27th Army (Soviet Union)

27th Army
Active	May 1941 – 1946
Country	USSR
Branch	Red Army
Type	Field Army
Part of	Northwestern Front
Engagements	World War II Baltic Operation Operation Barbarossa Demyansk Pocket Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944) Battle of Debrecen Vienna Offensive
Disbanded	1946
Commanders
Notable commanders	Nikolai Berzarin

The 27th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, which fought in World War II. First formed in May 1941. Initial commander was Nikolai Berzarin. Took part in Battles in the Baltic. On 22 June 1941 it consisted of the 22nd and 24th Rifle Corps, 16th and 67th Rifle Divisions, 3rd Separate Rifle Brigade, two artillery regiments, and two anti-tank regiments.^[1] It became part of Northwestern Front on the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa.

From 30 June 1941 elements of the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps were tasked to 1 July 1941 to focus on the front of overseeding, Hills, except Porkhov. Part of the case to make for stubborn defense front in the south-west and south. On 1 July 1941 the corps concentrated in Porkhov, overseeding, Hills, completely took up defensive positions only by 8 July 1941 at the turn of the Riverlands (45 kilometers south-east of Pskov a), Vertoguzovo (30 kilometers south-west of Porkhov a), Zhgilevo (40 kilometers north of Novorzhev a), is involved in exploration in the island a. Corps headquarters are located 3 kilometers west of the village Pazherevitsy. On 7–8 July 1941 battles took place with advanced German reconnaissance elements 9 July 1941 in the evening clash with attack from the area in the direction of Shmoilova Porkhov and from the area in the direction of Bukhara Dedovichi.

During the fighting, 9–10 July 1941 mass desertions of the 22nd Corps' Estonian personnel took place to the enemy. Among the famous defectors was the Deputy Chief of Operations, Division Staff 180th Rifle Division, Ain-Ervin Mere. 11.10 in July 1941 is fighting for Porkhov. On 10 July 1941 the 111th Motorized Division broke the defense of the 182nd Rifle Division at the station seeding and 11 July 1941 of the case finally left the city, and partly moved to the east bank of the river Shelon, where the defense took the 182nd Rifle Division - east Porkhov, 180th Rifle Division - to the south at the turn of the Red Porkhov Korchilovo, Logovino, Vyshegorod . 12 July 1941. The 182nd Rifle Division was fighting against troops of the enemy trying to break through to Dno.

On 15 August 1941 the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps, participating in the counterattack, come from the area Parfino at Staraya Russa, to 17 August 1941 corps troops liberated most of the city, but failed to take the city completely. 20–21 August 1941 part of the body left Staraya Russa. On 22 August 1941, after the re-crossing on the eastern shore of the Lovat corpus derived from the direct control of fights, with 31 August 1941 is not listed as part of the army. 22 September 1941 the headquarters of the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps was disbanded.

From June to October 1941 the 27th Army fought on the Dvina River, during the Staraya Russa offensive, and at Kholm and Demyansk. By 1 November 1941 the army's forces had been reduced to the 23rd and 33rd Rifle Divisions, the 613th Artillery Regiment of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), the 28th Tank Division, and three Battalions of engineers.^[2]

In December 1941 the first formation of the army was renamed the 4th Shock Army.

The army was formed for a second time in May 1942, within the Northwestern Front, consisting of five rifle divisions. In April 1943 it was moved into Stavka reserve. From July 1943, it participated in many famous battles, assigned to the Steppe Front, then the Voronezh Front, in the Belgorod-Kharkov operation and the Bukrina bridgehead. From October 1943, it fought in the Kiev offensive (with 1st Ukrainian Front). Thereafter, assigned to the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front, it was part of the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, the Korsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensive, Uman-Botoshany, Iassy-Kishinev Offensive, the Battle of Debrecen, and the Vienna Offensive.^[3]

Indications suggest the army was disbanded in 1946.^[4]

Notes

1. "Order of Battle, 27th Army, 22 June 1941". Orbat.com. Retrieved 2010-03-21. (Leo Niehorster)
2. "Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 November 1941". Tashv.nm.ru. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
3. Bonn, Keith E.; David Glantz; et al. (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Bedford, Pennsylvania: Aberjona Press. p. 318. ISBN 0-9717650-9-X.
4. Feskov, V.I.; K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov. (2004). The Soviet Army in the Years of the 'Cold War' (1945–1991). Tomsk: Tomsk University Press. p. 44. ISBN 5-7511-1819-7.

References

• Bonn, Keith E.; David Glantz; et al. (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Bedford, Pennsylvania: Aberjona Press. ISBN 0-9717650-9-X.