| Bryansk Front | |
|---|---|
| Active | Aug. 14 – Nov. 10, 1941 Dec. 24, 1941 – Mar. 12, 1943 Mar. 28 – Oct. 10, 1943 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg) Red Army |
| Type | Army Group Command |
| Size | SeveralArmies |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Andrey Yeryomenko Yakov Cherevichenko Filipp Golikov Konstantin Rokossovsky Max Reyter Markian Popov |
TheBryansk Front (Russian:Брянский фронт) was amajor formation of theRed Army during theSecond World War.
GeneralAndrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, "on paper two armies,50th and13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three cavalry divisions, and one tank division but many of these formations were badly whittled down by battle losses."[1] Two other armies fromSoviet Central Front,21st and3rd Army, which had avoided encirclement at theBattle of Smolensk (1941), were promised but also badly worn down.
In late August along with theWestern Front (Soviet Union) and theReserve Front, the Bryansk Front launched a large but unsuccessful counteroffensive in theSmolensk, El'nia, and Roslavl regions to haltArmy Group Centre's advance on Moscow. Despitesome success by the Reserve Front at El'nia, the efforts by Bryansk Front were a failure.
After the failure of the Smolensk offensives, the seriously weakened front became trapped in an enormousencirclement in the lead-up to theBattle of Moscow. "Most of the troops found themselves encircled, and were fighting their way to the east," according toZhukov. On 23 Oct., "thanks to heroic efforts they managed to break out of encirclement." On 10 Nov., the Bryansk Front was "disbanded".[2]
On its second formation in late 1941 underYakov Cherevichenko, part of the troops and forces of the Bryansk Front defending the Voronezh region, being designated asVoronezh Front on 7 July 1942. By the time ofOperation Blau, the German summer offensive of 1942, the Front comprised the3rd,13th,40th,48th Armies, the5th Tank Army, and the2nd Air Army.[3] It was then reformed, then disbanded on 11–12 March 1943 and its headquarters became HQKursk Front after a short time expecting to be the headquarters and the basis of the newReserve Front.
It was later reformed from theOrel Front on 28 March 1943.
By the time of theBattle of Kursk the Front consisted of
Colonel GeneralMarkian Popov led it to liberate its namesake townBryansk in August and September 1943. On 10 October 1943 theStavka incorporated most of the Front's forces into the1st Belorussian Front (former Central) and used Bryansk Front's HQ to form the HQBaltic Front, which then became the2nd Baltic Front.
First Formation
Second Formation
Third Formation