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 - 1944).

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.