Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov (November 4, 1896, village of Razgulyayka, Semyonov Uyezd, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate — December 6, 1967, Minsk) was a Soviet military commander and lieutenant general (1943). A native of what is now Semyonovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Region, he commanded fronts and armies during the Great Patriotic War.[1]
Beginning of Military Service
Kozlov joined the Russian army in 1915 and rose to the rank of praporshchik (ensign), graduating from a praporshchik school in 1917. In World War I he fought on the Western and Northern fronts as a half-company commander in the Taman Infantry Regiment and several other units.[1]
He joined the Red Army in 1918. In the Civil War he fought on the Eastern Front against the White Guards, and then on the Turkestan Front (1920–1921) against the Basmachi, serving as a battalion commander and as an assistant regiment commander and regiment commander.[2]
Interwar Career
In 1924 he graduated from the Komintern Vystrel Rifle-Tactical Advanced Training Courses for Red Army Command Staff; in 1928, from the Frunze Military Academy; and in 1949, he completed the Higher Academic Courses at the Voroshilov Higher Military Academy.[1] During the interwar period he successively held the posts of regiment commander, chief of staff of a rifle division, commander of a rifle division, head of the Kiev Infantry School, commander and military commissar of the 44th Rifle Division, and acting commander of a rifle corps. From 1939 he was an instructor in general tactics at the Frunze Military Academy.[2] During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940 he commanded a rifle corps. In 1940–1941 he was deputy commander of the Odessa Military District and head of the Red Army Main Directorate of Air Defense. From January to July 1941 he was commander of the Transcaucasian Military District.[1]
The Great Patriotic War
From the start of the Great Patriotic War, the district's forces under Kozlov's command covered the border with Turkey with two armies and the border with Iran with two more. From August 1941 he commanded the Transcaucasian Front, and from December of that year, the Caucasian Front. Under his leadership the forces successfully carried out the Kerch–Feodosia amphibious operation: the Kerch Peninsula was liberated, and part of the enemy's forces was diverted from besieged Sevastopol.[3]
From January 28, 1942, Kozlov commanded the Crimean Front. Until May 1942 the front defended Crimea and made several attempts at offensives. In May the enemy broke through toward Kerch; the troops were forced to abandon the Kerch Peninsula and evacuate to the Taman Peninsula. On May 19, 1942, the Crimean Front was disbanded.[1]
In June–August 1942 Kozlov commanded the 6th and then the 9th Reserve Armies of the Stavka of the Supreme High Command. At the end of August 1942 the 9th Army was renamed the 24th and incorporated into the Stalingrad Front. In September its troops carried out an offensive operation against German forces that had broken through to the Volga north of Stalingrad, forcing the Wehrmacht command to turn a significant part of the 6th Field Army to face north, weakening the force advancing directly on Stalingrad.[2]
From October 1942 Kozlov was assistant and deputy commander of the Voronezh Front for force formation. During the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad he directed the actions of the front's left wing in the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh, Voronezh–Kastornoye, and Kharkov offensive operations. In May–August 1943 he was the Stavka's authorized representative on the Leningrad Front. From August 1943 until the end of the war he was deputy commander of the Transbaikal Front, and he took part in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.[1]
Postwar Years and Awards
After the end of the war he served as deputy and assistant commander of the Transbaikal Military District, and then of the Belorussian Military District. He died on December 6, 1967, in Minsk.[1]
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, medals, and foreign orders as well.[2]
Sources
- samsv.narod.ru — Kozlov Dmitry Timofeyevich, Lieutenant General — page of the "Memory" club of Voronezh State University
- divizia-rkka.ru — KOZLOV Dmitry Timofeyevich
- ruxpert.ru — Kozlov Dmitry Timofeyevich — Russian Expert