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| 2nd Belorussian Front | |
|---|---|
 Standard of the 2nd Belorussian Front | |
| Active | 24 February 1944 – 5 April 1944 24 April 1944 – 10 June 1945 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg) Red Army |
| Type | Front |
| Engagements | World War II |
The2nd Belorussian Front (Russian:Второй Белорусский фронт,Vtoroi Belorusskiy front, also romanized "Byelorussian"), was amajor formation of theSoviet Army duringWorld War II, being equivalent to a Westernarmy group.
It was created in February 1944 as the Soviets were pushing the Germans back towards Byelorussia. General ColonelPavel Kurochkin was its first commander. On hiatus in April 1944, its headquarters were reformed from the army headquarters of the disbanding10th Army. They took part in thecapture of Berlin, the capital ofNazi Germany.[1]
The 2nd Belorussian Front was formed on the western axis on 24 February 1944 in accordance with aStavka directive of 17 February, and included the47th,61st,70th Armies, supported by the6th Air Army and theDnieper Flotilla.General-polkovnikPavel Kurochkin was appointed its commander. The field headquarters of the army was formed from that of theNorthwestern Front. Subsequently, the69th Army joined the front. Between 15 March and 4 April the front conducted thePolesskoe offensive, during which it defeated the German troops aroundKovel and created conditions for the offensive on theBrest andLublin axis. After the conclusion of the offensive, the front was disbanded on 5 April, its troops transferred to the1st Belorussian Front, and the field headquarters withdrawn to theReserve of the Supreme High Command.[2]
The front was reformed on 24 April in accordance with a Stavka directive of 19 April, including the33rd,49th, and50th Armies from theWestern Front, under the command ofGeneral-polkovnikIvan Petrov. The field headquarters of the army was formed from that of the10th Army. In May the front's troops took part in localized fighting in Belorussia. Petrov was replaced in command byGeneral-polkovnikGeorgy Zakharov in June. The front conducted theMogilev offensive during the first phase ofOperation Bagration between 23 and 28 June, with its troops forcing theDnieper in all sectors and liberatingMogilev on 26 June. Continuing the advance, the front took part in theMinsk offensive between 29 June and 4 July, mopping up remains of Army Group Centre'sFourth Army under the command of General von Tippelskirch and the remains of theNinth Army in a large pocket southeast ofMinsk. The front continued driving west in theBelostok offensive from 5 July, which culminated in the liberation ofBiałystok on 27 July. Between August and November the front's forces liberated western Belorussia, reached the Polish and East Prussian borders, and captured theRozan bridgehead on the west bank of theNarew, north ofWarsaw.[2]
On September 13, 2BF capturedŁomża, west ofBiałystok. In November 1944, MarshalKonstantin Rokossovsky was appointed commander of 2BF, just in time for its last two great offensives of World War II. As part of a massive attack by four Fronts on January 14, 1945, 2BF attackedEast Prussia (East Prussian Offensive) and laterPomerania (East Pomeranian Offensive).
On April 9, 1945,Königsberg, inEast Prussia, fell to the Red Army. This freed up 2BF to move west to the east bank of theOder River. During the first two weeks of April, the Soviets performed their fastest Front redeployment of the war. GeneralGeorgy Zhukov concentrated his1st Belorussian Front (1BF), which had been deployed along the Oder river fromFrankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of theSeelow Heights. The 2BF moved into the positions being vacated by the 1BF north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress, gaps were left in the lines, and the remnants of the German II Army, which had been bottled up in a pocket nearDanzig, managed to escape across the Oder.
In the early hours on April 16, the final offensive of the warto capture Berlin and link up with Western Allied forces on the Elbe started with attacks by 1BF and, To the south, GeneralKonev's1st Ukrainian Front (1UF). On April 20, the 2BF joined in the attack. By April 25, 2BF broke out of its bridge head south ofStettin and had, by the end of the war captured all of Germany north of Berlin, as far west as the front lines of the British 21 Army Group, which had advanced over the riverElbe in some places.
The Headquarters of the 2nd Byelorussian Front became the Headquarters of theNorthern Group of Forces (NGF), the Soviet occupation force in Poland, effective June 10, 1945.[3] Most of the NGF's forces were drawn from the 2nd Belorussian Front, along with some elements of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.
The Armies that were part of the 2nd Belorussian Front included: