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2nd Air Army

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The 2nd Air Army (2 VA) was a formation of the Aviation of the Red Army (Soviet Air Force) as part of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Second World War.

World War II

The army was formed on May 12, 1942, by an order of the NKO of May 5, 1942, on the basis of the Air Force of the Bryansk Front. It participated in defensive battles in the Voronezh sector, and then supported the troops of the Southwestern Front in the counter-offensive at Stalingrad (Battle of Stalingrad), in collaboration with the 8th Air Army, the 16th Air Army and the 17th Air Army in the fight for supremacy in the air.

As part of the Voronezh (from 20 October 1943) the 1st Ukrainian Front) the army participated in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, the Korsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensive, Rovno–Lutsk Offensive, Proskurov–Chernovtsy Offensive, Lvov-Sandomierz, Sandomir-Silesia, Lower Silesian Offensive, Upper Silesian Offensive, Battle of Berlin and the Prague Offensive.

From its founding the army was part of the Bryansk Front. On 9 July 1942 is included in the Voronezh Front. From 16 November by 21 December 1942 was in operational control of Southwestern Front, and then returned to the composition of the Voronezh Front. On 20 October 1943, the Voronezh Front was renamed the 1st Ukrainian Front and 2 VA was subordinated to it.[1]

Postwar

After the war 2nd Air Army was stationed in Austria as part of the Soviet occupation forces. It was disbanded in 1949 by being redesignated the 59th Air Army. The 59th Air Army disbanded in Austria before the Soviet forces withdrew in September 1955.[2]

Later the Soviet Air Defence Forces formed a 2nd Army of Air Defence Forces which operated in the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, but this formation was disbanded around 1991–92.

Commanders

The army was commanded by:[1][3][4]

  • 05/05/1942 – Stepan Krasovsky, Major General aviation
  • 05/07/1942 – Konstantin Smirnov, Colonel, (Major General Aviation from 17 October 1942);
  • 03/27/1943 – until the end of the war – Stepan Krasovsky, (Krasovsky was promoted to Lieutenant General Aviation with effect from 20 December 1942 and Colonel General Aviation from 4 February 1944);
  • Sept 1947 - Colonel-General Stepan Ulnovich Rubanov
  • July 1950 - Colonel-General Vasiliy Nikolaevich Bibikov
  • July 1953 - Colonel-General Georgiy Vasilevich Zimin
  • May 1954 - Colonel-General David Yakovlevich Slobodzhan

Composition

May 12, 1942

  • 205th, 206th,[5] 207th Fighter Aviation Divisions
  • 208th Night Bomber Air Division
  • 223rd Short-Range Bomber Aviation Division
  • 225th, 226th, 227th Assault Aviation Division
  • Two independent aviation regiments.[1]

July 5, 1943

December 1, 1944

On 1 December 1944, the army included the following units:[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "2-я воздушная армия". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  2. ^ Holm, Michael. "59th Air Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. ^ Командующие воздушными армиями ВВС РККА в период 1942–1945 гг.
  4. ^ Руководящий состав ВВС Советской Армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг.
  5. ^ removed from the 8 June 1942 a
  6. ^ Gurkin et al. 1988, p. 348.

Further reading

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