3rd Belorussian Front

3rd Belorussian Front – 3-й Белорусский фронт
Active April 1944 – August 1945
Country  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
Type Army group
Size 708,600 (January 1945)[1]
Engagements

World War II

The 3rd Belorussian Front (Russian: 3-й Белорусский фронт) (alternative spellings are 3rd Byelorussian Front and 3rd Belarusian Front) was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War.

The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on April 24, 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Front suffered 166,838 killed, 9,292 missing, and 667,297 wounded, sick, and frostbitten personnel[2] while advancing from the region some 50 kilometers southeast of Vitebsk in Russia to Königsberg in East Prussia.

Operations the 3rd Belorussian Front took part in include the Belorussian Offensive Operation, the Baltic Offensive Operation, and the East Prussian Offensive Operation.[3] Although costly, the advance of the 3rd Belorussian Front was in great part victorious, with one of the few defeats occurring during the Gumbinnen Operation in October 1944.

3rd Belorussian Front was formally disbanded on August 15, 1945.[4]

3rd Belorussian Front composition, July 1944[5]
Army Number and type
of divisions
Independent brigades
5th 9 rifle divisions
1 artillery division
1 anti-aircraft division
1 gun-artillery brigade
1 antitank brigade
2 tank brigades
1 assault sapper brigade
1 sapper brigade
11th Guards 9 rifle divisions
2 anti-aircraft divisions
1 tank corps
1 gun-artillery brigade
1 "BM" howitzer artillery brigade
1 antitank brigade
2 rocket launcher brigades
1 tank brigade
1 assault sapper brigade
1 sapper brigade
31st 8 rifle divisions
1 anti-aircraft division
1 gun-artillery brigade
1 antitank brigade
1 tank brigade
1 sapper brigade
5th Guards Tank 2 tank corps
1 anti-aircraft division
-
1st Air 6 bomber divisions
8 fighter divisions
4 close support divisions
1 night bomber division
-
Front HQ 3 cavalry divisions
3 artillery divisions
1 anti-aircraft division
1 mechanized corps
1 "BM" howitzer artillery brigade
1 rocket launcher brigade
1 assault sapper brigade
1 motorized sapper brigade
1 engineer bridging brigade

Commanders

Citations and sources

  1. G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, p. 155, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
  2. G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, p. 168, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
  3. G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, pp. 145, 149, and 155, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
  4. David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, p. 36, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005
  5. Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 July 1944
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