73rd Rifle Corps
The corps headquarters was formed on 8 July 1943 at Kuzhenkino, Leningrad Oblast, part of the 52nd Army, with which it served for the rest of the war.
After the assignment of its divisions, the corps was loaded into railway echelons for relocation to the Steppe Front and on 1 August concentrated at the village of Petrovka [ru], west of Voronezh, where it continued its formation.
That month, the corps finished its formation and as part of the 52nd Army joined the Voronezh Front.
In its concentration area the corps conducted training in preparation for the forthcoming Chernigov–Poltava Strategic Offensive [ru].
Between 24 and 26 September the 166th Rifle Division in the vicinity of Novoavromovo [uk] was operationally subordinated to the corps.
[1] Between 4 and 30 September, the corps liberated 130 settlements, including the towns of Zenkov and Mirgorod, reached the Dnieper and forced a crossing of it in the vicinity of Bubnovskaya Slobodka [uk].
[2] The corps forced a crossing of the Dniester in the vicinity of Mikhaylovka [uk] and Yaruga on 22 March.
Four days later, the corps, pursuing retreating German units on the territory of Moldavia and Bessarabia, reached the Soviet–Romanian border.
Forcing a crossing of the Prut in the vicinity of Skuliany the corps joined battle with German troops north of Jassy.
[2] With the 52nd Army, the corps was transferred by rail from the vicinity of Jassy to Vladimir-Volynsky in western Ukraine beginning on 15 October to join the 1st Ukrainian Front.
Completing the transfer, on 29 October, the corps concentrated in the vicinity of Nisko, Jeżowe, Kopki, and Rudnik in Poland.
At the start of the offensive on 12 January the corps, with the 50th, 254th and 294th Divisions, broke through German line near Szydłów and to the north of Nowy Solec.
The corps received the Silesia honorific on 19 February 1945 in recognition of its performance during the Sandomierz–Silesian offensive,[5] and Martirosyan was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership.
[6] The corps, having left behind the 294th to take part in the Siege of Breslau, was relocated to the vicinity of Bunzlau on 19 February, where until 13 April it took part in difficult fighting with counterattacking German troops, improving its positions in the course of the battles.
[4] After the end of the war, the corps was withdrawn to the Lvov Military District together with the 52nd Army, arriving on 23 July 1945, with its headquarters at Stryy.
There the corps was brought up to strength, conducted combat training and took part in operations against the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
The enlisted men and non-commissioned officers of the battalion included 60 transferred from the corps' divisions and 152 conscripts of the 1929 class born in the Moscow Military District.
