Anniversaries of Major Battles

Battle Anniversaries: Bannockburne

This year and next year sees the anniversary of many significant historical battles.
In the last year we've marked a few major armed clashes:

Kursk, D-Day, with many other favourites of wargamers to come (Eastern and Western Front, Ardennes offensive, and the Battle for Berlin, and Waterloo to come too!

 (Oops, we somehow missed Anzio's 70th and Bannockburne's 700th anniversary ?!)

As usual distilled from the Internet: No copyright infringement intended, happy to credit and/or remove images

Bannockburne:

I opened my latest copy of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy, (BTW a great Dutch publication (in English); one of the few that also include 40K!); to find a fantastic write-up on the battle, and also it's playability with various rule sets! It turns out it was almost 2 battles rolled in one, and that the Scots employed tactics quite of character for the time, catching the over-confident English off-side!

The Battle of Bannockburn  (24 June 1314) was a significant Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence, and a landmark in Scottish history.

Stirling Castle, a Scots royal fortress, occupied by the English, was under siege by the Scottish army. Edward II of England assembled a formidable force to relieve it. This attempt failed, and his army was defeated in a pitched battle by a smaller army commanded by Robert I of Scotland.

The Wars of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland began in 1296 and initially the English were successful, having won victories at the  Dunbar (1296) and at Berwick (1296).

The removal of John Balliol from the Scottish throne also contributed to the English success. The Scots had been victorious in defeating the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, however this was countered by Edward I of England's victory at the Battle of Falkirk (1298).By 1304 Scotland had been conquered, but in 1306 Robert the Bruce seized the Scottish throne and hostilities resumed.

Robert the Bruce

Edward II of England came to the throne in 1307 but was incapable of providing the determined leadership that had been shown by his father, Edward I. Stirling Castle was held by the English, commanding the route north into the Scottish Highlands. It was besieged in 1314 by Robert the Bruce's brother, Edward Bruce, with a threat that if the castle was not relieved by mid-summer then it would be surrendered to the Scots.

Edward II

The English could not ignore this challenge and preparations were made for a substantial campaign in which the English army probably numbered 2,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry, many of them the feared longbowmen. The Scottish army probably numbered between 7,000 and 10,000 men, of whom no more than 500 would have been mounted. Unlike the heavily armoured English cavalry, the Scottish cavalry would have been light horsemen who were good for skirmishing and reconnaissance but were not suitable for charging the enemy lines.The Scottish infantry would have had axes, swords and pikes, with few bowmen among them, not in separate units.

Scottish Cavalry, comparatively light and maneuvrable

The precise size of the English force relative to the Scottish forces is unclear but estimates range from as much as at least two or three times the size of the army Bruce had been able to gather, to as little as only 50% larger.

Edward II and his advisors were aware of the places that the Scots were likely to challenge them and sent out orders for their troops to prepare for an enemy established in boggy ground near to the River Forth, near Stirling. The English advanced in four divisions whereas the Scots were in three divisions, known as 'schiltrons' which were strong defensive circles of men bristling with pikes. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, commanded the Scottish vanguard, which was stationed about a mile to the south of Stirling, near the church of St. Ninian, while the king commanded the rearguard at the entrance to the New Park. His brother Edward led the third division.

According to Barbour, there was a fourth division nominally under the youthful Walter the Steward, but actually under the command of Sir James Douglas. The Scottish archers used yew-stave longbows and though these were not weaker or inferior to English longbows, there were fewer Scottish archers than English archers, possibly numbering only 500. These archers played little part in the battle, as it turned out. There is first hand evidence from the captured Carmelite friar, Robert Baston in his poem, written just after the battle, that one or both sides employed slingers and crossbowmen.


The Battle
Site: There is some confusion over the exact site of the Battle of Bannockburn, although most modern historians agree that the traditional site, where a visitor centre and statue have been erected, is not the correct one. Although a large number of possible alternatives have been proposed, most can be dismissed leaving two serious contenders:
1. An area of peaty ground known as the Dryfield outside the village of Balquhiderock, about three-quarters of a mile to the east of the traditional site, and
2. the Carse of Balquhiderock, about a mile and a half north-east of the traditional site, accepted by the National Trust as the most likely candidate.

Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn

First day of battle:

Most medieval battles were short-lived, lasting only a few hours, therefore the Battle of Bannockburn is unusual in that it lasted for two days. On 23 June 1314 two of the English cavalry formations advanced, the first commanded by the Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Hereford. They encountered a body of Scots, among them Robert the Bruce himself. A celebrated single combat then took place between Bruce and Henry de Bohun who was the nephew of the Earl of Hereford. Bohun charged at Bruce, hoping to make a name for himself and when the two passed side by side, Bruce split Bohun's head with his axe. De Bohun went down in history for a reason quite unlike he had planned!

(De BoHun's Livery is incorrect in this image, correct below)

Models with more accurate colours: His son Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, captured 

Coat of Arms: Azure a bend argent coticed between six lions rampant or Source: The Falkirk Roll 

The Scots then rushed upon the English under Gloucester and Hereford who struggled back over the Bannockburn. The second English cavalry force was commanded by Robert Clifford. They advanced on the flank of the Scots, towrds St Ninians, coming up against the schiltrom that was commanded by Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray. The English were unable to break the barrier of spears and pikes, and the English withdrew in confusion, unable to break the Scottish formation.

Modern re-enactment

Second day of battle

Under nightfall the English forces crossed the stream that is known as the Bannock Burn, establishing their position on the plain beyond it. A Scottish knight, Alexander Seton, who was fighting in the service of Edward II of England, deserted the English camp and told Bruce of the low English morale, encouraging Bruce to attack them. In the morning the Scots then advanced from New Park. The English archers should have been able to counter this advance but they were neutralized by a Scottish cavalry charge led by Sir Robert Keith.

 The English responded to the Scots advance with a charge of their own, led by the Earl of Gloucester. Gloucester had argued with the Earl of Hereford over who should lead the vanguard into battle, and argued with the king that the battle should be postponed. This led the king to accuse him of cowardice, which perhaps goaded Gloucester into the charge.  Few accompanied Gloucester in his charge and when he reached the Scottish lines he was quickly surrounded and killed.

 Gradually the English were pushed back and ground down by the Scots' schiltrons. An attempt to employ the English and Welsh longbowmen to shoot at the advancing Scots from their flank failed when they were dispersed by the Scottish 500-horse light cavalry under the Marischal Sir Robert Keith

 The English cavalry was hemmed in making it difficult for them to maneuver. As a result the English were unable to hold their formations and broke ranks. It soon became clear that the English had lost and Edward II needed to be led to safety. However one of Edward's knights, Giles de Argentine, declared that he was not accustomed to flee and made one final charge on the Scots, only to die on their spears.

Edward fled with his personal bodyguard, ending the remaining order in the army; panic spread and defeat turned into a rout. He arrived eventually at Dunbar Castle, from which he took ship to England.

From the carnage of Bannockburn, the rest of the army tried to escape to the safety of the English border, ninety miles to the south. Many were killed by the pursuing Scottish army or by the inhabitants of the countryside that they passed through.

Historian Peter Reese says that, "only one sizeable group of men—all foot soldiers—made good their escape to England." These were a force of Welsh spearmen who were kept together by their commander, Sir Maurice de Berkeley, and the majority of them reached Carlisle. Weighing up the available evidence, Reese concludes that "it seems doubtful if even a third of the foot soldiers returned to England." Out of 16,000 infantrymen, this would give a total of about 11,000 killed. The English chronicler Thomas Walsingham gave the number of English men-at-arms who were killed as 700, while 500 more men-at-arms were spared for ransom. The Scottish losses appear to have been comparatively light, with only two knights among those killed.

Aftermath
The defeat of the English opened up the north of England to Scottish raids and allowed the Scottish invasion in Ireland. These finally led, after the failure of the Declaration of Arbroath to reach this end by diplomatic means, to the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton. It was not until 1332 that the Second War of Scottish Independence began with the Battle of Dupplin Moor, followed by the Battle of Halidon Hill (1333) which were won by the English.

Notable casualties
Deaths
Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester:



Sir Giles d'Argentan:



John Lovel, 2nd Baron Lovel



John Comyn, the Red Lord of Badenoch

Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford

Sir Henry de Bohun




William le Marshal, Marshal of Ireland
Edmund de Mauley, King's Steward
Sir Robert de Felton of Litcham, 1st Lord

Captives
Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford
John Segrave, 2nd Baron Segrave
Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley
Thomas de Berkeley
Sir Marmaduke Tweng
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer
Robert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus
Sir Anthony de Luci
Sir Ingram de Umfraville

Diversion from D-Day: ANZAC Day, Gallipolli and Delville Wood

ANZAC DAY: Remembering those who have fallen: 

WW1 and Delville Wood

ANZAC day is the marking of a Day of Remembrance in Australia and New Zealand.

2014 marks a century since the outbreak of hostilities that led to the Great War

ANZAC particularly remembers the fateful events of Gallipoli, and the fruitless waste of young lives.

I too have paused to reflect on WW1, and the waste of lives, with events that still touch us a century later.

In South Africa the equivalent of NZ/Au's Gallipoli is Delville Wood.

Delville Wood was SA's first taste of the horrors of modern warfare. The South African Brigade took part in the Somme Battle, and in a refrain that became too familiar in battles to follow (El Alamein, Sidi Regez, etc) colonial troops were thrown into the breach of the European powers' battles, in this case, suffering up to 80% casualties. Here is there story: 

The Battle of Delville Wood (14 July – 3 September 1916), was an engagement in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War. It took place between the armies of the German Empire and allied British and empire forces. Delville Wood is to the north east of the town of Longueval in the Somme in northern France. After the first two weeks of carnage caused by the commencement of the Somme Offensive, it became evident that breakthrough of neither Allied nor German line was likely.

The offensive had evolved to the capture of small prominent towns, woods or features which offered either side slim tactical advantage, observation for direct artillery fire or safety from which to launch further attacks.

Delville Wood was one such feature, making it strategically important to both German and Allied forces. As part of a large offensive starting on 14 July, General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force intended to secure the British right flank, while the centre advanced to capture the higher lying areas of High Wood in the centre of his line. Taking Delville Wood was an attempt to secure this right flank. 

The battle achieved this objective and is historically considered a tactical Allied victory. However, it was one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Somme, with both sides incurring large casualties. This tactical victory needs to be measured against the losses sustained,  as well as the fact that the British advance to the north had made only marginal gains by the end of the battle.

The battle is of particular importance to South Africa, as it was the first major engagement entered into on the Western Front by the South African 1st Infantry Brigade, which also contained a contingent of Southern Rhodesians.

Before deployment. Note that steel helmets had been issued. 

A practice that only started in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.

The casualties sustained by this Brigade were of catastrophic proportions, comparable to those encountered by Allied battalions on the first day of the Somme. On the Western Front, units were normally considered to be incapable of combat if their casualties had reached 30% and they were withdrawn once this level had been attained. 

The South African Brigade suffered losses of as high as 80%, yet they managed to hold the Wood as ordered. This feat has been described as "...the bloodiest battle hell of 1916."

The South African Brigade

Background

The political situation in South Africa in 1914 was very different to the other nations of the British Empire.

Canada had been obtained from the French in 1763 and Australia and New Zealand had been colonised without any great interference from rival empires (Nobody was, of course was much interested in what the actual indigenous inhabitants thought about the process. The European powers were bringing them civilisation, after all;  whilst taking away anything of value  that their land had to offer...)

The Union of South Africa was only four years old, and had not long since finished a bitter war between the British and the Boers (1899-1902).

There was not a great deal of desire amongst either the Boer ( Dutch extraction) or the African population of SA to rush off and defend Great Britain which had, within living memory, been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

However, General Louis Botha,  a former commander of the Boers, led the Union Defence Forces on a campaign into German South West African in September 1914. This was rapidly brought to a successful conclusion. The South African forces were having a harder time in German East Africa, where they were confronted by General Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck (Who was still leading the dance, when the war in Europe came to an end).

In theory, South Africans, though liable for military service as British subjects, were not required to serve overseas. This technicality was worked around in April 1915 by the simply asking for volunteers.

Enough men came forward to form the 1st South African Infantry Brigade under Brigadier General Tim Lukin. The Brigade, was made up of four regiments:

1st South African Infantry (Cape Province)
2nd South African Infantry (Natal and Orange Free State)
3rd South African Infantry (Transvaal and Rhodesia)
4th South African Infantry (South African Scottish)

Arrival in Marseilles, with the 4th SAI mascot in tow

It numbered 160 officers and 5,468 other ranks when it arrived in England in November 1915.

After spending some time in Egypt the Brigade returned to France on 20th April 1916, destined for the Western Front where it was attached to the 9th (Scottish) Division.

