Composition of Romanian 3rd Army-Operation Uranus

[John W. Howard]

Hello folks:
At the time of Operation Uranus, I have a list of the following Romanian divisions in the Romanian 3rd Army: 5 ID, 6 ID, 7 ID, 9 ID, 11 ID, 13 ID, 14 ID; 1 Cavalry Div., 7 Cavalry Div.; and 1 Panzer Division. Am I correct?
These Romanian divisions were organized into how many corps? Just II and IV ? Or were there more corps? Which divisions were assigned to which corps?
Does anyone have the name of each of the Romanian corps and division commanders?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you.

[Victor Nitu]

The 3rd Army was made up from the 4th Corps (1st Cavalry and 13th Infantry Divisions), the 5th Corps (5th and 6th Infantry Divisions), the 2nd Corps (9th and 14th Infantry Divisions) and the 1st Corps (7th and 11th Infantry Divisions), in a single echelon, from west to east. It had in reserve the 7th Cavalry and 15th Infantry Division. The 2nd Long Range Recon (Do-17M) and 112th Liaison Squadrons (Fleet 10G) were assigned to the 3rd Army. In November came the German 48th Corps (22nd German Panzer Division and 1st Romanian Armored Division) and was also put in reserve. It also had the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 8th Motorized Heavy Artillery Regiments and the 41st Independent Motorized Heavy Artillery Battalion. There were only 48 heavy AT guns, efficient against the T-34 and KV Soviet tanks, thus resulting a density of one gun at every 2.875 km. On 19 November 1942, when the Soviet offensive commenced, the 3rd Army had 152,492 Romanian troops and 11,211 German troops

Commanders
3rd Army - general de armata Petre Dumitrescu
1st Corps - general de corp de armata Teodor Ionescu
2nd Corps - general de corp de armaa Nicolae Dascalescu
4th Corps - general de corp de armata Constantin Sanatescu
5th Corps - general de corp de armata Aurelian Son
5th Infantry Division - general de divizie Nicolae Mazarini
6th Infantry Division - general de divizie Mihail Lascar
7th Infantry Division - general de brigada Constantin Trestioreanu
9th Infantry Division - general de divizie Constantin Panaitiu
11th Infantry Division - general de brigada Savu Nedelea
13th Infantry Division - general de brigada Gheorghe Ionescu-Sinaia
14th Infantry Division - general de divizie Gheorghe Stavrescu
15th Infantry Division - general de brigada Ioan Sion
1st Cavalry Division - general de brigada Constantin Bratescu
7th Cavalry Division - general de brigada Gheorghe Munteanu
1st Armored Division - general de divizie Gherghe Radu

[John W. Howard]

Hello Victor:
Wow!!!! Thank you very much for answering my questions and adding more. I really appreciate your help. The book I am reading is very incomplete when dealing with the Romanian forces around Stalingrad. I may need your help again in the near future. I hope that is OK. Thank you once again. Best wishes.

[sid guttridge]

Hi John,

The best (effectively only) book in English on the Romanians in WWII is "Third Axis, Fourth Ally" by Axworthy, Scafes and Craciunoiu.

I highly recommend it it, if you can find a copy.

Cheers,

Sid.

[John W. Howard]

Hello Sid:
I have "Third Axis, Fourth Ally" on my "to read" list and hope to locate a copy soon. I am working up a question on the Romanian 4th Army during the same time period as my post above; hopefully Victor will come to my rescue again!!!! Thanks again Sid. Best wishes.

[sid guttridge]

Hi John,

According to "Third Axis, Fourth Ally" 3rd and 4th Armies were of very different character.

4th Army largely consisted of worn out and under strength "Echelon I" divisions that had been continuously in the field since the previous winter. They had not received recent reinforcements because they were due to be withdrawn to the Rostov area over the winter of 1942-43 in order to bring them up to "Echelon II" standard. However, German inability to replace them in the line necessitated then staying at the front, where they were too weak in infantry to maintain a continuous front on the open steppe south of Stalingrad.

By contrast, 3rd Army largely consisted of "Echelon II" divisions that had been brought up to strength and substantially re-equipped and re-trained in the first half of 1942. They only arrived in the line over August-October 1942 and most were still at good strength on 19 November. Although overstretched and lacking many reserves, 3rd Army could at least maintain a continuous front on the Don.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Victor Nitu]

The 4th Army, commanded by gen. Constantin Constantinescu-Claps, occupied a line south of the city, between Straya Otrada and Sarpa. It was composed of the 6th Corps (1st, 2nd, 4th, 18th and 20th Infantry Divisions) and the 7th Corps (5th and 8th Cavalry Divisions). At its disposal were the 15th, 16th, 17th Observation (IAR 39) and 114th Liaison Squadrons (Fleet 10G). It also had air support from the Fliegerkorps VIII. The command point was installed at Kotelnikovsky. The front of the 4th Army was 270 km long on map. In practice it was about 300 km long because of the terrain. Thus the 8th Cavalry Division covered a line of 100 km. The 5th Cavalry, the 1st, 4th and 18th Infantry Divisions covered fronts between 27 and 41 km, the 2nd and 20th Infantry Divisions covered 18 km, respectively 20 km. The strength of the Romanian divisions was also a problem: the 18th Infantry Division had the best situation, having 73% of the necessary manpower. The 5th and 8th Cavalry Divisions had 57% and 64% respectively. The rest were under 50%, with the 1st Infantry Division going as low as 25%. The reserves were the 27th Pioneer Battalion and the 6th Rosiori Regiment for the 6th Corps and the 57th Pioneer Battalion and 57th Recon Group for the 7th. Corps. The 4th Panzer Army had in the area the 29th Motorized Infantry Division, which could also intervene. The number of heavy AT guns was also very low, about one at 5.7 km. The 4th Army 75,580 men at the beginning of the Soviet offensive.

Armata 4 romana - general de corp de armata Constantin Constantinescu-Klaps
Corpul 6 armata - general de corp de armata Corneliu Dragalina
Corpul 7 armata - general de corp de armata Florea Mitranescu
Divizia 1 infanterie - general de brigada Ioan Mihaescu
Divizia 2 infanterie - general de brigada Dumitru Tudose
Divizia 4 infanterie - general de divizie Barbu Alienescu
Divizia 18 infanterie - general de brigada Radu Baldescu
Divizia 20 infanterie - gerneral de divizie Nicolae Tataranu
Divizia 5 cavalerie - colonel Dumitru Popescu
Divizia 8 cavalerie - colonel Radu Korne

You may find the following links helpful:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=53143
http://www.worldwar2.ro/operatii/?article=9&language=en
http://www.worldwar2.ro/portrete/?language=en

[John W. Howard]

Thank You very much Victor and Sid:
Let no one say that the service on Feldgrau is anything but first rate; before I could officially formulate my question, it was answered by Sid and Victor!!! Thank you very much for your observations Sid; it puts the position of the Romanian armies into clear focus for me. Victor, thank you once again for your thorough and easily understood information on the Romanian 4th Army. Your links to the websites will also come in very handy. Thank you both once again. Best wishes.