20th Army (Soviet Union)

First formation

The Army was first formed in the Orel Military District in June 1941. On 22 June 1941 the Army was part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and was located west of Moscow.

On 27 June 1941 it was proposed to Joseph Stalin that the Soviet armies (13th Army, 19th Army, 20th, 21st Army, and 22nd Army) would defend the line going through the Daugava-Polotsk-Vitebsk-Orsha-Mogilev-Mazyr as part of the Reserve Front.

Committed as part of Western Front in defensive battles in Belarus, Smolensk, and Vyazma. By 5 August 1941 the army, in David Glantz's words, had been 'reduced to a skeleton.' The strength of the 289th Rifle Division had fallen to 285 men, 17 machine guns, and one anti-tank gun, the 73rd Rifle Division to 100 men and 4 to 5 machine guns per regiment, 144th Rifle Division to 440 men, and 153rd Rifle Division to 750 men. The Army HQ was disbanded having been encircled and destroyed in the Vyazma Pocket.

Order of Battle 22 June 1941

Source: Combat composition of the Soviet Army (BSSA) via tashv.nm.ru and Leo Niehorster

• 61st Rifle Corps
  • 110th Rifle Division
  • 144th Rifle Division
  • 172nd Rifle Division
• 69th Rifle Corps
  • 73rd Rifle Division
  • 229th Rifle Division
  • 233rd Rifle Division
• 18th Rifle Division
• 301st Howitzer Artillery Regiment (RGK)
• 537th High Power Howitzer Artillery Regiment (RGK)
• 438th Corps Artillery Regiment
• 7th Mechanised Corps
  • 14th Tank Division
  • 18th Tank Division
  • 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division
  • 9th Motorcycle Regiment
• 60th Pontoon Bridge Battalion

Commanders

• Lieutenant General Fyodor Remezov (Jun–Jul 1941)
• Lieutenant General Pavel Kurochkin (Jul–Aug 1941)
• Lieutenant General Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin (Aug–Sep 1941)
• Lieutenant General Filipp Yershakov (Sep 1941 – Oct 1941) (POW)