2nd Air Army

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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.

World War II[]

The army 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. It 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, Rovno–Lutsk Offensive, Proskurov–Chernovtsy Offensive, 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]

Postwar[]

After the war 2nd Air Army was stationed in Austria as part of the Soviet occupation forces. It was not disbanded in 1949, but only renumerated to '59th' Air Army together with many of its subordinate units. The 59th Air Army was disbanded in Austria, but its core was relocated to the town of Székesfehérvár to become a department of the newly created 'Special Corps' when the Soviet forces withdrew in September 1955.^[2][3]

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.

Commanders[]

The army was commanded by:^[1][4][5]

• 05/05/1942 – Stepan Krasovsky, Major General aviation
• 05/07/1942 – Konstantin Smirnov, Colonel, (Major General Aviation from 17 October 1942);
• 03/27/1943 – until the end of the war – Stepan Krasovsky, (Krasovsky was promoted to Lieutenant General Aviation with effect from 20 December 1942 and Colonel General Aviation from 4 February 1944);
• September 1947 - Colonel-General Stepan Ulnovich Rubanov
• July 1950 - Colonel-General Vasily Nikolaevich Bibikov
• July 1953 - Colonel-General Georgy Vasilevich Zimin
• May 1954 - Colonel-General David Yakovlevich Slobodzhan

Composition[]

May 12, 1942[]

• 205th, 206th,^[6] 207th Fighter Aviation Divisions
• 208th Night Bomber Air Division
• 223rd Short-Range Bomber Aviation Division
• 225th, 226th, 227th Assault Aviation Division
• Two independent aviation regiments.^[1]

July 5, 1943[]

• (1bak) (Polbin, Colonel) (with 194? Year – (1943–45 year))
• 1st Assault Aviation Corps (1shak) (VG Ryazanov, Major General Aviation) (with 194? Year – 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps) in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine, all three divisions stationed in the Air Corps general assault Ryazanov, received the honorary title – Krasnograds'ka, Poltava, Znamenskaya. The body was renamed Kirovograd.
  • • (the scarlet banner which in future will decorate the Order of the Red Banner and Bogdan Khmelnitsky)
    • ?
  • • ?
• (4iak) (, Major General Aviation)
• (5iak) (, Major General Aviation)
• (291shad) (, 1942–1943 year – Colonel in February 1944, Major General Aviation) (from March 1943 – , was awarded the honorary title "Voronezh" (May 1943) and "Kiev" (November 1943), with the July 1944 Red Banner (awarded the Red Banner, Suvorov 2 First Class, Kutuzov 2 nd degree));
• (208nbad) (, Colonel)
• The editors of the newspaper "Wings of Victory" (Newspaper 2VA')

December 1, 1944[]

On 1 December 1944, the army included the following units:^[7]

• • 1st Guards Bomber Aviation Division
  • 8th Guards Bomber Aviation Division
• • 202nd Bomber Aviation Division
  • 219th Bomber Aviation Division
• 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps
  • 12th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
• • 181st Fighter Aviation Division
• • 7th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
  • 322nd Fighter Aviation Division
• • 8th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
  • 256th Fighter Aviation Division
• • 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
  • 22nd Guards Fighter Aviation Division
  • 23rd Guards Fighter Aviation Division
• 11th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
• 1st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
• 118th Fire Correction Aviation Regiment
• 4th Medical Aviation Regiment
• 1002nd Separate Communications Aviation Regiment

Notes[]

Further reading[]

• Bonn, Keith E.; David Glantz; et al. (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Bedford, Pennsylvania: Aberjona Press. ISBN 0-9717650-9-X.
• Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1988). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть IV (Январь — декабрь 1944 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part IV (January–December 1944)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.