3rd Baltic Front - 3-й Прибалтийский фронт
Soviet troops in the city of Riga (october 1944)
ActiveApril – October 1944
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeArmy group
Size345,500 (September 1944)[1]
EngagementsPskov-Ostrov Operation
Tartu Operation

The 3rd Baltic Front (Russian: 3-й Прибалтийский фронт) was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. It was set up on 21 April 1944 and disbanded on 16 October that year after a series of campaigns in the Baltic states that culminated with the capture of Riga October 13–15, 1944. During 179 days of existence, the 3rd Baltic Front suffered 43,155 killed and missing in action as well as 153,876 wounded, sick, and frostbitten personnel.[2] The sole commander of the 3rd Baltic Front was Ivan Maslennikov.

The headquarters of the 3rd Baltic Front was formed from that of the disbanded 20th Army, and the field armies subordinated to the front were taken from the left (south) wing of the Leningrad Front.[3] Operations that the 3rd Baltic Front took part in include the Pskov-Ostrov Operation and the Tartu Operation.[4] Upon the capture of Riga, the Soviet high command disbanded the 3rd Baltic Front as a headquarters and reassigned its component armies.[5]

3rd Baltic Front composition, May 1944[6]
Army Number and type
of divisions		 Independent brigades
42nd 5 rifle divisions -
54th 6 rifle divisions
1 anti-aircraft division		 1 sapper brigade
67th 10 rifle divisions
1 artillery division
1 anti-aircraft division		 1 gun-artillery brigade
1 tank brigade
14th Air 1 fighter division
1 close support division
1 composite air division		 -
Front HQ 6 rifle divisions
 2 tank brigades
1 assault sapper brigade

Citations and Sources

  1. ↑ G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, p. 149, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
  2. ↑ G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the Twentieth Century, pp. 196-197, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
  3. ↑ David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, p. 34, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005.
  4. ↑ Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaugherhouse, p. 300, Bedford: The Aberjona Press, 2005.
  5. ↑ John Erickson, The Road to Berlin, p. 420, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
  6. ↑ Combat composition of the Soviet Army (Боевой состав Советской Армии)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.