54th Army (Soviet Union)

54th Army
I.I. Fedyuninsky ca. 1939, when he held the rank of Lt. Colonel
Active	August 1941 – December 1944
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Infantry
Part of	Leningrad Front Volkhov Front 3rd Baltic Front
Engagements	Siege of Leningrad Lyuban Offensive Operation Operation Polar Star Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive Tartu Offensive Riga Offensive
Commanders
Notable commanders	Col. Gen. I.I. Fedyuninsky Lt. Gen. A.V. Sukhomlin Lt. Gen. S.V. Roginsky

The Red Army's 54th Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was first formed in the Leningrad Military District in August, 1941, and continued in service in the northern sector of the Soviet-German front until the end of 1944. It spent much of the war attempting to break the German siege of Leningrad, in which it helped to achieve partial success in January, 1943, and complete success one year later. During these operations the soldiers of the 54th served under five different commanders, most notably Col. Gen. I.I. Fedyuninsky in the winter of 1941–42. After helping to drive Army Group North away from Leningrad and into the Baltic states in the first nine months of 1944, the army was deemed surplus to requirements on the narrowing front, and was officially disbanded on the last day of the year.

The 54th Army was first formed in August, 1941, in the Leningrad Military District, to the east of the city in the vicinity of the town of Volkhov. Its first commander was Marshal of the Soviet Union G.I. Kulik. When it was first formed the army's order of battle was as follows:

It also contained four motorized engineer battalions, and by the end of September it had been reinforced with the 3rd and 4th Guards Rifle Divisions, the 21st Tank Division, and the 16th Tank Brigade.

Leningrad was isolated on Sept. 8 when the German forces captured Shlisselburg. The next day Gen. G.K. Zhukov took over coordinating the defense of the city from Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. 54th Army was under direct command of STAVKA, and on Zhukov's recommendations it was ordered into the attack on the 10th. This first attempt to break the blockade, the First Sinyavino Offensive, gained only 6 – 10km. during 16 days of on-and-off heavy fighting. Kulik was heavily criticized by both STAVKA and Zhukov for this dismal performance. When the Germans pushed back even some of these meagre gains, Kulik was sacked, court-martialed and reduced in rank. He was replaced by Lt. Gen. M.S. Khozin, a protege of Zhukov. On Oct. 26, Khozin was promoted to command of the Leningrad Front and was replaced by Lt. Gen. I.I. Fedyuninsky, another Zhukov protege.