2nd Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)
Encyclopedia
The 2nd Mechanised Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army
during the Second World War.
Initially formed in June 1940 in response the German victories of 1940 it was attached to the Odessa Military District
, & attached to the 9th Army
in the Odessa
fortified region in Soviet Union
It was under the command of Lieutenant General Iu. V. Novoselsky when the German Operation Barbarossa
began in June 1941. It initially comprised the 11th and 16th Tank Divisions, & the 15th Mechanized Division
.
After the Invasion began the Odessa Military District
was renamed Southern Front
, Commanded by Colonel General I. V. Tiulenev. The front fielded the 9th
and 18th Armies
. The 2nd Mechanized Corps was heavily involved in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa
, taking part with Colonel General A. K. Cherevichenko's 9th Army
in Operation München
to defend Soviet occupied Bessarabia
. Against Generaloberst Schobert
's 11th Army
, which had penetrated Soviet defenses, captured Iassy & reached the Prut River on the first day of action. However after initially withdrawing to behind the Dniester
River on Tiulenev's orders Stavka
ordered 6th Army
& 2nd Mechanized Corps to recapture the Prut River line. By 18 July Schobert
's 11th Army
, had crossed the Dniester
River & Stavka
finally realised that the 6th
, 12th
& 18th
Armies faced encirclement & ordered the 2nd Mechanized Corps to the Uman
region to halt the German advance into Southern Front
's rear. The line was already in German hands & this decision was far too late. Mikhail Kirponos
commander of Southwestern Front
now ordered 26th Army
to wheel about & cover their withdrawal & for 6th & 12th Armies to attack eastwards to meet up. By 20 July, 2nd Mechanized Corps was holding open a narrow corridor upon to the east between LVIII Panzer Corps & 17th Army
. 2 days later the trap was shut & although the 2nd Mechanized Corps tried to free the surrounded armies on 8 August the fighting was over & 107,000 officers & men, including Generals Pondelin & Muzychenko, 4 corps commanders & 11 division commanders, 286 tanks & 953 guns were captured. Another two corps commanders & six division commanders perished in the fighting. 2nd Mechanized Corps was largely destroyed & was dissolved a short time later.
's & 60 of the newer T-34
& KV-1 models.On 22 July 1941 2nd Mechanized Corps consisted of 11th Tank Division 181 (81 Operational) tanks, 1070 vehicles & 71 tractors. 16th Tank Division with 99 tanks, 870 vehicles & 16 tractors & 15th Mechanized Division with 188 (102 operational) tanks no vehicles & 122 tractors.
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during the Second World War.
Initially formed in June 1940 in response the German victories of 1940 it was attached to the Odessa Military District
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District was a military administrative division of the Imperial Russian military, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was known under such name from around 1862 to 1998. It was reorganized as part of the Military of Ukraine and the Military of Moldova in...
, & attached to the 9th Army
9th Army (Soviet Union)
The 9th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a Soviet field army, active from 1939 – 43, and then after the war from 1966 to 1989.It was active during the Winter War against Finland as part of the Leningrad Military District, beginning operations at the end of November 1939 under ComKor M.P....
in the Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
fortified region in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
It was under the command of Lieutenant General Iu. V. Novoselsky when the German Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
began in June 1941. It initially comprised the 11th and 16th Tank Divisions, & the 15th Mechanized Division
15th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
The 15th Rifle Division was a military formation of the Red Army formed by renaming the Red Army's Inzensk Revolutionary Division on 30 April 1919...
.
After the Invasion began the Odessa Military District
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District was a military administrative division of the Imperial Russian military, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was known under such name from around 1862 to 1998. It was reorganized as part of the Military of Ukraine and the Military of Moldova in...
was renamed Southern Front
Southern Front
The Southern Front is a geographical area where armies are engaged in conflict* The Soviet Southern Front was one of the Soviet Fronts in WWII*Southern Front...
, Commanded by Colonel General I. V. Tiulenev. The front fielded the 9th
9th Army (Soviet Union)
The 9th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a Soviet field army, active from 1939 – 43, and then after the war from 1966 to 1989.It was active during the Winter War against Finland as part of the Leningrad Military District, beginning operations at the end of November 1939 under ComKor M.P....
and 18th Armies
18th Army (Soviet Union)
The 18th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was formed on 21 June 1941 on the basis of HQ Kharkov Military District and armies of the Kiev Special Military District.The Army's commander in 1941 was General-Leitenant Andrew Kirilovych Smirnov...
. The 2nd Mechanized Corps was heavily involved in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, taking part with Colonel General A. K. Cherevichenko's 9th Army
9th Army (Soviet Union)
The 9th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a Soviet field army, active from 1939 – 43, and then after the war from 1966 to 1989.It was active during the Winter War against Finland as part of the Leningrad Military District, beginning operations at the end of November 1939 under ComKor M.P....
in Operation München
Operation München
Operation München was the codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive in World War II, with the primary objective of re-capturing Bessarabia, ceded by Romania to the Soviet Union a year before. The operation concluded successfully after 24 days of fighting.Axis formations involved included the...
to defend Soviet occupied Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
. Against Generaloberst Schobert
Eugen Ritter von Schobert
Eugen Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert was a German general who served in World War I and World War II. He died in the Soviet Union when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield.-Early life:...
