The tank army commander who led the Red Army's elite armor from Stalingrad to Manchuria
In August 1945 Kravchenko's 6th Guards Tank Army surged across the Gobi Desert, covering over 800 kilometers in under three weeks, crossed the Greater Khingan range, and poured onto the Manchurian plain.
Soviet tank commander who led the 4th Tank Corps in closing the Stalingrad encirclement ring and the 5th Guards Tank Corps at Kursk and the Dnieper. Appointed commander of the 6th Tank Army (later 6th Guards) in 1944, he drove it through a succession of victories at Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, Uman-Botoșani, Jassy-Kishinev, Budapest, and Vienna. In August 1945 his army executed a stunning forced march across the Gobi Desert and the Greater Khingan mountains during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive, shattering the Kwantung Army in a decisive armored thrust. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, he was one of the Red Army's most accomplished tank army commanders.
Career Timeline
- 1918–1920Volunteered for the Red Army, Russian Civil War — Tarashcha Regiment, 44th Rifle Division, 60th Rifle Regiment
- 1923Graduated Poltava Infantry School
- 1928Graduated Frunze Military Academy
- 1939–1940Chief of Staff, 173rd Motorized Rifle Division; Soviet-Finnish War and Bessarabia campaign
- 1941–1942Commander, 31st Tank Brigade (Battle of Moscow); Deputy Commander for Tank Forces, 61st Army
- 1942Chief of Staff, 1st Tank Corps → Commander, 2nd Tank Corps (Stalingrad)
- 1942–1944Commander, 4th Tank Corps → 5th Guards Tank Corps (Stalingrad encirclement, Kursk, Dnieper)
- 1944–1947Commander, 6th Tank Army → 6th Guards Tank Army (Korsun, Jassy-Kishinev, Budapest, Vienna, Manchuria)
- 1948–1954Commander of Armored & Mechanized Forces, Transbaikal/Baltic/Far Eastern MDs; Assistant Commander for Tank Armament, Far Eastern MD
- 1955Transferred to reserve due to illness