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The 5th Shock Army was a Red Army field army of World War II. The army was formed on 9 December 1942 by redesignating the 10th Reserve Army. The army was formed two times prior to this with neither formation lasting more than a month before being redesignated.
| 5th Shock Army (1942–46) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 9 December 1942 – December 1946 |
| Disbanded | December 1946 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Size | Army |
| Part of | Stalingrad Front Southwestern Front 4th Ukrainian Front 3rd Ukrainian Front 1st Belorussian Front 3rd Belorussian Front Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany |
| Engagements | Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Rostov (1943) Liberation of Left Bank and Right Bank Ukraine, Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Berlin |
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The 5th Shock Army was formed on December 8, 1942, based upon the headquarters of the 10th Reserve Army, which was assigned to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command at the time. It was formed within Stalingrad Front, and was brought together in the remarkably short span of four days (December 9–12). Its first commanding officer was Lt. General M.M. Popov.[1] The composition of the army on formation was:
- 87th Rifle Division
- 7th Tank Corps
- 23rd Tank Corps, all from the reserves of Stalingrad Front;
- 300th Rifle Division
- 315th Rifle Division, both from 51st Army;
- 4th Mechanized Corps, from 57th Army;
- 4th Guards Rifle Division
- 258th Rifle Division
- 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, all from 5th Tank Army;
- Additional artillery and support units.
After the German 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad it was apparent to both sides that there were two possible routes that a German relief operation could follow: from the west from the area of the confluence of the Don and Chir Rivers; or from the southwest from the area around Kotelnikovo. As the distance from the west was significantly shorter than from the southwest, 5th Shock was formed specifically to counter the former threat, which it successfully carried out over the next two weeks.[2]
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1942–1943
Assigned to the Stalingrad Front, on 26 December 1942 the unit participated in Operation Saturn. Its composition on 1 January 1943 was as follows:[3]
- 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 Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment (2nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Division)
- 258th Engineer Battalion
- 827th Engineer Battalion
Transferred to the new Southern Front (the former Stalingrad Front), the army took part in the Salsk-Rostov Offensive as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front. In August 1943, it finally succeeded in breaking through the German Mius-Front defensive line on the river Mius, after which it participated in the Melitopol Offensive during the Battle of the Dnieper.[citation needed]
On 1 August 1943, the army was composed of the following formations:[4]
- 31st Guards Rifle Corps
- 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 Anti-tank Artillery Brigade
- 15th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade
- 491st Tank Destroyer Regiment
- 507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
- 489th Mortar Regiment
- 15th Anti-aircraft Artillery Division
- 342nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 723rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 1264th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 1617th Anti-aircraft 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. On 1 August 1944, the unit consisted of the following formations:[5]
- 10th Guards Rifle Corps
- 32nd Rifle Corps
- 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 Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade
In early September the army was transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, relocated to the area of Kovel, in Ukraine, and on 30 October 1944 it was transferred to the 1st Belorussian Front.[citation needed]
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:[6]
|
Rifle |
Artillery
|
Armor and Engineers
|
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The army took part in the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945. The 5th Shock Army was then assigned occupation duties in eastern Germany and was responsible for securing the Berlin area. When the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed the army was composed of:[citation needed]
- 26th Guards Rifle Corps
- 32nd Rifle Corps
- 230th Rifle Division
- three Separate Tank Brigades
The army was disbanded in December 1946.[7]
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- Lieutenant General Markian Popov: (December 1942)
- Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Tsvetayev (Colonel General, Sept 1943): (December 1942 – May 1944)
- Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Colonel General, April 1945): (May 1944 – 16 June 1945) (died while Berlin Commandant)
- Colonel General Alexander Gorbatov: (June 1945 – 1946)
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