14th Army (Soviet Union)
Encyclopedia
The 14th Army was formed in October 1939 in the Leningrad Military District
Leningrad Military District
The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:...

. It participated in the Soviet-Finnish war
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

, during which its 52nd and 104th Rifle Divisions fought in the Battle of Petsamo
Battle of Petsamo (1939)
The Battle of Petsamo was fought between Finnish and Soviet troops in the area of Petsamo in the far north of Finland in 1939 and 1940. The Finnish troops were greatly outnumbered but managed to contain the Soviet troops due to the extreme terrain and weather....

.

From 24 June 1941 the Army included
42nd Rifle Corps (Ist Formation 22 June 1941, disbanded 14 October 1941; was used to reinforce the Kandalksha operational group)
293 separate signals battalion
279 separate sapper battalion
104th Rifle Division
122nd Rifle Division
14th Rifle Division
14th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
The 14th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army from 1922 to 1944.It was formed in Moscow 1 Jul 1922.During the Winter War, it covered the state border in the north and north-east coast of the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Group....

52nd Rifle Division
1st Tank Division
23rd Murmansk Fortified Region
1st Mixed Air Division (disbanded February 1942)
258th Fighter Aviation Division
16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
The 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division was an Aviation Division of the Soviet Air Forces, active from 1942 to 1998. Originally activated in 1942 as the 258th Fighter Aviation Division from the Air Forces of the 14th Army, then the 258th Mixed Aviation Division; redesignated in accordance with...

 was formed from the Air Forces of the 14th Army in 1942
a number of artillery and other units


The Army was initially subordinated to the Northern Front and conducted defensive operations on the Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

, Kandalaksha
Kandalaksha
Kandalaksha is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, beyond the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ; -History:The settlement has existed since the 11th century...

 and Ukhtinsk directions against the German-Finnish Operation Silver Fox
Operation Silver Fox
Operation Silver Fox was a joint German–Finnish military operation plan during World War II, though it was mainly operated and engaged by Germans. Its main goal was the capture of the key Soviet port at Murmansk through attacks from Finnish and Norwegian territory.The operation had to be three...

 (29 June 1941 - 19 September 1941) and in coordination with the 7th Separate Army
7th Army (Soviet Union)
The Soviet Red Army's 7th Army first saw action in the 1939-40 Winter War against Finland. In November 1939, just before the initial Soviet attack, it consisted of the 19th Rifle Corps , 50th Rifle Corps , 10th Tank Corps, 138th Rifle Division, and an independent tank brigade...

, in the Defensive Operations on the Petrozavodsk, Ukhtinsk, Rugozersk, and Olonetsk directions (1 July 1941 - 10 October 1941). From the middle of July it was able to stop Finnish enemy forces advance, and subsequently until October 1944 (from 23 August 1941 as part of the Karelian Front
Karelian Front
The Karelian Front was a Front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia.- Wartime :...

) it solidly retained its sector positions, and conducted active offensive combat for the purpose of improvement in the position it occupied. In October 1944 in interaction with the forces of the Northern Fleet in the course of the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
The Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive was a major military offensive during World War II, mounted by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht in 1944 in northern Finland and Norway. The offensive defeated the Wehrmachts forces in the Arctic, driving them back into Norway, and was called the "Tenth Shock" by...

 (7 October 1944 - 29 October 1944) it destroyed the opposing enemy and took the city of Petsamo (today Pechenga) and northern regions of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Subsequently until the end of the war the Army defended the newly occupied territory and the state borders of the USSR with Finland and Norway.

Commanding officers
Lieutenant General V. A. Frolov (June - August 1941)
Major General R. I. Panin (August 1941 - March 1942)
Major General V. I. Shcherbakov (March 1942 - May 1945), from the end of April 1943 Lieutenant General.


On 31 July 1945 the Army HQ was disbanded and the personnel were used to fill out Headquarters Belomorsky Military District
Belomorsky Military District
The Belomorsky Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, active from in the immediate aftermath of the Russian Civil War and just after the Second World War....

. The Army may have been re-established in 1947 with the 121st Rifle Corps and 1222nd Artillery Regiment. According to some data, there were plans for its use in Chukchi Peninsula
Chukchi Peninsula
The Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula , at about 66° N 172° W, is the northeastern extremity of Asia. Its eastern end is at Cape Dezhnev near the village of Uelen. It is bordered by the Chukchi Sea to the north, the Bering Sea to the south, and the Bering Strait to the...

 and, in the case of war, landing in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. It was probably disbanded in the middle 1950s.

Sources

  • Lenskii, Ground forces of RKKA in the pre-war years: a reference (Сухопутные силы РККА в предвоенные годы. Справочник.) — St Petersburg, B & K, 2000
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