# 5th Shock Army

The 5th Shock Army was a Red Army field army of World War II. The army was formed on 9 December 1942 by redesignating the 10th Reserve Army. The army was formed two times prior to this with neither formation lasting more than a month before being redesignated.

## Formation

The 5th Shock Army was formed on December 8, 1942, based upon the headquarters of the 10th Reserve Army, which was assigned to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command at the time. It was formed within Stalingrad Front, and was brought together in the remarkably short span of four days (December 9–12). Its first commanding officer was Lt. General M.M. Popov. The composition of the army on formation was:
* 87th Rifle Division
* 7th Tank Corps
* 23rd Tank Corps, all from the reserves of Stalingrad Front;
* 300th Rifle Division
* 315th Rifle Division, both from 51st Army;
* 4th Mechanized Corps, from 57th Army;
* 4th Guards Rifle Division
* 258th Rifle Division
* 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, all from 5th Tank Army;
* Additional artillery and support units.
After the German 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad it was apparent to both sides that there were two possible routes that a German relief operation could follow: from the west from the area of the confluence of the Don and Chir Rivers; or from the southwest from the area around Kotelnikovo. As the distance from the west was significantly shorter than from the southwest, 5th Shock was formed specifically to counter the former threat, which it successfully carried out over the next two weeks.

## Operational history
### 1942–1943

Assigned to the Stalingrad Front, on 26 December 1942 the unit participated in Operation Saturn. Its composition on 1 January 1943 was as follows:
    4th Guards Rifle Division
    258th Rifle Division
    315th Rifle Division
    5th Destroyer Brigade
    3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
       5th Guards Cavalry Division
       6th Guards Cavalry Division
       32nd Cavalry Division
       152nd Mortar Regiment
       8th Cavalry Artillery Battalion
       3rd Guards Tank Destroyer Battalion
    274th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
    331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment
    1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment
    507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
    764th Tank Destroyer Regiment
    21st Guards Mortar Regiment
    1068th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment (2nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Division)
    258th Engineer Battalion
    827th Engineer Battalion
Transferred to the new Southern Front (the former Stalingrad Front), the army took part in the Salsk-Rostov Offensive as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front. In August 1943, it finally succeeded in breaking through the German Mius-Front defensive line on the river Mius, after which it participated in the Melitopol Offensive during the Battle of the Dnieper.
On 1 August 1943, the army was composed of the following formations:
    31st Guards Rifle Corps
       4th Guards Rifle Division
       34th Guards Rifle Division
       40th Guards Rifle Division
    96th Guards Rifle Division
    126th Rifle Division
    127th Rifle Division
    221st Rifle Division
    315th Rifle Division
    1st Guards Destroyer Brigade
    506th Gun Artillery Regiment
    1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment
    331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment
    8th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade
    15th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade
    491st Tank Destroyer Regiment
    507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
    489th Mortar Regiment
    15th Anti-aircraft Artillery Division
       342nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
       723rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
       1264th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
    1617th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
    32nd Guards Tank Brigade
    22nd Separate Guards Tank Regiment
    28th Armored Train Battalion
    43rd Special-Designation Engineer Brigade
    258th Engineer Battalion
    827th Engineer Battalion

### 1944

In 1944, as part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the army took part in the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and in the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. On 1 August 1944, the unit consisted of the following formations:
    10th Guards Rifle Corps
       49th Guards Rifle Division
       86th Guards Rifle Division
       109th Guards Rifle Division
    32nd Rifle Corps
       60th Guards Rifle Division
       295th Rifle Division
       416th Rifle Division
    248th Rifle Division
    266th Rifle Division
    44th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade
    92nd Corps Artillery Regiment
    507th Tank Destroyer Regiment
    521st Tank Destroyer Regiment
    489th Mortar Regiment
    1617th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
    61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade
In early September the army was transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, relocated to the area of Kovel, in Ukraine, and on 30 October 1944 it was transferred to the 1st Belorussian Front.

### 1945

In 1945, the army took part in the Warsaw-Poznan Offensive and Berlin Strategic Offensive operations. During the final assault on Berlin the army was heavily reinforced and composed of:

## Post-war occupation

The army took part in the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945. The 5th Shock Army was then assigned occupation duties in eastern Germany and was responsible for securing the Berlin area. When the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed the army was composed of:
   * 9th Rifle Corps
   ** 248th Rifle Division
   ** 301st Rifle Division
   * 26th Guards Rifle Corps
   ** 89th Guards Rifle Division
   ** 94th Guards Rifle Division
   ** 266th Rifle Division
   * 32nd Rifle Corps
      * 60th Guards Rifle Division
      * 295th Rifle Division
      * 416th Rifle Division
   * 230th Rifle Division
   * three Separate Tank Brigades
The army was disbanded in December 1946.

## Commanders

* Lieutenant General Markian Popov: (December 1942)
* Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Tsvetayev (Colonel General, Sept 1943): (December 1942 – May 1944)
* Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Colonel General, April 1945): (May 1944 – 16 June 1945) (died while Berlin Commandant)
* Colonel General Alexander Gorbatov: (June 1945 – 1946)