50th Army (Soviet Union)

50th Army
Lt. Gen. Ivan Boldin in 1941–42
Active	August 1941 – October 1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Infantry
Part of	Bryansk Front Western Front Belorussian Front 1st Belorussian Front 2nd Belorussian Front 3rd Belorussian Front
Engagements	Battle of Smolensk (1941) Operation Typhoon Battle of Moscow Operation Kutuzov Battle of Smolensk (1943) Operation Bagration East Prussian Offensive Battle of Königsberg

The 50th Army was a Soviet field army during World War II. It was formed in mid-August, 1941 and deployed on the southwest approaches to Moscow. Partly encircled and destroyed by German Second Panzer Army in the opening stages of Operation Typhoon, enough of the army escaped that it could be reinforced to successfully defend the city of Tula in November. It was at this time that the 50th came under the command of Lt. Gen. Ivan Boldin, who continued in command until February, 1945. During most of its career the army was relatively small and accordingly served in secondary roles. It finished the war in East Prussia, under the command of Lt. Gen. Fyodor Ozerov, as part of 3rd Belorussian Front.

The Army became active on Aug. 16, 1941 along the Desna River as part of the newly-forming Bryansk Front. The Army's first commander, Major General Mikhail Petrov, issued his Combat Order No. 1 on that date. In it, he recorded the composition of the 50th Army as follows:

Except for the 217th which formed in late June, all of these rifle divisions had formed in July, as few as four weeks earlier.

Bryansk Front was under the command of Gen. Andrey Yeryomenko. During the balance of August and most of September he ordered his forces, including the relatively fresh 50th Army, into repeated clashes with the German XLVII Motorized Corps over its possession of a bridgehead over the Desna anchored on the towns of Pochep and Pogar. This was also an attempt to disrupt 2nd Panzer Army as it prepared to strike southwards towards Kiev. These operations had little effect on the German forces and also severely weakened the Front just as it was to face its greatest test. As of Sept. 30, strength returns for 50th Army showed 61,503 personnel, 780 guns and mortars (of which 149 were antitank guns), but only 7 tanks. It was still one of the stronger armies before Moscow, but not so strong as it had been when formed.