17th Rifle Corps

17th Rifle Corps 1st formation: 1922 – August 1941 2nd formation: December 1942 – October 1945 3rd formation: September 1949 – June 1957 Soviet Union Soviet Red Army World War II Invasion of Poland Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa Invasion of Manchuria The 17th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed three times. It was first formed in 1922 in the Soviet Far East before relocating to Ukraine two years later. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland and was destroyed during Operation Barbarossa in mid-1941. The corps was reformed in late 1942 in the Far East and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 before being disbanded postwar later that year. It was formed for a third time in 1949 at Samarkand in the Turkestan Military District, becoming the 17th Army Corps in 1957. The 17th Army Corps relocated to Frunze in the Central Asian Military District in the late 1960s, serving there for the rest of the Cold War. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it became the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense of Kyrgyzstan. First formation The corps was initially first formed as the Primorsky Rifle Corps at Chita on 2 November 1922, part of the 5th Army. On 25 December, the corps became the 17th Primorsky Rifle Corps. In January 1924, the corps was relocated west to Vinnytsia on the other side of the Soviet Union, where it became part of the Ukrainian Military District and dropped the "Primorsky" designation. In May 1935, the 17th became part of the Kiev Military District when the Ukrainian Military District was split. As part of the 6th Army, the corps fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, occupying what became western Ukraine. After the end of the campaign in October, the corps headquarters was stationed at Chernivtsi and it became part of the Kiev Special Military District. Assigned to the 12th Army in May 1940, the corps fought against Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, from 22 June 1941. The corps was disbanded in August of that year.Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993 32 Second formation It was reformed in December 1942 in the Far East, part of the 25th Army. In August 1945 in the Far East it had the 187th Rifle Division and 366th Rifle Division.17th Rifle Corps The Luftwaffe, 1933–45 http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/corps/17sk.htm 2019-08-27 For the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, the corps was transferred to the 5th Army.Glantz 2005 15 At the beginning of the invasion, the corps advanced in the 5th Army's first echelon.Glantz 2005 18 Its objective was to cut off the Japanese Northeastern and Eastern (Suifenho) Fortified Regions, alongside the 105th Fortified Area and several border guard battalions.Glantz 2005 21 On the first day of the invasion, 9 August, the 187th Division fought in heavy combat for the control of railroad tunnels east of Suifenho, which were rapidly secured.Glantz 2005 25 The corps advanced southwards into the rear of the Suifenho Fortified Region, where they linked up with troops from the 25th Army's 39th Rifle Corps, completing the encirclement of the Tungning Fortified Region. The speedy Soviet advance prevented the Japanese troops from creating new defensive lines and from effectively resisting the attack.Glantz 2005 33 At 17:00 on the same day, the corps was transferred to the 25th Army. After clearing the remaining Japanese troops from Tungning on 10 August, the 17th and 39th Corps began advancing southwest along the Tungning road to Wangching, Tumen, Tunhua, and Kirin on the next day. The two corps approached Laoheishan by noon on 12 August after marching between 18.6 and 25 miles 18.6-25 mi km.Glantz 2003 248249 For the next few days, the 10th Mechanized Corps and the two rifle corps advanced along the narrow road from Laoheishan to Heitosai, which forced the column to become strung out along the road. As a result, only the forward detachments and reconnaissance units met the negligible Japanese resistance before capturing Heitosai. 