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The 5th Shock Army was a Red Army field army of the Second World War. The army was formed on 9 December 1942 by redesignating the 10th Reserve Army. The army was formed two time prior to this with neither formation lasting more than a month before being redesignated.

5th Shock Army (1942-1946)
Red Army badge
Active 9 December 192 - December 1946
Disbanded December 1946
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
Size Army
Part of Stalingrad Front
Southwestern Front Front
4th Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front
1st Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany
Engagements Battle of Stalingrad
Rostov operations
Liberation of Left Bank and Right Bank Ukraine,
Jassy–Kishinev Offensive
Vistula–Oder Offensive
Battle of Berlin

History[]

The 5th Shock Army was formed on 9 December 1942 on the basis of the 10th Reserve Army which was assigned to the Stavka reserves at the time. The composition of the army on formation was:

87th Rifle Division
300th Rifle Division
315th Rifle Division
4th Mechanized Corps
7th Tank Corps
additional artillery and support units.

Combat History[]

1942-43[]

As part of the Stalingrad Front with 26 December 1942 Southwestern Front participated in the defeat of the enemy force during Operation Uranus.

Composition on 1 January 1943:[1]

4th Guards Rifle Division
258th Rifle Division
315th Rifle Division
5th Destroyer Brigade
3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
5th Guards Cavalry Division
6th Guards Cavalry Division
32nd Cavalry Division
152nd Mortar Regiment
8th Cavalry Artillery Battalion
3rd Guards Tank Destroyer Battalion
274th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment
1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment
507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
764th Tank Destroyer Regiment
21st Guards Mortar Regiment
1068th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment (2nd Antiaircraft Artillery Division)
258th Engineer Battalion
827th Engineer Battalion

Transferred to the new Southern Front (former Stalingrad Front) took part in the Salsk-Rostov Offensive and as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front and in August 1943 finally succeeded in breaking through the German Mius-Front defensive line on the river Mius, participated in the Lower Dnieper Offensive's Melitopol Offensive operations.

Composition on 1 August 1943:[2]

31st Guards Rifle Corps
4th Guards Rifle Division
34th Guards Rifle Division
40th Guards Rifle Division
96th Guards Rifle Division
126th Rifle Division
127th Rifle Division
221st Rifle Division
315th Rifle Division
1st Guards Destroyer Brigade
506th Gun Artillery Regiment
1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment
331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment
8th Antitank Artillery Brigade
15th Antitank Artillery Brigade
491st Tank Destroyer Regiment
507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
489th Mortar Regiment
15th Antiaircraft Artillery Division
342nd Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
723rd Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
1264th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
1617th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
32nd Guards Tank Brigade
22nd Separate Guards Tank Regiment
28th Armored Train Battalion
43rd Special-Designation Engineer Brigade
258th Engineer Battalion
827th Engineer Battalion

1944[]

In 1944 as part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the army took part in the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and in the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive.

Composition as of 1 August 1944:[3]

10th Guards Rifle Corps
49th Guards Rifle Division
86th Guards Rifle Division
109th Guards Rifle Division
32nd Rifle Corps
60th Guards Rifle Division
295th Rifle Division
416th Rifle Division
248th Rifle Division
266th Rifle Division
44th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade
92nd Corps Artillery Regiment
507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
521st Tank Destroyer Regiment
489th Mortar Regiment
1617th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade

In early September the army was transferred to STAVKA reserves, put in reserve the Supreme Command, relocated to the area of ​​Kovel Ukraine and on 30 October 1944 transferred to the 1st Belorussian Front.

1945[]

In 1945 the army took part in the Warsaw-Poznan Offensive and Berlin Strategic Offensive operations.

During the final assault on Berlin the army was heavily reinforced and composed of:[4]

Rifle

26th Guards Rifle Corps
89th Guards Rifle Division
94th Guards Rifle Division
266th Rifle Division
9th Rifle Corps
230th Rifle Division
248th Rifle Division
301st Rifle Division
32nd Rifle Corps
60th Guards Rifle Division
295th Rifle Division
416th Rifle Division

Artillery

6th Artillery Penetration Corps
2nd Artillery Penetration Division
20th Light Artillery Brigade
16th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade
4th Guards Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade
121st High-Power Howitzer Artillery Brigade
5th Mortar Brigade
68th Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion
14th Artillery Penetration Division
169th Light Artillery Brigade
172nd Howitzer Artillery Brigade
176th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade
122nd High-Power Howitzer Artillery Brigade
21st Heavy Mortar Brigade
24th Mortar Brigade
6th Guards Mortar Brigade
112th Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion
44th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade
97th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division)
124th Howitzer Artillery Brigade
32nd Special-power Artillery Battalion
322nd Special-power Artillery Battalion
331st Special-power Artillery Battalion
3rd Guards Antitank Artillery Brigade
4th Guards Antitank Artillery Brigade
39th Antitank Artillery Brigade
507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
35th Guards Mortar Brigade
32nd Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division)
6th Heavy Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division)
489th Mortar Regiment
2nd Guards Mortar Brigade
25th Guards Mortar Brigade
41st Guards Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division)
37th Guards Mortar Regiment
92nd Guards Mortar Regiment
2nd Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Division
302nd Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
303rd Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
304th Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
306th Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
1617th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
4th Separate Artillery Observation Balloon Battalion

Armor and Engineers

11th Tank Corps
20th Tank Brigade
36th Tank Brigade
65th Tank Brigade
12th Motorized Rifle Brigade
50th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment
1071st Light Artillery Regiment
1461st SU Regiment
1493rd SU Regiment
93rd Motorcycle Battalion
243rd Mortar Regiment
115th Guards Mortar Battalion
1388th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
220th Tank Brigade
11th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade
67th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade
92nd Engineer Tank Regiment
396th Guards Heavy SU Regiment
1504th SU Regiment
61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade
8th Flamethrower Battalion

Post War Occupation[]

The army took part in the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945.

The 5th Shock Army was assigned occupation duties in eastern Germany and responsible for securing the Berlin area. When the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed the army was composed of:

9th Rifle Corps
248th Rifle Division
301st Rifle Division
26th Guard Rifle Corps
89th Guard Rifle Division
94th Guard Rifle Division
266th Rifle Division
32nd Rifle Corps
60th Guards Rifle Division
295th Rifle Division
416th Rifle Division
230th Rifle Division
three independent tank brigades

The army was disbanded in December 1946.

Commanders[]

  • Lieutenant General Markian Popov - (December 1942)
  • Lieutenant General V.D. Tsvetayev (Colonel General Sept 1943) - (December 1942 - May 1944)
  • Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Colonel General, April 1945) - (May 1944 - 16 June 1945) (His death while Berlin Commandant)
  • Colonel General Alexander Gorbatov - (June 1945 - 1946)

References[]

  1. Marchand Vol. 9, pg. 26-7
  2. Marchand Vol. 12, pg. 115-6
  3. Marchand, Vol. 18, pg. 125
  4. Marchand, Vol. 23, pg.19-20
  • Military Encyclopedic Dictionary. M .: Military Publishing, 1984. 863 pp.
  • The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: Reference Dictionary. M .: Politizdat, 1988.
  • Marchand, Jean-Luc. Order of Battle Soviet Army World War 2. The Nafziger Collection, 24 Volumes

External links[]


All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at 5th Shock Army and the edit history here.
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