's 11th Army
11th Army (Germany)
The 11th Army was a World War I and a World War II field army.-World War I:The 11th Army was formed in early 1915. It briefly fought on the Western Front during the Battle of Ypres, holding the line against the allied attack...
, which had penetrated Soviet defenses, captured Iassy & reached the Prut River on the first day of action. However after initially withdrawing to behind the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
River on Tiulenev's orders Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
ordered 6th Army
6th Army (Soviet Union)
The 6th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army formed four times during World War II and active with the Russian Ground Forces up until 1998...
& 2nd Mechanized Corps to recapture the Prut River line. By 18 July Schobert
Eugen Ritter von Schobert
Eugen Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert was a German general who served in World War I and World War II. He died in the Soviet Union when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield.-Early life:...
's 11th Army
11th Army (Germany)
The 11th Army was a World War I and a World War II field army.-World War I:The 11th Army was formed in early 1915. It briefly fought on the Western Front during the Battle of Ypres, holding the line against the allied attack...
, had crossed the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
River & Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
finally realised that the 6th
6th Army (Soviet Union)
The 6th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army formed four times during World War II and active with the Russian Ground Forces up until 1998...
, 12th
12th Army (Soviet Union)
The Soviet Union's 12th Army was a field army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.-Civil War & Polish-Soviet War:...
& 18th
18th Army (Soviet Union)
The 18th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was formed on 21 June 1941 on the basis of HQ Kharkov Military District and armies of the Kiev Special Military District.The Army's commander in 1941 was General-Leitenant Andrew Kirilovych Smirnov...
Armies faced encirclement & ordered the 2nd Mechanized Corps to the Uman
Uman
Uman is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. The city rests on the banks of the Umanka River at around , and serves as the self-governing administrative center of the Umanskyi Raion ....
region to halt the German advance into Southern Front
Southern Front
The Southern Front is a geographical area where armies are engaged in conflict* The Soviet Southern Front was one of the Soviet Fronts in WWII*Southern Front...
's rear. The line was already in German hands & this decision was far too late. Mikhail Kirponos
Mikhail Kirponos
Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos was a Soviet Ukrainian general of the Red Army. Being accorded the highest military decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union title, for the skill and courage in commanding a division in the 1939-1940 Finnish campaign, Kirponos is mostly remembered for his crucial role...
commander of Southwestern Front
Southwestern Front
Southwestern front may refer to one of the following.*A Southwestern front, a particular geographical area where armies are engaged in conflict* The Soviet Southwestern Front, one of the Soviet Fronts in World War Two...
now ordered 26th Army
26th Army (Soviet Union)
The 26th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, active from 1941.- Operational history :...
to wheel about & cover their withdrawal & for 6th & 12th Armies to attack eastwards to meet up. By 20 July, 2nd Mechanized Corps was holding open a narrow corridor upon to the east between LVIII Panzer Corps & 17th Army
17th Army (Germany)
The German Seventeenth Army was a World War II field army.-Commanding officers:* General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel * Generaloberst Hermann Hoth...
. 2 days later the trap was shut & although the 2nd Mechanized Corps tried to free the surrounded armies on 8 August the fighting was over & 107,000 officers & men, including Generals Pondelin & Muzychenko, 4 corps commanders & 11 division commanders, 286 tanks & 953 guns were captured. Another two corps commanders & six division commanders perished in the fighting. 2nd Mechanized Corps was largely destroyed & was dissolved a short time later.
Footnotes
On 22 June 1941 2nd Mechanized Corps consisted 32,396 Men, 517 Tanks, 186 Armoured Cars, 162 Artillery Pieces, 189 Mortars, 3794 Vehicles, 266 Tractors & 375 Motorcycles including lighter models T-26, Bt 7, & T-28T-28
The Soviet T-28 was among the world's first medium tanks. The prototype was completed in 1931 and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry-support tank intended to break through fortified defences...
's & 60 of the newer T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
& KV-1 models.On 22 July 1941 2nd Mechanized Corps consisted of 11th Tank Division 181 (81 Operational) tanks, 1070 vehicles & 71 tractors. 16th Tank Division with 99 tanks, 870 vehicles & 16 tractors & 15th Mechanized Division with 188 (102 operational) tanks no vehicles & 122 tractors.
Further reading
- Brian Taylor, Barbarossa To Berlin A Chronology of the Campaigns on the Eastern Front 1941 to 1945, 2003, Spellmount Ltd, ISBN 1-86227-206-9
- David GlantzDavid GlantzDavid M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
(1998), 'Stumbling Colossus - The Red Army On The Eve of World War', Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0879-6 - David GlantzDavid GlantzDavid M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
(2003), 'Before Stalingrad Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941', Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2692-3 - Christer Bergstrom, (2007) 'Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July-December 1941, Ian Allan Publishing.ISBN 1-85780-270-5