5th Shock Army

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)
Active9 December 1942 – December 1946
DisbandedDecember 1946
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army
SizeArmy
Part ofStalingrad Front
Southwestern Front
4th Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front
1st Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany
EngagementsBattle of Stalingrad
Battle of Rostov (1943)
Liberation of Left Bank and Right Bank Ukraine,
Jassy–Kishinev Offensive
Vistula–Oder Offensive
Battle of Berlin

Formation

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:

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]

Operational history

1942–43

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.

On 1 August 1943, the army was composed of the following formations:[4]

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 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
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 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.

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]

Post war occupation

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:

  • 230th Rifle Division
  • three Separate Tank Brigades

The army was disbanded in December 1946.[7]

Commanders
gollark: No.
gollark: We also don't produce them.
gollark: There are safety issues associated with this.
gollark: Maybe you're just observing badly.
gollark: No, we use Haskell.

References
  1. David M. Glantz, Companion to Endgame at Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pg. 272
  2. David M. Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 26-27, 58-60
  3. Marchand Vol. 9, pg. 26–7
  4. Marchand Vol. 12, pg. 115–6
  5. Marchand, Vol. 18, pg. 125
  6. Marchand, Vol. 23, pg.19–20
  7. "5-я УДАРНАЯ АРМИЯ" [5th Shock Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  • 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
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