Volkhov Front

Categories / Army. Navy/Blokade
VOLKHOV FRONT, joint USSR armed forces from the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, which operated in the Leningrad and Novgorod regions. The front was formed on 17 December 1941 from left wing Leningrad front forces, and consisted of the 4th, 52nd, 59th, and 2nd shock armies; together, they were ordered to hold the front line along the Volkhov River, from Lake Ilmen to the city of Kirishi, and north-west of the southern side of Lake Ladoga; also executed offensives together with the Leningrad front in the north, aiming to lift the Siege of Leningrad. While trying to lift the Siege, Volkhov Front troops carried out several unsuccessful offensives in 1942, including the Lyuban Offensive in January - April (on account of losses, the Volkhov Front was reorganized into the Volkhov group of forces on 23 May; on 9 June, however, it was reassembled after it was joined by the 8th and 54th shock armies); and the Sinyavino Offensive in August-October. In August 1942, the Volkhov Front was joined by the 14th Air Army, in February 1943 by the 1st Shock Army. In January 1943, Volkhov and Leningrad front troops managed to break the Siege; in July-August 1943, they launched the unsuccessful Mga (a small Russian town towards Kirishi) Offensive; in January - February 1944, they were successful in the Novgorod-Luga Operation, which resulted in the Lifting the Siege. On 15 February 1944, the Volkhov Front was disbanded, its troops passed to the Leningrad and 2nd Baltic fronts. The front was commanded by General of the Army K. A. Meretskov.

References: На Волховском фронте, 1941-1944 гг. М., 1982; Мерецков К. А. На службе народу. 5-е изд. М., 1988.

G. V. Kalashnikov. Meretskov Kirill Afanasievich
Мерецков К. А. На службе народу. 5-е изд. М., 1988
На Волховском фронте, 1941-1944 гг. М., 1982 Siege of 1941-44
Breaking of the Siege (1943)
Lifting of the Siege, 1944