Don Front


The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia.

Formation

The front was created by order of the STAVKA of the Supreme High Command on Sept. 28, 1942 in order to form a more cohesive command structure to the much-reinforced Soviet forces fighting in and around Stalingrad. On that date the STAVKA ordered:
The initial composition of the Don Front was as follows:
The command cadre of the new front came almost entirely from Rokossovsky's Bryansk Front, leaders that he trusted and would follow him until he was ordered to take command of 2nd Belorussian Front in late 1944.
On the basis of the STAVKA directive of February 5, 1943, the Don Front was transformed into the Central Front on February 15, 1943.