37th Army (Soviet Union)

The 37th Army was an Army-level formation of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The army was formed twice during the war. The army was part of the Southern Group of Forces in Romania and Bulgaria.

37th Army (1941–1946) 10th Mechanized Army (1946–1947)
Active	10 August – 15 November 1941 25 September 1941 – 1947
Disbanded	1947
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Size	Army
Engagements	Battle of Kiev (1941) Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Offensive North Caucasian Strategic Offensive Odessa Offensive Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Andrey Vlasov

First formation

The 37th Army first formed on 10 August 1941 in the Southwestern Front with the command group from the Kiev Fortified Region and other reserves in front reserves.

Upon formation the army took up defensive positions to the west of Kiev and on the left bank of the Dnieper River. During the defense of Kiev the army suffered serious losses against superior German forces. The army was surrounded in the city of Kiev and was ordered to break out on 19 September. Individual units of the army were able to break out and joined forces with the front. Many of the other units of the army were destroyed. The army was disbanded on 25 September 1941.

Composition

The army had the following units assigned when formed:

147th Rifle Division

171st Rifle Division

175th Rifle Division

206th Rifle Division

284th Rifle Division

295th Rifle Division

Artillery and other units.

Second Formation

The army was reformed on 15 November 1941 in the Southern Front for a counterattack in the Rostov area against the German 1st Panzer Army. These actions facilitated the 9th and 56th Armies liberation of Rostov-on-Don. The army took part in the Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Offensive from 18–31 January 1942 with the goal of destroying the German Army in southern Ukraine.

The army conducted defensive operations during the summer and fall of 1942 in reaction to German operations in the Southern Soviet Union. The army was transferred from the Southern Front to the Don Group of the North Caucasian Front (I Formation) in late July and then the Transcaucasian Front in August 1942.

As part of the North Caucasian Strategic Offensive in January 1943 the army liberated the towns of Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, Essentuki and Cherkessk. The army was transferred to the North Caucasian Front(II Formation) on 24 January to participate in the Krasnodar Offensive. In July the army forces were reassigned to the 9th and 56th Armies and the 37th Army was placed under STAVKA control.

On 7 September 1943 the army was assigned to the Steppe Front. The army took part in the liberation of the Left-bank Ukraine east of Kremenchug. In late September it crossed the Dnieper River west of Keleberda and northwest of Mishurin Rog. From October to December the army was involved in offensive operations in the Krivoy Rog area.

Assigned to the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 15 January 1944. Participated in the Odessa Offensive in conjunction with the 46th Army. From 8 August, the army participated in the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive and in September the liberation of Bulgaria. By the end of September, its troops reached the area of Kazanlak, Yambol, and Burgas, where the army's combat history ended. The army remained in Bulgaria as a garrison for the rest of the war, and was redesignated the 37th Separate Army on 15 December.[1]

Composition

The army had the following units assigned when formed:

51st Rifle Division

96th Rifle Division

99th Rifle Division

216th Rifle Division

253rd Rifle Division

295th Rifle Division

Forces assigned on 7 September 1943 upon attachment to the Steppe Front:

57th Rifle Corps

82nd Rifle Corps

53rd Rifle Division

Forces assigned at the end of the war.[2]

34th Rifle Corps

259th Rifle Division

353rd Rifle Division

394th Rifle Division

66th Rifle Corps

195th Rifle Division

244th Rifle Division

333rd Rifle Division

82nd Rifle Corps

28th Guards Rifle Division

92nd Guards Rifle Division

188th Rifle Division

255th Naval Rifle Brigade

35th Antiaircraft Artillery Division

Artillery, tank and engineer units.

Post-war

The army was stationed in Bulgaria with its headquarters at Sofia as part of the Southern Group of Forces from 10 June 1945. It was redesignated as the 10th Mechanized Army on 10 June 1946, and included four divisions: the 2nd Guards, 4th Guards, 19th, and 21st Mechanized Divisions. The 2nd Guards Mechanized Division at Craiova was the former 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps, the 4th Guards Mechanized Division at Sofia was the former 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, the 19th Mechanized Division at Plovdiv was the former 244th Rifle Division, and the 21st Mechanized Division at Burgas was the former 223rd Rifle Division. In July, the 21st Mechanized was withdrawn to the Soviet Union, leaving the army with only three divisions. The army was disbanded on 15 June 1947, along with its 19th Mechanized Division, after the signing of the peace treaties with Romania and Bulgaria.[3]

Commanders

The army's first formation was commanded by the following officer:[1]

• Major General Andrey Vlasov (July–September 1941)

The army's second formation was commanded by the following officers:[1]

• Major General (Promoted to Lieutenant General March 1942) Anton Lopatin (October 1941 – June 1942)
• Major General Pyotr Kozlov (June 1942 – May 1943)
• Lieutenant General Konstantin Koroteev (May – July 1943)
• Major General Alexander Filatov (July – August 1943)
• Major General Alexander Ryzhov (August 1943)
• Lieutenant General Mikhail Sharokhin (August 1943 – October 1944)
• Colonel General Sergey Biryuzov (October 1944 – May 1946)

The 10th Mechanized Army was commanded by the following officers.[3]

• Lieutenant General Ivan Korchagin (12 June – 5 August 1946)
• Colonel General Sergey Biryuzov (August 1946 – 15 June 1947)

References

Citations

1. "37-я армия" [37th Army] (in Russian). Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
2. Merchand, Vol. XXIII pg.50
3. Feskov et al 2013, p. 423.

Bibliography

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, Valery; Kalashnikov, Konstantin; Slugin, Sergei (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• Marchand, Jean-Luc (2011). Order of Battle Soviet Army World War, 24 Volumes. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, Inc.