25th Army commander Ivan Chistyakov split the units in two columns, one of which included the 17th Corps and elements of the 10th Mechanized, advancing west towards the Taipingling Pass. The Soviet troops encountered Japanese defensive positions from the 128th Infantry Division's 284th Infantry Regiment at Lotzokou on 15 August. The 187th Division conducted a frontal attack while the 366th encircled the Japanese from the south. Meanwhile, the 10th Corps' 72nd Mechanized Brigade bypassed the Japanese and advanced east to Taipingling Pass, where they were halted by the 285th Infantry Regiment of the 128th, which had constructed prepared defensive positions.Glantz 2003 250 In the late evening of 16 August, the Soviet forces were able to capture both Lotzokou and Taipingling Pass after breaking through the Japanese defenses, continuing to pursue the remnants of the 128th Division westwards. Two days later, the corps followed behind the 10th Mechanized Corps in linking up with the forward elements of the 5th Army at Tungchingcheng after an advance of 18.6 mi km.Glantz 2003 251–253 The corps was disbanded in October 1945.Feskov et al 2013 577 Third formation and 17th Army Corps In September 1949, the 17th Rifle Corps was reformed at Samarkand in the Turkestan Military District as part of a buildup of the Soviet Army. It initially included the 16th Guards Mechanized Division at Samarkand and the 360th Rifle Division at Termez. The 203rd Rifle Division at Karaganda also became part of the corps in 1949. In 1955, the 360th was renumbered as the 62nd Rifle Division, and the 203rd became the 30th. In 1957, the 62nd became the 108th Motor Rifle Division, the 203rd became the 102nd, and the 16th Guards the 90th Guards Motor Rifle Division. The corps became the 17th Army Corps in June of that year. In May 1962, the division became a training unit and was directly subordinated to the district headquarters.Feskov et al 2013 163–164 In the late 1960s, the corps headquarters moved to Frunze in the newly reformed Central Asian Military District, and took control of three motor rifle divisions: the 201st in Dushanbe, the 8th Guards (recently relocated from Tallinn to Frunze), and the 68th (moved from Uryupinsk to Taldykurgan). It also included two separate motor rifle regiments: the 30th at Korday and the 860th at Osh.Feskov et al 2013 555–556 In January 1980, the 860th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment was sent to the 40th Army to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War. It was replaced by the 32nd Separate Motor Rifle Regiment, which transferred from Ordzhonikidze and soon became the 68th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, the only Soviet Army mountain brigade. In February, the 201st Motor Rifle Division was also sent to Afghanistan, and was replaced by the 134th Motor Rifle Division, expanded from the former's 92nd Motor Rifle and 401st Tank Regiments. With three divisions and a brigade, the corps was equal in size to some combined arms armies. In the late 1980s, smaller corps units included the 789th Separate Protection and Security Company, and the 78th Material Support Brigade at Frunze, the 751st Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion at Kalchagay, and the 13th Machine Gun Artillery Regiment, 179th Separate Reactive Artillery Battalion, and a separate radio-electronic warfare battalion at Sary-Ozek. In January 1989, after the Central Asian Military District was disbanded, the corps became part of the Turkestan Military District again.Feskov et al 2013 540 On 24 August, the 30th Regiment became part of the 8th Guards Division.Feskov et al 2013 555–556 After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, in the summer of 1992, the corps headquarters became the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense of Kyrgyzstan.Feskov et al 2013 555–556 Unit listing c1988 Corps Command and Headquarters (Управление корпуса и штаб) – FrunzeFeskov et al 2013 555 789th Separate Staff Security and Support Company (789-я отдельная рота охраны и обеспечения) – Frunze 525th Separate SpetsNaz Company (525-я отдельная рота спецназа) – Frunze (GRU formation operationally attached to the army) Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (отдельный батальон РЭБ) – Sary-Ozek (EW Directorate of the General Staff's unit) 342nd Separate Signals Battalion (342-й отдельный батальон связи) – Frunze 303rd Separate Helicopter Squadron (303-я отдельная вертолётная