Karelian Front
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| Karelian Front | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941-1945 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Type | Army Group Command |
| Role | Co-ordination and conduct of Red Army Operations North of Lake Ladoga and in the Arctic |
| Size | 2 Armies |
| Battles/wars | Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Colonel General K.A. Meretskov |
The Karelian Front was a Front (military subdivision) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War, and operated in Karelia. Here the term "front" is different from the general usage of military front, and means a Soviet Army formation of Army Group size.
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[edit] Wartime
The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when Northern Front was split into Karelian Front and Leningrad Front to take account of the different military developments and requirements on the Leningrad approaches and along the Finnish border to the Arctic. It remained in existence until the end of the war.
The front covered the sector north of Lake Ladoga and the Svir River to the Arctic Coast near Murmansk. It was involved in combat with Finnish forces and Wehrmacht forces along the Soviet-Finnish border during the Continuation War and the Soviet-German War. The front between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega was split of to the independent 7th Army during the static phase of the war.
During 1944, the front participated with Leningrad Front in the final offensive against Finland which led to the Soviet-Finnish armistice. In October 1944 it conducted the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation, capturing some parts of northern Finland and liberating the easternmost parts of the Norwegian Finnmark province from German occupation.
Karelian Front conducted the only successful major military operation ever undertaken in an Arctic environment in modern warfare. The experiences in the conduct of the operation, particularly in terms of organising rear-area services and supply, were considered important to the conduct of Operation August Storm, the Red Army’s offensive against the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria, and many leading officers were transferred from Karelian Front to the Baikal theatre of war.
[edit] Order of battle
Order of battle of the Karelian Front in the autumn of 1944:
- 32nd Soviet Army
- 176th Division
- 289th Division
- 313rd Division
- 26th Soviet Army
- 19th Soviet Army
- 14th Soviet Army
- 7th Soviet Army
- 4th Corps
- 37th Guards Corps
- 99th Corps
- 368th Division
[edit] Major Operations
- Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation against Finland, July-August 1944
- Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation against the Wehrmacht, October 1944
[edit] Commanders
- Colonel-General Valerian Frolov (Sept. 1941 to Feb. 1944)
- Colonel General K.A. Meretskov (Feb 1944-May 1945)
[edit] References
- Meretskov 'Im Dienste des Volkes'
- Khudalov 'Am Rande des Kontinents'
- The Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation – Leavenworth Paper No. 17
