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The Soviet order of battle for the invasion of Poland in 1939 details the major combat units arrayed for the Soviet surprise attack on Poland on September 17, 1939. As a result of joining battle after the Germans had already launched their invasion, the Soviets, prepared for battle in secrecy, met comparatively limited resistance. Several skirmishes between the German and Soviet forces did occur, but neither government was prepared for starting a larger conflict, and these were soon referred to as "misunderstandings". [1]
Like the Germans, the Soviets employed two primary offensive axes, each managed by a Front. Each Front commander had at his disposal a mobile group of forces created from cavalry and mechanised troops; a precursor of the cavalry-mechanised groups of the Second World War.
The effects of the purge are visible in the ranks of the commanders in the order of battle, with only one Army commander serving in the appropriate rank of Komandarm, in this case 2nd Class (Komandarm 2nd rank, Russian : командарм 2 ранга), the rest serving in being Corps (Komcor) and Divisional (Komdiv) Commander rank (Russian : комкор, комдив)
Komandarm 2nd rank Mikhail Kovalyov
Third Army [lower-alpha 1]
Eleventh Army
| Dzerzhinsk Cavalry-mechanised Group
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Covered southern sector of Polish front
Komandarm 1st rank Semyon Timoshenko
Chief of Staff Kombrig Nikolai Vatutin
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War.
Władysław Albert Anders was a general in the Polish Army and later in life a politician and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London.
Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation, a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing Nazi Germany to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket.
Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky was a Soviet and Polish officer who became a Marshal of the Soviet Union, a Marshal of Poland, and served as Poland's Defence Minister from 1949 until his removal in 1956 during the Polish October. He became one of the most prominent Red Army commanders of World War II.
The Land Forces are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 100,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stretches back a millennium – since the 10th century. Poland's modern army was formed after Poland regained independence following World War I in 1918.
The 3rd Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II.
The 4th Army was a Soviet field army of World War II that served on the Eastern front of World War II and in the Caucasus during the Cold War. It was disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union, with its divisions being withdrawn to Russia and disbanded.
The 5th Combined Arms Red Banner Army is a Russian Ground Forces formation in the Eastern Military District.
A tank corps was a type of Soviet armoured formation used during World War II.
Dmitry Grigoryevich Pavlov was a Soviet general who commanded the key Soviet Western Front during the initial stage of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. After his forces were heavily defeated within the first few days of the campaign, he was relieved of his command, arrested, charged with military incompetence and executed.
A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.
The 12th Army was a field army of the Red Army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.
The Battle of Wilno was fought by the Polish Army against the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, which accompanied the German Invasion of Poland in accordance with Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. On 18–19 September, Soviet forces took over the city of Wilno. Polish forces, concentrated in the west, were relatively weak in the east. The Polish commanders, unsure whether to actively oppose the Soviet entry into Poland, did not use the full defensive capabilities of the town and nearby fortifications, although the outcome of the battle would not have been likely any different, given the overwhelming Soviet numerical superiority.
The Polish Armed Forces in the East, also called Polish Army in the USSR, were the Polish military forces established in the Soviet Union during World War II.
The 90th Guards Tank Division was a division of the Soviet Army, and then of the Russian Ground Forces.
The 2nd Mechanised Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
The 5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division, named on the 60th anniversary of the USSR, was a military formation of the Soviet Ground Forces. It was formed from the 6th Mechanized Corps created in 1940 and destroyed in 1941 in the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The corps was reformed in November 1942 under the same name, but with a different organizational structure. In January 1943, the 6th Mechanized Corps was granted "Guards" status and became the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.
The 32nd Cavalry Division was formed in 1938 in the Kiev Military District from the 1st Zaporozhe Cossack Cavalry Division.
The 29th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army.
The 2nd Cavalry Corps were a corps of the Red Army, formed twice. Originally formed in 1922, the corps served in Ukraine during the Interwar period and fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland. After the German invasion of Soviet Union, the 2nd Cavalry Corps fought in Ukraine and then near Moscow in November 1941. It was then renamed the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps. Recreated in December 1941, it fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov and was disbanded in July 1942.