General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, "on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three cavalry divisions, and one tank division but many of these formations were badly whittled down by battle losses."[1] Two other armies from Soviet Central Front, 21st and 3rd Army, which had avoided encirclement at the Battle of Smolensk (1941), were promised but also badly worn down.
After the failure of the Smolensk offensives, the seriously weakened front became trapped in an enormous encirclement in the lead-up to the Battle of Moscow. "Most of the troops found themselves encircled, and were fighting their way to the east," according to Zhukov. On 23 Oct., "thanks to heroic efforts they managed to break out of encirclement." On 10 Nov., the Bryansk Front was "disbanded".[2]
Second Formation (December 1941 - March 1943)
On its second formation in late 1941 under Yakov Cherevichenko, part of the troops and forces of the Bryansk Front defending the Voronezh region, being designated as Voronezh Front on 7 July 1942. By the time of Operation Blau, the German summer offensive of 1942, the Front comprised the 3rd, 13th, 40th, 48th Armies, the 5th Tank Army, and the 2nd Air Army.[3] It was then reformed, then disbanded on 11–12 March 1943 and its headquarters became HQ Kursk Front after a short time expecting to be the headquarters and the basis of the new Reserve Front.
Third Formation (March 1943 - October 1943)
It was later reformed from the Orel Front on 28 March 1943.
By the time of the Battle of Kursk the Front consisted of
Colonel General Markian Popov led it to liberate its namesake town Bryansk in August and September 1943. On 10 October 1943 the Stavka incorporated most of the Front's forces into the 1st Belorussian Front (former Central) and used Bryansk Front's HQ to form the HQ Baltic Front, which then became the 2nd Baltic Front.
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