- Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front was a Front (i.e. a military formation of roughly
Army Group size) of theSoviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.General
Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, 'on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three cavalry divisions, and one tank division but many of these formations were badly whittled down by battle losses'. Two other armies fromSoviet Central Front , 21st and 3rd, that had avoided encirclement, were promised but also badly worn down.In late August along with the Western and Reserve Fronts it launched a large but failed counteroffensive in the
Smolensk , El'nia, and Roslavl regions to haltArmy Group Centre 's advance on Moscow. Despite some success by Reserve Front at El'nia, the efforts by Bryansk Front were a failure.On its second formation in mid-late 1941 under Cherevichenko, it was only active for about six months, being redesignated
Voronezh Front on 7 July 1942. By the time ofOperation Blau , the German summer offensive of 1942, the Front comprised the 3rd, 13th, 40th, 48th Armies, the 5th Tank Army, and the 2nd Air Army. [ [http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=88254&highlight= Axis History Forum :: Oob Fall Blau, June 28 1942 ] ] Reformed; disbanded 11/12 March 1943 and HQ became HQ Kursk Front after a short time expecting to be HQ, and basis of new Reserve Front.It was later reformed, and by the time of the
Battle of Kursk the Front consisted of the 11th, 3rd, 4th Tank, 61st, and 63rd Armies. Colonel GeneralMarkian Popov led it to liberate its namesake town in August and September 1943. Reformed from Orel Front 28 March 1943. On 10 October 1943 theSTAVKA incorporated most of the Front's forces into the1st Belorussian Front (former Central) and used Bryansk Front's HQ to form HQ Baltic Front, which then became 2nd Baltic Front.On 1 October 1944 the 2nd Baltic Front consisted of:
*3rd Shock Army
**79th RC (150th, 171st, 207th RD), 100th RC (21G, 28, 200RD)
*10th Guards Army
**7GRC (7, 8, 119GRD), 15GRC (29, 30, 85GRD), 19GRC (22, 56, 65GRD), 78TB
*22nd Army
**93RC (219, 379, 391RD), 130RC (43G, 308RD), 37RD, 155FR, 118TB
*42nd Army
**110RC (2, 168, 268RD), 124RC (48, 123, 256RD), 118FR, 29GTB
*15th Air Army
**14Fighter Aviation Corps (4, 148, 293FigAvR), 188Bomber AvD, 214, 225Assault AvD, 284, 313Fighter-Bomber AvD
*Front Reserve
**5TC (24, 41, 70TB, 5MotRB)Commanders
First Formation
*lieutenant general Yeremenko Andrey Ivanovich (with 16.8.41 on 13.10.41 yr.),
*Major General Zakharov Georgiy Fedorovich (with 14.10.41 on 10.11.41 yr.). Second Formation
*Colonel GeneralYakov Cherevichenko (24.12.1941 to 2.4.1942),
*lieutenant GeneralFilipp Golikov (2.4.1942 to 7.7.1942),
*Lieutenant GeneralNikandr Yevlampyevich Chibisov (7.7.42 to 13.7.1942), (Чибисов Никанор Евлампиевич)
*Lieutenant GeneralKonstantin Rokossovsky (from 14.7.42 to 27.9.1942),
*Colonel General Max Andreevich Reuter (with 28.9.42 to 12.3.1943).References and Sources
*John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, London, 1975
*David Glantz , Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War 1941-43, University Press of Kansas, 2005
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