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6th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)

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6th Mechanized Corps (First Formation)(July 1940-July 1941)
6th Mechanized Corps (Second Formation)(November 1942-January 1943)
Active1941
CountrySoviet Union
BranchArmoured Forces
TypeMechanized Corps
EngagementsBattle of Białystok–Minsk
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Major General M.G. Khatskilevich
[1]

The 6th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.

Preparation for war

Initially formed in July 1940, it was attached to the 10th Army in the Bialystok fortified region, a part of the Western Special Military District organized in Soviet occupied Poland[1][2] It was under the command of Major General M.G. Khatskilevich[3] when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941. The Western Special Military District was renamed Western Front, Commanded by Colonel General D. G. Pavlov.

The Corps initially comprised the 4th and 7th Tank Divisions and the 29th Mechanized Division.[4][5] Just like the 4th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union), the 6th Mechanized Corps stood out of the remaining mechanized corps of the Red Army.[6]

On 22 June 1941 it was fully formed, and stationed not further than 100-150 kilometers from the border.[6] The 6th Mechanized Corps consisted of 32,382 men, 1131 tanks, 242 armoured cars, 162 artillery pieces, 187 mortars, 4779 vehicles, 294 tractors and 1042 motorcycles. Tanks included most notably 352 of the powerful T-34 and KV-1 models (201 in the 7th Tank Division and 151 in the 4th Tank Division). Lighter tanks included T-26, BT-7, BT-5, and T-28 models.

Considering the armor qualities, the formation had a substantial concentration of the T-34 and KV-1 tanks.[6] Having more than 350 of the T-34 and KV-1, it could be reasonably expected to break through any German Panzer Corps of the time, not to say Army Corps.[6] Such estimation is based on sheer number of concentrated tanks, their main armament, the thickness of their armor,[7][8] their actual failure rate, the eventual losses to aircraft, and normal scheduled maintenance.[6] What it does not count are human-related factors.[6]

Defeat in Operation Barbarossa

The 6th Mechanized Corps was heavily involved in the first battles with Germans. At 23:40 on the day of German invasion,[6] Pavlov ordered his Deputy Front Commander Lieutenant General I. V. Boldin to take command over what would be later called Boldin's group. The group's core was the entire 6th Mechanized Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps, with 11th Mechanized Corps to be attached.[6] The Boldin's group first and last mission was against German armoured forces of Hoth's 3rd Panzergruppe advancing at the vulnerable boundary line between Soviet Northwestern Front and Soviet Western Front at Merkinė.[6]

A destroyed KV-1 is inspected by German Troops in Russia in 1941

David Glantz states that the tank divisions of 6th Mechanized Corps on 24 June 1941 were committed piecemeal against the advancing German units often without infantry support and were relentlessly pounded by the German aircraft of Luftflotte 2. Without adequate ammunition and with many tanks in a state of disrepair and sent to several different locations without fuel reserves, they were quickly immoblised.[9][10]b Khatskilevich died on 25 June 1941.

Solonin states that the only battle that 6th Mechanized Corps saw was an attack of 24 June, when it lost 2% of tanks.[11] Corps dissipated soon without any other combat, with negligible losses to aircraft, and with distance traveled that hardly necessitated any fuel tanking or repairs.[6] Corps scattered on 27 June near Krynki, personnel retreating east in small groups, and the equipment has been abandoned or destroyed en masse.[6] Author treats this case as a very significant example of the stance of the Soviet troops at the beginning of the German invasion.

Hoth's panzers had reached Vilnius on the 23rd of June, then Grodno, and finally Minsk by 26 June. By 25 June 1941 Guderian's 2nd Panzergruppe reached Slonim and Vawkavysk & cut off the retreat of the greater part of the 10th & 3rd Armies at Białystok who could not retreat across the Shchara River because Luftflotte 2 had destroyed the bridges. It reached Vilnius on the 27th June trapping the greater part of 13th and 4th Armies also at Minsk.

