# 32nd Army (Soviet Union)

The 32nd Army was a formation of the Soviet Army during World War II. The army was formed twice during the war, disbanded as part of the post-war demobilization and then reformed in 1969 to protect the Soviet-Chinese border.

## First formation

The army was formed on 16 July 1941 in the Moscow Military District near the cities of Naro-Fominsk, Kubinka, and the settlement of Dorokhovo. The army was formed with four divisions of Moscow Militia. The assigned units included the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 13th Moscow Militia divisions. In addition, on 20 July 1941, 18th Moscow People's Militia Divisions was assigned to the Army at positions west of Moscow. The 18th had a strength of 10,000.
On 18 July the army was incorporated into the Moscow line of defense and took up defensive positions in the vicinity of Karacharovo. On 30 July the army was assigned to the Reserve Front. On 1 October, the army included the 2nd Rifle Division, 8th Rifle Division, 29th Rifle Division and the 140th Rifle Division. It also included the 685th Corps Artillery Regiment, 533rd Antitank Artillery Regiment, 877th Antitank Artillery Regiment, 200th Naval Artillery Battalion and the 36th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.
On 3 October the army was heavily engaged in a defensive battle against German forces advancing on Vyazma as part of the northern wing of Operation Typhoon. On 5 October the army was reassigned to the Western Front and two days later along with the 16th, 19th, 20th and 24th Armies were encircled by the German 4th and 9th Armies and 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups. The 32nd Army was disbanded on 12 October 1941. Small elements of the army were able to break out of the encirclement and were assigned to the 16th and 19th Armies.
Commanders:
* Lieutenant General Nikolai Klykov (July - August 1941)
* Major General Ivan Fedyuninsky (August - September 1941)
* Major General Sergei V. Vishnevskii (September 1941 - October 1941)

## Second formation

Stavka ordered the army reformed on 2 March 1942. The reformation was completed on 10 March 1942. The army was formed from the Medvezhegorshaya and Maselskaya Operational Groups of the Karelian Front. On 1 April 1942 the army was composed of:
    37th Rifle Division
    71st Rifle Division
    186th Rifle Division
    263rd Rifle Division
    289th Rifle Division
    313th Rifle Division
    61st Naval Rifle Brigade
    65th Naval Rifle Brigade
    66th Naval Rifle Brigade
    1st Ski Brigade
    2nd Ski Brigade
    196th Ski Battalion
    197th Ski Battalion
    198th Ski Battalion
    17th Mortar Battalion
    208th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    6th Aerosleigh Battalion
    9th Aerosleigh Battalion
    36th Aerosleigh Battalion
    227th Separate Tank Company
    261st Engineer Battalion
    1211th Sapper Battalion
    1212th Sapper Battalion
Until the end of May 1944 the 32nd Army defended the frontier in the Medvezhyegorsky District and from 21 July to 9 August the army participated in the Svir-Petrozavodsk Offensive, when part of the army reached the Finish border in the vicinity of Longonvara. When Finland was knocked out of the war on 19 September 1944 the army was relegated to guarding the Finnish border. During the offensive the army consisted of:
    289th Rifle Division
    313th Rifle Division
    376th Rifle Division
    65th Naval Rifle Brigade
    80th Naval Rifle Brigade
    33rd Ski Brigade
    1237th Gun Artillery Regiment
    173rd Mortar Regiment
    280th Mortar Regiment
    298th Mortar Regiment
    63rd Guards Mortar Regiment (minus 297th Battalion)
    275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
    208th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    446th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    376th Tank Battalion (minus Tank Company KV)
    21st Aerosleigh Battalion
    22nd Aerosleigh Battalion
    26th Aerosleigh Battalion
    261st Engineer Battalion
Composition on 1 November 1944:
    135th Rifle Corps
       176th Rifle Division
       289th Rifle Division
       313th Rifle Division
    621st Mortar Regiment
    63rd Guards Mortar Regiment
    275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
    32nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    446th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    29th Tank Brigade
    90th Separate Tank Regiment
    261st Engineer Battalion
    6th Flamethrower Battalion
    194th Flamethrower Company
    196th Flamethrower Company
On 15 November 1944 the 32nd Army was put into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Stavka Reserve) and on 21 April 1945 was directly subordinated to the Stavka.
On 1 May 1945 the Army was composed of:
    203rd Gun Artillery Brigade
    621st Mortar Regiment
    275th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment
    194th Flamethrower Company
    196th Flamethrower Company
The army was disbanded in August 1945. Its commanders included Major General Sergei Trofimenko (March - June 1942); and Lieutenant General Filipp D. Gorelenko (June 1942 - 1945).

## Third formation

This army was reformed using the command staff of the 1st Army Corps in 1981 when the Central Asian Military District was reestablished to protect the Soviet-Chinese border.
Composition:
    71st Motor Rifle Division - The 71st Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1984 at Semipalatinsk. The 71st Motor Rifle Division became the 5202nd Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (VKhVT) (Semipalatinsk) in 1989. The 5202nd Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment became part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991-92.
    155th Motor Rifle Division (Ust-Kamengorsk)
    203rd Motor Rifle Division (Karaganda)
    78th Tank Division (Ayaguz)
General Lieutenant Valeriy Samsonov commanded the army from 1987 until September 1989, by which time it had become 1st Army Corps.
In March 1988 32nd Army became 1st Army Corps, and then 4 June 1991 1st Army Corps was redesignated as the 40th Army at Semipalatinsk.