Battle of Kursk order of battle
The Battle of Kursk order of battle is a list of the significant units that fought in the Battle of Kursk between July and August 1943.
Units smaller than division size and Soviet aviation divisions are not shown in this order of battle.
German
Army Group Centre (Günther von Kluge)
Army Group South (Erich von Manstein)
4th Panzer Army (Hermann Hoth)
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Army Detachment Kempf (Werner Kempf)
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Army Group Reserve
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Luftwaffe
- Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Fleet) (Otto Deßloch as both commander-in-chief and chief of staff[1]) - Air support for Army Group South[2]
- VIII Fliegerkorps (8th Air Corps)
- Luftflotte 6 (6th Air Fleet) (Robert Ritter von Greim as commander-in-chief and Friedrich Kless as chief of staff[3]) - Air support for Army Group Center[2]
- 1. Flieger Division (1st Air Division)
Soviet
Western Front
The following units were included in the Western Front, commanded by Colonel General Vasily Sokolovsky.[4]
50th ArmyThe 50th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Boldin and included the following units.[5]
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11th Guards ArmyThe 11th Guards Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Bagramyan, and included the following units.[6]
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1st Air ArmyThe 1st Air Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mikhail Gromov, included the following units.[7]
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Front assetsThe following units were directly subordinated to the front.[8]
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Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front was commanded by Colonel General Markian Popov, and consisted of the following units.[9]
3rd ArmyThe 3rd Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Alexander Gorbatov, and included the following units.[10]
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61st ArmyThe 61st Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Pavel Belov and included the following units.[11]
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63rd ArmyThe 63rd Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Vladimir Kolpakchi, and included the following units.[12]
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15th Air ArmyThe 15th Air Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Nikolai Naumenko, and included the following units.[12]
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Front AssetsThe following units were directly subordinated to the front.[13]
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Central Front
The Central Front was commanded by Army General Konstantin Rokossovsky, and consisted of the following units:[14]
13th ArmyThe 13th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Nikolai Pukhov, and included the following units:[15]
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48th ArmyThe 48th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Prokofy Romanenko, and including the following units:[16]
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60th ArmyThe 60th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Chernyakhovsky and included the following units:[17]
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65th ArmyThe 65th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Pavel Batov, and was composed of the following units:[18]
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70th ArmyThe 70th Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Galanin, and included the following units:[19]
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2nd Tank ArmyThe 2nd Tank Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Alexey Rodin, who was replaced by Lieutenant General Semyon Bogdanov on 2 August. It consisted of the following units:[20]
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16th Air ArmyThe 16th Air Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Sergei Rudenko, and included the following units:[21]
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Front AssetsThe following units were directly subordinated to the front:[22]
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Voronezh Front (Nikolai Vatutin)
6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistyakov)
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7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)
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38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)
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40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)
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69th Army (Vasily Kryuchenkin)
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1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)
2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)
Front Assets
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Steppe Front
The following units were part of the Steppe Front, commanded by Ivan Konev. The front was formed from the Steppe Military District on 9 July,[23] to serve as a reserve if the German attack broke through and to provide fresh troops for a counterattack to begin as soon as the German attack was halted. This order of battle does not show the complete composition of the Steppe Front. In addition to the units listed below, there were also the 4th Guards, 27th, 47th and 53rd Armies.[24] The 4th Guards,[25] 27th, 47th, and the 53rd Armies were held in reserve during the battle and thus did not participate.[26] The 5th Guards Army and the 5th Guards Army were both committed to the counterattack in the Battle of Prokhorovka, where they fought as part of the Voronezh Front.[27]
5th Guards Army
The following units were part of the 5th Guards Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Alexey Zhadov. The 10th Tank Corps was directly subordinated to the front on 7 July and became part of the 1st Tank Army on 8 July. Also on 8 July, the 5th Guards Army was transferred to the Voronezh Front.[28]
- 32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Major General Aleksandr Rodimtsev)[29]
- 13th Guards Rifle Division
- 66th Guards Rifle Division
- 6th Guards Airborne Division
- 33rd Guards Rifle Corps (Major General Iosif Popov)
- 95th Guards Rifle Division
- 97th Guards Rifle Division
- 9th Guards Airborne Division
- Independent 42nd Guards Rifle Division
- Independent 10th Tank Corps (Major General Vasily Burkov)
- Independent 29th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
5th Guards Tank Army
The 5th Guards Tank Army consisted of the following units, under the command of Lieutenant General Pavel Rotmistrov. The 18th Tank Corps joined the army from the Reserve of the High Command on 7 July. The army was transferred to the Voronezh Front on 11 July.[30]
- 5th Guards Mechanized Corps (Major General Boris Skvortsov)
- 18th Tank Corps (Major General Boris Bakharov)
- 29th Tank Corps (Major General Ivan Kirichenko)
- Independent 6th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
5th Air Army
The 5th Air Army included the following units, and was commanded by Lieutenant General Sergei Goryunov.[31] It entered combat in mid-July.[32]
- 7th Mixed Aviation Corps (Major General Pyotr Arkhangelsky)
- 8th Mixed Aviation Corps (Major General Nikolai Kamanin)
- 3rd Fighter Aviation Corps (Major General Yevgeny Savitsky)
- 7th Fighter Aviation Corps (Major General Aleksandr Utin)
Citations
- Holm, Michael. "Luftflotte 4". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
- Clark 2012, p. 200.
- Holm, Michael. "Luftflotte 6". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 290.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 290–291.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 291–293.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 293.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 293–295.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 295.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 295–296.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 296–297.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 297.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 298–299.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 299.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 299–301.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 301–302.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 302.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 302–303.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 303–304.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 304.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 305.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 305–306.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 322.
- Clark 2012, p. 204.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 244.
- Dunn 2008, pp. 75–78.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 113.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 323–324.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 323.
- Glantz & House 2004, pp. 326–327.
- Glantz & House 2004, p. 328.
- Zetterling & Frankson 2000, p. 75.
References
- Clark, Lloyd (2012). Kursk: The Greatest Battle: Eastern Front 1943. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-3639-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Dunn, Walter S. (2008) [1997]. Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943. Mechanicsburg, PA, USA: Stackpole. ISBN 9781461751229.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Zetterling, Niklas; Frankson, Anders (2000). Kursk 1943: A Statistical Analysis. Cass Series on the Soviet (Russian) Study of War. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5052-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Frankson, Anders; Niklas Zetterling (2002). "Styrkorna inför den tyska offensiven". Slaget om Kursk. Stockholm: Norstedts Förlag. ISBN 91-1-301078-6.
- Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan M. (2004) [1999]. The Battle of Kursk. Lawrence, KS, USA: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1335-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)