6th Mechanized Corps was destroyed in the Białystok encirclement and was formally dissolved in late July 1941.[10][12]c

The second formation in November 1942

The second formation of 6th Mechanized Corps was done in November 1942. On the basis of Headquarters' 14th Tank Corps, the 6th Mechanised Corps was reformed on Nov. 26, 1942 at the station Kostereva in accordance with NKO directive number 11905907ss and GABTU number 1105723 dated November 26, 1942. Major General of Armored forces Semyon Ilyich Bogdanov was appointed the commander of the 6th Mechanized Corps.

On December 18, 1942, 6th Mechanized Corps was assigned to the 2nd Guards Army of the Southern Front, where it was involved in stopping the onset of Manstein's " Winter Rain" offensive, which did not break through to the encircled Wehrmacht Sixth Army in Stalingrad. Then the Corps participated in the counterattack and the capture of Zimovniki on January 8, 1943. For these successful operations the corps received the honorary title Zimovnikovskogo and was transformed into 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.

After the war, 5th Guards Mechanized Corps became 5th Guards Mechanized Division, and after a brief period as 53rd Guards Motor Rifle Division from 1957 to 1965, then it became 5th Guards MRD and served with 40th Army at Shindand in Afghanistan for some years.

Footnotes

  • b A Western Front report on 27 June noted that 6th Mechanized Corps had lost 20–26% of its tank strength in its 4th and 7th tank Divisions.
  • c Field Marshall Von Bock, C-in-C, Army Group Centre, wrote in his order of the day on 8 July 1941 that 100,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed, with 287,704 captured at the Battle of Białystok–Minsk. In addition 2,585 tanks, 1,449 guns and mortars & 242 combat aircraft were captured from 22 Rifle & 7 Tank Divisions, 3 Cavalry Divisions & 6 Mechanized Brigades had been wiped from the Soviet Order of Battle.

Sources and references

  1. ^ a b David Porter, Soviet Tank Units 1939-1945, Amber Books, 2009, p34
  2. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p150
  3. ^ David Glantz, Before Stalingrad Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941, 2003, p32
  4. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p229
  5. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p 155
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mark Sołonin (2007). 22 czerwca 1941 czyli Jak zaczęła się Wielka Wojna ojczyźniana (in Polish) (1 ed.). Poznań, Poland: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis. pp. 94–150, 166–170, 528–529. ISBN 9788375101300. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |translation= ignored (help) (the only English translations of Solonin's works seem to be, as of June 2011, these online chapters)
  7. ^ The 37 mm cannon found in majority of German tanks and majority of German infantry divisions could not be reasonably expected to penetrate either T-34 or KV-1 front or side armor in combat conditions. To attempt to inflict any damage on these Soviet tanks, cannon larger than 37 mm was needed; in German Army Corps, 2 larger guns were assigned to some infantry regiments; the newest Panzer III and Panzer IV models also had larger guns, with 60–207 tanks assigned to each German Panzer Corps. Solonin, 2007, pp. 102–103, 528–529.
  8. ^ Meir Finkel (2011). Moshe Tlamim (ed.). On flexibility : recovery from technological and doctrinal surprise on the battlefield. Stanford, California: Stanford Security Studies. pp. 95, 143. ISBN 0804774897.
  9. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p 130
  10. ^ a b Paul Carell, Hitler Moves East, 1971 p 70-71
  11. ^ 18 tanks of 7th Armored Division lost during an unsuccessful attack against either German 162th or 256th Infantry Division; Solonin 2007 p. 144
  12. ^ David Glantz, Before Stalingrad Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941, 2003, p32-p35

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 Glantz (1998), 'Stumbling Colossus - The Red Army On The Eve of World War', Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0879-6
  • David Glantz (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
  • Paul Carell, (1971), 'Hitler Moves East', Corgi Books, ISBN 0-552-08637-1
  • David Porter, (2009), 'Soviet Tank Units 1939-1945', Amber Books, ISBN 978-1-906626-21-1

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