42nd Rifle Corps

History

Management of the corps was formed in February 1941 in the Leningrad Military District .

In the army from 06/22/1941 to 10/14/1941 .

On June 22 , 1941 , the corps administration was in Kandalaksha . The divisions that were part of the corps were located at that time as follows: the 122nd Infantry Division directly on the state border from the area west of Alakurtti in the north to the border of the Arctic Circle in the south. The 104th Infantry Division was stationed south, in the area of Louhi station.

The 122nd Infantry Division entered the battle of the first of the corps' units, acting together with the 1st Panzer Division deployed from Pskov , reflecting the attack of the enemy group on the Kandalaksha direction along the Kuolayärvi – Kandalaksha railway and highway. The German 36th Army Corps, together with the forces of the Finnish 6th Infantry Division, acted against the division . In addition, the group included the Finnish 40th and 211st Special Purpose Tank Battalions, numbering about 100 tanks.

Only on the eighth day of the offensive did the enemy group succeed in breaking through the defense of the division and thereby creating a threat to the rear. By order of the corps commander , the units retreated to the border of the lakes Kuolajärvi and Apayärvi, where a second defense line was prepared and the 104th Infantry Division (without the 242nd Infantry Regiment) had already taken up positions. The German and Finnish units that broke into the area 10 kilometers east of Kailar by 07/11/1941 were not only stopped, but also defeated.

The offensive on the site occupied by the corps units was resumed only on 08/19/1941 . The corps was forced to retreat with fighting and entrenched 4-5 kilometers east of Alakurtti , where the front line stabilized until 1944.

On October 14 , 1941 , the corps administration was disbanded and turned to the formation of the administration of the Kandalaksha operational group .

Full name

42nd Rifle Corps

Battle

Command

• Panin, Roman Ivanovich (from March 14, 1941 to August 23, 1941), Major General
• Morozov, Stepan Ilyich (from 08.24.1941 to 10.14.1941), Major General

History

The corps administration was formed in May 1943 in the Moscow Military District .

In the army from 06/12/1943 to 05/09/1945 .

From the moment he entered the army, he joined the 48th Army , which held positions between Novosil and Maloarkhangelsk . The corps took up positions in the area of ​​the village of Alekseevka and Korsunsky forest.

The battles during the Battle of Kursk took place directly near parts of the corps, without directly touching corps formations, excluding the left-flank 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division .

The corps was faced with the task of crossing the Neruch River and taking possession of the Zmievka station, then moving to Kromy . On July 23, 1943 , corps formations went on the offensive, by the night of the next day, all corps formations crossed the Neruch and began pursuing the retreating enemy formations. By 08/05/1943 , the connection of the corps with the battles reached the Oka River north of the city of Kroma . By 08/18/1943, the corps moved a little further Crom to the west, but was stopped at the fortified line of Hagen.

During the further offensive of the Central Front troops, launched on 08/26/1943, the corps first attacked in the direction of Suzemka , after its liberation and regrouping from the territory of Ukraine, it advanced through the south-west of the Bryansk region in the general direction to Gomel, taking part in the liberation of Novozybkov on 09/25/1943 . By September 30 , 1943 he was on the outskirts of Gomel . In October 1943 , corps formations forced the Sozh and started fighting for Gomel , while releasing Dobrush on 10/10/1943 .

On November 10 , 1943 , the corps participated in the Gomel-Rechitsa operation, during which it attacked Rechitsa , which it took part in the liberation of November 17 , 1943 , then crossed the Zhlobin-Kalinkovichi railway and went to the Parychi region. In January-March 1944 , the corps conducted heavy protracted offensive battles in the general direction of Bobruisk, suffered losses, moving forward somewhat.

03/01/1944 put into reserve, 03/11/1944 transferred to the Mogilev direction, having made a march from Zhlobin to Novo-Bykhov , however, due to the general failure of the attack on Mogilev, it was returned.

Since the end of April 1944 , the corps stood in the second echelon of the army near Rogachev . On June 24, 1944, he took part in the Bagration operation , advancing from the area north of Rogachev in the direction of Rudnya Bronskaya - Koshary. Having crossed the Ola River, the corps along the highway reached the approaches to Bobruisk and started fighting for the city. The 137th Infantry Division from the corps forced Berezina and burst into the city.

The corps continued the offensive, forced the Zelvyanka River, captured the towns of Mendyczec and Lopenitsa-Mala, then advanced in the general direction of Ciekhanovec - Chizhev - Ostrow Mazowiecki . Continuing the offensive, parts of the corps 07/30/1944 took Belsk . After a week of fighting in the Bielsk area, from 08.08.1944 the corps continued the offensive, on 08/28/1944 crossed the border of the USSR . Then, during the Lomza-Ruzhany offensive operation, the corps seized a bridgehead on the Narev River (with the support of the attached units: the 479th mortar regiment , the 42nd separate tank regiment , the 341st heavy self-propelled artillery regiment and the 32nd separate engineer-sapper battalion ), within a month, slowly expanded the bridgehead, and on 10/11/1944 went on the offensive from the bridgehead, however, it can be said unsuccessfully . The fierce battles on the Narevsky bridgehead the corps fought until mid- November 1944 , when the front stabilized.

From 01/14/1945 , the corps, having in the first echelon the 170th rifle division and the 399th rifle division , in the second echelon the 137th rifle division went on the offensive in the direction of the Mlawa fortress, which was taken on 01/18/1945 . By the end of January 1945 , some corps connections reached the Baltic Sea . Until 02/17/1945 , the corps continued heavy offensive battles with varying degrees of success and 02/17/1945 went on the defensive at Brownsberg .

02.24.1945 the corps surrendered its positions and relocated to the area west of Elbing with the task of crossing the Nogat river, one of the Vistula channels, and advancing in the general direction of the Frishe-Nerung spit. During March 1945 , heavy offensive battles were fought, the city of Fürstenau was taken, by 09.03.1945 the corps reached the approaches to the city of Tigenhof and until 19.03.1945 led unsuccessful battles for the city, after which it was withdrawn to the second echelon of the army in Elbing .

The corps fought the last battles already in May 1945 in an offensive in the direction of the city of Steegen .

Full name

42nd Rifle Corps

Battle

Command

• Kolganov, Konstantin Stepanovich (from 01/01/1943 to 05/09/1945), major general, from 29.10.1943 - lieutenant general

• The combat structure of the Soviet Army 1941-1945
• List No. 4 of the departments of the corps that were part of the army during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
• The command staff of the Red Army and RKVMF in 1941-1945