 99th Rifle Corps also sent the city Neiden.
By 29 October 1944, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation was over, and with it the 14th Army's combat role. It destroyed the opposing enemy and took the city of Petsamo (today Pechenga) and northern regions of Norway. Subsequently until the end of the war the Army defended the newly occupied territory and the state borders of the USSR with Finland and Norway.
Commanding officers
- Lieutenant General V. A. Frolov (June - August 1941)
- Major General R. I. Panin (August 1941 - March 1942)
- Major General V. I. Shcherbakov (March 1942 - May 1945), from the end of April 1943 Lieutenant General.
On 31 July 1945 the Army HQ was disbanded and the personnel were used to fill out Headquarters Belomorsky Military District. The Army may have been re-established in 1947 with the 121st Rifle Corps[3] and 1222nd Artillery Regiment. According to some data, there were plans for its use in Chukchi Peninsula and, in the case of war, landing in Alaska.[4] It was probably disbanded in the middle 1950s.
References[]
- ↑ p.138, Lenskii
- ↑ p.23, Perechen No.4 Headquarters of Corps, Soviet General Staff, Moscow, 1956
- ↑ The type of this corps is not certain. May have been a Rifle Corps, Light Rifle Corps, or Light Mountain Rifle Corps. Previously with the 50th Army as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (3 October 1943 - 31 December 1943) Елисеев Е.П. На белостокском направлении. М., 1971; Максимов М. Д. Дорогами мужества. Изд. 2-е. Тула, 1968. Н. Т. Конашенко.
- ↑ Feskov et al. 2004 and (Russian) http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=191077
Sources[]
- Lenskii, Ground forces of RKKA in the pre-war years: a reference (Сухопутные силы РККА в предвоенные годы. Справочник.) — St Petersburg, B & K, 2000
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The original article can be found at 14th Army (Soviet Union) and the edit history here.