It would serve with distinction throughout the war and remained with the Scots until the summer of 1918 when it had been so depleted by fighting that it had to be recalled to England and re-formed. It was back in France in September 1918 but this time with the 66th (Lancashire) Division.

Delville Wood: The Great Slaughter of 1916

Troops on the Western front compromised Kitchener's 'New Army':  Territorial forces,  from all parts of the British Empire. While steel helmets were issued to most soldiers, a "luxury" first introduced at Loos, replacements had little training and were without any combat experience. Soldiers were "mostly civilians in khaki, hastily trained and thrown into battle" - lives wasted.The Battle of the Somme commenced on the 1st of July 1916.

It was a " fierce and complex Battle" involving many units and no small task. A "dreadful slogging match and conditions within the wood were appalling, with death and danger everywhere". The artillery had "reduced the trees to a morass of splintered wood making movement virtually impossible. It was fought at close hand with bombs and bayonets." Mud and water covered bodies; many still remain in the wood today.

"The wood had to be cleared of Germans before any attack could be launched on the formidable and notorious, German Switch Line." The orders - Take it "at all costs": It took over 6 days and 5 nights.
As with many other attacks, the wood was heavily shelled by Allied artillery before infantry troops went in.

The southern sector of the wood was quickly cleared of Germans. The officer overseeing the attack, Tanner, reported back to his headquarters in the evening of the 15th that all of the wood had been taken except the northwest near the town of Longueval.

In fact, the South Africans were in a very precarious position as they faced over 7,000 Germans. The artillery shelling had pushed over trees and exposed their roots. This made it very difficult to dig trenches. The South Africans were not only up against a larger force but had to survive in ‘trenches’ that had little depth and gave minimal protection especially against German artillery attacks.

The terrain all but dictated that most of the combat within the wood was hand-to-hand fighting and casualties were high. The terrain would have made it difficult to move the wounded back to a medical station. However, such was the ferocity of the fighting in this phase of the battle that for every one South African wounded, four were killed. The South Africans fought within the wood until July 19th when they were relieved. Their casualties were some of the worst seen on the Western Front.

(I intend to post a fuller description of the battle later this week.)

Captain S. J. Worsley, MC:

“Every semblance of a trench seemed full of dead-sodden, squelchy, swollen bodies.  Fortunately the blackening faces were invisible except when Verey lights lit up the indescribable scene.  Not a tree stood whole in that wood. Food and water were very short and we had not the faintest idea when any more would be obtainable.

We stood and lay on putrefying bodies and the wonder was that the disease (dysentery) did not finish off what the shells of the enemy had started. There was hand-to-hand fighting with knives, bombs (grenades) , and bayonets; cursing and brutality on both sides such as men can be responsible for when it is a question of "your life or mine"; mud and filthy stench; dysentery and unattended wounds; shortage of food and water and ammunition.”
  
A German officer who fought at Delville Wood described it as:

“Delville Wood had disintegrated into a shattered wasteland of shattered trees, charred and burning stumps, craters thick with mud and blood, and corpses, corpses everywhere. In places they were piled four deep.”

The Germans responded to the attack by shelling areas of the wood captured by the Allies. At its peak it is thought that 400 German shells landed in Delville Wood every minute. Combined with frequent raid rain, the wood was not only churned up with regards to trees but it also became a quagmire.

The Springbok mascot survived the carnage

The fighting for the wood continued into August. Skilfully placed German machine gun posts and well-hidden snipers greatly hindered any Allied advance through the wood. Once the South Africans had been relieved, men from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the Royal Berkshires and the 1st King’s Royal Rifle Corps tried to take the wood. However, like the South Africans, they faced a heavily fortified enemy that was supported by very accurate artillery fire. They in turn were relieved and replaced by the 17th Northern Division who were relived by the 14th and 20th Light Division.


It is thought that German casualties matched Allied casualties but loss of records makes this hard to verify. The South Africans had 3,155 men at the start of the attack and suffered 2,536 casualties by the time they were relieved. This represented a loss of 80% - killed, wounded and missing. 104 officers out of a total of 123 were killed, wounded or missing – nearly 85%.

The lucky few: Relieved survivors being withdrawn

Four Victoria Crosses were awarded for outstanding bravery:

Private William Faulds (SA)
Sergeant Albert Gill (UK)
Private Albert Hill (UK)
Corporal Joseph Davies (UK)

Delville Wood was only finally fully cleared of Germans on September 3rd 1916.