эскадрилья) – Dushanbe 30th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment (30-й отдельный мотострелковый полк) – Rybachye (became part of the 8th MRD on August 24, 1989) 78th Rocket Brigade (78-я ракетная бригада) – Unguras 13th Gun Artillery Regiment (13-й пушечный артиллерийский полк) – Sary-Ozek 179th Separate Multiple Rocket Launcher Artillery Battalion (179-й отдельный реактивный артиллерийский дивизион) – Sary-Ozek 186th Separate Air Defence Missile and Artillery Battalion (186-й отдельный зенитный ракетно-артиллерийский дивизион) – Osh 751st Separate Sapper Engineer Battalion (751-й отдельный инженерно-сапёрный батальон) – Kapchagay 78th Material Supply Brigade (78-я бригада материального обеспечения) – Frunze Separate Pack Animals Transport Company (отдельная вьючно-транспортная рота) – Osh 8th Guards Rezhitskaya Motorized Rifle Division, awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Major-General I. V. Panfilov (8-я гвардейская мотострелковая Режицкая ордена Ленина, Краснознамённая, ордена Суворова дивизия имени Героя Советского Союза генерал-майора И. В. Панфилова) – Frunze 41st Separate Guards Signal Battalion (41-й отдельный гвардейский батальон связи) – Rybachye 282nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (282-й гвардейский мотострелковый полк) – Frunze 4th Motor Rifle Regiment (4-й мотострелковый полк) – Rybachye 23rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (23-й гвардейский мотострелковый полк) – Korday 50th Guards Tank Regiment (50-й гвардейский танковый полк) – Korday 14th Guards Artillery Regiment (14-й гвардейский артиллерийский полк) – Rybachye 1059th Guards Air Defence Missile Regiment (1059-й гвардейский зенитно-ракетный полк) – Korday Separate Ballistic Missile Battalion (отдельный ракетный дивизион) – Rybachye Separate Anti-Tank Battalion (отдельный противотанковый дивизион) – Rybachye 793rd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (793-й отдельный разведывательный батальон) – Rybachye 32nd Separate Guards Sapper Engineer Battalion (32-й отдельный гвардейский инженерно-сапёрный батальон) – Rybachye Separate Chemical Defence Company (отдельный рота химической защиты) – Rybachye 300th Separate Repair and Overhaul Battalion (300-й отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон) – Korday Separate Medical Battalion (отдельный медицинский батальон) – Rybachye Separate Material Supply Battalion (отдельный батальон материального обеспечения) – Rybachye 68th Red Banner Novgorodskaya Motor Rifle Division (68-я мотострелковая Новгородская Краснознамённая дивизия) – Sary-Ozek 549th Separate Signals Battalion (549-й отдельный батальон связи) – Sary-Ozek 188th Motor Rifle Regiment (188-й мотострелковый полк) – Sary-Ozek 385th Motor Rifle Regiment (385-й мотострелковый полк) – Burunday 517th Motor Rifle Regiment (517-й мотострелковый полк) – Taldıqorğan 310th Tank Regiment (310-й танковый полк) – Sary-Ozek 343rd Artillery Regiment (343-й артиллерийский полк) – Sary-Ozek 1164th Air Defence Artillery Regiment (1164-й зенитный артиллерийский полк) – Sary-Ozek Separate Ballistic Missile Battalion (отдельный ракетный дивизион) – Sary-Ozek Separate Anti-Tank Battalion (отдельный противотанковый дивизион) – Sary-Ozek 106th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (106-й отдельный разведывательный батальон) – Burunday 227th Separate Sapper Engineer Battalion (227-й отдельный инженерно-сапёрный батальон) – Sary-Ozek 81st Separate Chemical Defence Battalion (81-й отдельный батальон химзащиты) – Sary-Ozek Separate Repair and Overhaul Battalion (отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон) – Sary-Ozek 8th Separate Medical Battalion (8-й отдельный медицинский батальон) – Sary-Ozek 395th Separate Material Supply Battalion (395-й отдельный батальон материального обеспечения) – Sary-Ozek 134th Motor Rifle Division (134-я мотострелковая дивизия) – Dushanbe Separate Signals Battalion (отдельный батальон связи) – Dushanbe 92nd Motor Rifle Regiment (92-й мотострелковый полк) – Dushanbe 806th Motor Rifle Regiment (806-й мотострелковый полк) – Bokhtar 1208th Motor Rifle Regiment (1208-й мотострелковый полк) – Kulob 401st Tank Regiment (401-й танковый полк) – Dushanbe Artillery Regiment (артиллерийский полк) – Dushanbe 990th Air Defence Artillery Regiment (990-й зенитный