2nd Air Army

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. It 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.

The army 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, Rivne-Lutsk Proskurov-Chernivtsi 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]

The army was commanded by:[1][2][3]

Composition

May 12, 1942

July 5, 1943

December 1, 1944 [5]

After the war 2nd Air Army was stationed in Austria as part of the Soviet occupation forces. It was disbanded in 1949. 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.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 2-я воздушная армия
  2. Командующие воздушными армиями ВВС РККА в период 1942—1945 гг.
  3. Руководящий состав ВВС Советской Армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941—1945 гг.
  4. removed from the 8 June 1942 a

Further reading