Because of German counter attacks, this whole area was an awful 'killing field' - "flies rose in dense black clouds round us… exhaustion did what shell-fire failed… we collapsed in our trenches, spent in body and worn out in spirit… the task set was too great for us".

The Germans recaptured Delville Wood in March 1918 as part of their Spring Offensive.

During the Allies advance after the Spring Offensive had failed, the 38th Welsh Infantry Division fought for it and captured the wood in August 1918.

Losses

South African:

• Strength at start of battle: Officers 123 Other ranks 3032
• Killed 457
• Wounded 1476
• Unaccounted (Missing) 483
• Total casualties: 2536
• Unit strength at close of battle: Officers 19 Other ranks 600

Both the Allies and German forces sustained extremely heavy losses, the 9th Division had lost 314 officers and 7,203 other ranks between 1 and 20 July. Details of the German losses are scarce, especially those of the Prussian divisions which played an important role in the battle, due to the loss of archive documents caused by the Allied strategic bombing campaign of World War II—particularly the raids on Potsdam in 1945. The German 26th Regiment (the equivalent of an Allied Brigade) which had been at a war establishment strength on 13 July had only 10 officers and 250 other ranks after the battle.

The question has frequently been asked as to why the South Africans remained in the wood only to be slaughtered by artillery fire. This was not the intention of the commanders: 

Henry Lukin

Brigadier-General Lukin’s post battle report stated that "My intention was to thin out the troops in the Wood as soon as the perimeter was seized, leaving the machine-guns with small detachments of infantry to hold it. The enemy, by launching counter-attacks at once, prevented this intention being carried out and Lieut-Col Tanner reported that he required all the men under his command to hold off the enemy."

Losses sustained by the South African Brigade may have frequently been over-stated. When considering the claimed South African total casualties, a number of factors need to be considered:

Casualties which had been sustained by the South African Brigade at Bernafay Wood and Maricourt before 14 July (the date of entering Delville Wood) are frequently, erroneously added to the Delville Wood casualties;

Casualties sustained by the 1st and 4th Battalions in Longueval on 14 July are also sometimes incorrectly added to the Delville Wood totals;

Of the three officers and 140 men who left Delville Wood on 20 July, less than half had entered the wood on 14 / 15 July, and were replacement troops which had been sent in between 16 and 20 July. According to Col. Thackeray, a total of 199 reinforcements had been received in the wood.

The Brigade headquarters and staff had not deployed into the wood, and as such the total brigade staff at the start of the battle were not necessarily all in the wood.

Additional troops (in addition to the 3 officers and 140 men who had withdrawn on 20 July) reported to Happy Valley for the muster parade of 21 July. So did the Brigade and Machine Gun Company staff.

Kursk Order of Battle: Protagonists Part 2: The Russians

Kursk Protagonists Part 2: Soviet Forces 

Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

11th Guards Army (Ivan Bagramyan)

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

Bryansk Front 

(Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

Central Front 

(Konstantin Rokossovsky)

13th Army (Nikolay Pukhov)

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

Voronezh Front 

(Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

Steppe Front 

(Ivan Konev)

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

 Composition of forces: 

1. Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

 38th Rifle Corps (Alexei Tereshkov)

17th Rifle Division

326th Rifle Division

413th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Division

64th Rifle Division

212th Rifle Division

324th Rifle Division

11th Guards Army 

(Ivan Bagramyan)

8th Guards Rifle Corps

11th Guards Rifle Division

26th Guards Rifle Division

83rd Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Corps

1st Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Division

31st Guards Rifle Division

169th Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Corps

5th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Division

84th Guards Rifle Division

108th Rifle Division

217th Rifle Division

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

2nd Assault Air Corps

2nd Fighter Air Corps

8th Fighter Air Corps

1st Independent Tank Corps (Vasily Butkov)

5th Independent Tank Corps (Mikhail Sakhno)

2. Bryansk Front (Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

41st Rifle Corps (Viktor Urbanovich)

235th Rifle Division

308th Rifle Division

380th Rifle Division

269th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

342nd Rifle Division

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

9th Guards Rifle Corps (Arkady Boreiko)

12th Guards Rifle Division
76th Guards Rifle Division
77th Guards Rifle Division
97th Rifle Division
110th Rifle Division
336th Rifle Division
356th Rifle Division
415th Rifle Division

