Soviet Fronts strengths: Overview

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 10 Aug 2005 13:20

Krivosheev's book on Soviet casualties contains, among other things, yearly losses for the various Soviet Fronts. However, it also gives Front losses as a percentage of yearly average strength. Thus it is possible to calculate on this basis the average yearly strengths of the different Fronts. I thought this might be of interest as a general reference tool for discussion, since it provides, among other things, some impression of the distribution of soviet effort among different sectors of the Front. I shall provide more eventually, but here is the general table.

The number in paranthesis behind the name of the front refers to which formation is implied - many Fronts were dissolved and reformed several times.

AVERAGE YEARLY STRENGTHS
Fronts.....................1941................1942.........1943........1944........1945.........Notes

Northern...................658809......................................................................29 june - 28 August
North-Western...........259724.......359462......343594....................................until november 43
Western....................501121.......956651......767814....533011......................until april 44
3rd Byelorussian........................................................557008......745604......from april 44 (formerly Western)
Southwestern (1).......474150........472,843...................................................until July 42
Southern (1)..............381712........570987....................................................until august 42
Central (1) ................257899.......................................................................july-august 41
Reserve (1)...............452306.......................................................................late july-early october 41
Bryansk (1 and 2)......180599.........339298....391590....................................(1) august-nov 41, (2) dec 41-march 43
Leningrad..................515373.........415485....514163......612198......607170....from mid-august 41
Karelian....................183522..........268874....250862.....329504....................28 august 41- nov 44
Kalinin/1st Baltic/
Zemland grp..............195785..........607748....463417.....491300.....314389.....Kal. Oct 41-Oct 43, 1B oct 43-feb 45, ZG mar-apr 45
Volkhov (1 and 2)......243809..........47090......348516......292976...................(1) dec41-apr42, (2) jun 42- apr 44
Caucasus (1)................................510045....................................................january 42 only
Crimean.......................................241210...................................................(formerly Cauc.) feb-may 42
Caucasus (2)...............................1057831......686000..................................may 42- apr 43
North Caucasus (1)......................207892.....................................................may-august 42 (formerly cr.?)
North Caucasus (2)........................................416800...................................january-november 43
Voronesh/1st Ukrainian..................303686......560478......939267.....998906...V july 42-oct 43, 1UK from oct 43
Stalingrad (1)/Don.........................455198......368216...................................S july-sep 42, D Sep 42-feb43
South-Eastern/Stalingrad (2)...........327904..................................................SE aug-sep 42, S Oct 42-Jan43
South-Western (2)/3rd Ukrainian......335462......495708.....490144.....525403...SW oct 42 - oct 43, 3UK from oct 43
Southern (2)/4th Ukrainian (1 and 2).................490061.....368300.....332910...S jan-nov 43, 4UK(1) nov 43- jun44, 4UK(2) from aug 44
Kursk/Orel/Reserve (2)/Bryansk (3)..................432,133.................................march - october 43
Steppe/2nd Ukrainian......................................505,723.....735,372.....585006...S jul-oct 43, 2UK from oct 43
Baltic/2nd Baltic..............................................427160......426980......562594...B oct 43 only, 2B nov43-apr45
Central (2)/Byelorussian/1st Byelorussian.........619142.......853681....1035358...C feb-oct 43, B oct43-mar 44, 1B from mar 44
2nd byelorussian (1).........................................................177394....................feb-apr 44
2nd Byelorussian (2)........................................................453868......720150....from mar 44
3rd Baltic.........................................................................279913....................apr-oct 44
Moscow Def.Z.........155412............118719.........54563 .....................................Dec 41- oct 43

cheers

Miha Grcar · Post by **Miha Grcar** » 10 Aug 2005 20:55

Qvist, bravo this will come very usefull indeed!

best,
Miha / Nibelung

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:24

These are further data for the losses of the various Fronts in 1941, from which can in many cases be gleaned a good impression of the distribution of their losses over different periods. They also reveal some inconsistencies and possible problems with Krivosheev's figures - any helpful comments or identifications of any mistakes I may have committed here would be appreciated.

Plese see first post for clarifications on each Front's existence span. 42-45 to come.

Important note: For all operations, strength refers to the strength on the first day of the operation. Duration of operations in some cases do not correspond to overall scope of the operation - the dates given here are for the period in which the specific front participated in the operation.

All data quoted from or calculated on the basis of G.F. Krivosheev (ed.): Soviet casualties and combat losses in the 20th century. Greenhil books, 1997. Warmly recommended as a reference tool.

cheers

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:26

41 continued.

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:34

1942.

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:40

1943. (Pages came in wrong order, entry at top of first document is SW Front, see bottom of 2nd document).

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:48

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 10:52

1945.

Miha Grcar · Post by **Miha Grcar** » 16 Aug 2005 13:57

Thank you for all your efforts Qvist!

best regards,
Miha / Nibelung

zhukov2005 · Post by **zhukov2005** » 16 Aug 2005 15:29

Qvist,

Are those from the Kirosheev book?

I do not remember those pages in them. AFAIK, they were in separate tables and the operations had separate strength and casualty figures.

BTW, soldat.ru has Kirosheev in 2nd edition. Not many changes.

Also, I am working on something that might refine the strength and casualty details. I cannot say what the project is (still working out the details). But when I can, I will let everyone know.

Regards,

zhukov2005

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 16 Aug 2005 15:48

Hi Zhukov

I do not remember those pages in them.

That's because they aren't - not in this form. These are my own compilations, but the data used is all from Krivosheev. All the figures are in there somewhere, except for the average Fronts strengths, which have been extrapolated from the loss figures for Fronts, given as a percentage of average annual strength.

I look forward to seeing your material!

cheers

AMVAS · Post by **AMVAS** » 26 Sep 2005 11:21

A new Russian book published recently contains many interesting tables covering total strength of the Soviet army.
http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/23 ... tner=AMVAS
It may be unavailable in this online shop, but can be found somewhere esle.
It title: "Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voina 1941-45. Dejstvuyushchaya Armiya"
ISBN 5-86090-114-3
Publishing houses: Animi Fortitudo, Kuchkovo pole, 2005

regards,
Alex

Qvist · Post by **Qvist** » 26 Sep 2005 12:53

Thanks for that Amvas.

cheers

AMVAS · Post by **AMVAS** » 26 Sep 2005 12:56

Qvist wrote:Thanks for that Amvas.

cheers

Maybe we are able to make copies of orinal statistical handbooks. But it's not clear yet....

Morden · Post by **Morden** » 18 Oct 2005 07:58

I think that there is a mistake in numbers concerning Soth-Western Front in 1943. In Voronesh-Kharkov offensive total strength of the Front is given at 64.100 and in Voronesh-Kharkov defensive at 60.200. This is wrong, In Glantz's "From the Don to Dnepr" South-Western Front at the start of "Gallop" (29-30.01.1943) had 325.000 men - five times more (multiplying gives almost exact number). Could anybody clarify this? Thanks in advance.

Morden