артиллерийский полк) – Dushanbe 837th Separate Ballistic Missile Battalion (837-й отдельный ракетный дивизион) – Bokhtar Separate Anti-Tank Battalion (отдельный противотанковый дивизион) – Dushanbe Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (отдельный разведывательный батальон) – Dushanbe Separate Sapper Engineer Battalion (отдельный инженерно-сапёрный батальон) – Dushanbe Separate Chemical Defence Company (отдельная рота химической защиты) – Dushanbe Separate Repair and Overhaul Battalion (отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон) – Dushanbe Separate Medical Battalion (отдельный медицинский батальон) – Dushanbe Separate Material Supply Battalion (отдельный батальон материального обеспечения) – Dushanbe 68th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (mountain) (68-я отдельная мотострелковая бригада (горная)) – Osh Organization 1939: 96th Rifle Division 97th Rifle Division 10th Tank Brigade 38th Tank Brigade 1941: 60th Mountain Rifle Division 96th Mountain Rifle Division 164th Rifle Division Commanders The following officer is known to have commanded the corps' first formation:Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964 14 Major General Ivan Galanin (14 March26 August 1941) The corps' second formation is known to have been commanded by the following officers:Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964 14 Major General Afanasy Kopychko (16 December 19425 July 1945) Lieutenant General Nikolay Nikitin (5 July 1945–July 1946)Tsapayev Goremykin 2015 975–977 The corps' third formation and the 17th Army Corps were commanded by the following officers:Feskov et al 2013 555–556 Major General Grigory Belov (19 September 1949 – 23 July 1954) Major General Nikolay Chunikhin (23 July 1954–June 1955) Major General Sergey Nikolayevich Kuznetsov (corps commander) ru Кузнецов,_Сергей_Николаевич_(командир_корпуса) Sergey Kuznetsov (June 1955 – 25 September 1958) Major General Anatoly Andrushchenko (26 September 1958 – 24 February 1961) Major General Yegor Kruglov (25 February 1961 – 3 December 1964) Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 23 February 1967) Nikolay Silchenko (4 December 1964 – 28 July 1967) Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 29 April 1970) Sergey Borisov (29 July 1967 – 6 December 1971) Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 4 November 1973) Vladimir Myakushko (6 December 1971–May 1975) Major General Fyodor Kuzmin (December 1982–September 1984) Major General Ivan Bizhan (November 1984–June 1987) Major General Viktor Kazantsev (1988–1990) References Citations Bibliography http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/guidebook.html?bid=121&sid=92104 Центральный государственный архив Советской армии. Eastview Publications 1993 1-879944-03-0 Dvoinykh L.V. 2 Minneapolis ru Central State Archive of the Soviet Army Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993 Kariaeva T.F. Stegantsev M.V. 2017-05-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20161203041019/http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/guidebook.html?bid=121&sid=92104 2016-12-03 dead Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской Feskov V.I. Golikov V.I. Kalashnikov K.A. Slugin S.A. Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing 2013 9785895035306 Tomsk ru The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces Feskov et al 2013 Glantz David The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: 'August Storm' https://books.google.com/books?id=cvKQAgAAQBAJ 2003 Routledge 1-135-77498-6 Glantz David M. Soviet Operational and Tactical Combat in Manchuria, 1945: August Storm Taylor & Francis e-Library 2005 https://books.google.com/books?id=3Q8Yq6jbTGsC 0-203-49625-6 Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг. Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union Frunze Military Academy 1964 Moscow ru Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 19411945 Tsapayev D.A. Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь Goremykin Viktor Kuchkovo Pole 2015 978-5-9950-0602-2 4 Moscow ru The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary 1 Category:Rifle corps of the Soviet Union Category:Military units and formations established in 1922 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945