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

5th Rifle Division

41st Rifle Division

129th Rifle Division

250th Rifle Division

287th Rifle Division

348th Rifle Division

397th Rifle Division

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

1st Guards Fighter Air Corps

3rd Assault Air Corps

 25th Rifle Corps

186th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

362nd Rifle Division

1st Independent Guards Tank Corps

3. Central Front (Konstantin Rokossovsky)

17th Guards Rifle Corps (Andrei Bondarev)

6th Guards Rifle Division

70th Guards Rifle Division

75th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Corps (Ivan Afonin)

2nd Guards Airborne Division

3rd Guards Airborne Division

4th Guards Airborne Division

15th Rifle Corps (Ivan Liudnikov)

8th Rifle Division

74th Rifle Division

148th Rifle Division

29th Rifle Corps (Afanasy Slyshkin)

15th Rifle Division

81st Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

42nd Rifle Corps (Konstantin Kolganov)

16th Rifle Division

202nd Rifle Division

399th Rifle Division

73rd Rifle Division

137th Rifle Division

143rd Rifle Division

170th Rifle Division

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

24th Rifle Corps

42nd Rifle Division

112th Rifle Division

30th Rifle Corps

121st Rifle Division

141st Rifle Division

322nd Rifle Division

Independent 55th Rifle Division

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

18th Rifle Corps

69th Rifle Division

149th Rifle Division

246th Rifle Division

27th Rifle Corps

60th Rifle Division

193rd Rifle Division

37th Guards Rifle Division

181st Rifle Division

194th Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

28th Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Nechaev)

132nd Rifle Division

211th Rifle Division

280th Rifle Division

102nd Rifle Division

106th Rifle Division

140th Rifle Division

162nd Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

3rd Tank Corps

16th Tank Corps

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

3rd Bombing Air Corps

6th Mixed Air Corps

6th Fighter Air Corps

Independent 9th Tank Corps

Independent 19th Tank Corps

4. Voronezh Front (Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

22nd Guards Rifle Corps

67th Guards Rifle Division

71st Guards Rifle Division

90th Guards Rifle Division

23rd Guards Rifle Corps

51st Guards Rifle Division

52nd Guards Rifle Division

375th Rifle Division

Independent 89th Guards Rifle Division

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

24th Guards Rifle Corps (Nikolai Vasilev)

15th Guards Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Division

72nd Guards Rifle Division

25th Guards Rifle Corps (Gany Safiulin)

73rd Guards Rifle Division

78th Guards Rifle Division

81st Guards Rifle Division

Independent 213th Rifle Division

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

50th Rifle Corps

167th Rifle Division

232nd Rifle Division

340th Rifle Division

51st Rifle Corps (Petr Avdeenko)

180th Rifle Division

240th Rifle Division

Independent 204th Rifle Division

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

47th Rifle Corps

161st Rifle Division

206th Rifle Division

237th Rifle Division

52nd Rifle Corps (Frants Perkhorovich)

100th Rifle Division

219th Rifle Division

309th Rifle Division

Independent 184th Rifle Division

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

48th Rifle Corps (Zinovy Rogozny)

107th Rifle Division

183rd Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Corps

111th Rifle Division

270th Rifle Division

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

6th Tank Corps (Andrey Getman)

31st Tank Corps

3rd Mechanized Corps

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

1st Bombing Air Corps

1st Assault Air Corps

4th Fighter Air Corps

5th Fighter Air Corps

35th Guards Rifle Corps

92nd Guards Rifle Division

93rd Guards Rifle Division

94th Guards Rifle Division

Independent 2nd Guards Tank Corps

Independent 3rd Guards Tank Corps

Steppe Front (Ivan Konev)

This order of battle does not show the complete composition of the Steppe Front.

 In addition to the units listed below, there are also 

the 4th Guards, 27th, 47th and 53rd Armies.

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Rodimtsev)

13th Guards Rifle Division

66th Guards Rifle Division

6th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

33rd Guards Rifle Corps (Iosif Popov)

95th Guards Rifle Division

97th Guards Rifle Division

9th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

Independent 42nd Guards Rifle Division

Independent 10th Tank Corps

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Guards Mechanized Corps

29th Tank Corps

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

7th Mixed Air Corps

8th Mixed Air Corps

3rd Fighter Air Corps

7th Fighter Air Corps