The army was formed on 16 July 1941 in the
Moscow Military District near the cities of
Naro-Fominsk,
Kubinka, and the settlement of
Dorokhovo. The army was formed with four divisions of
Moscow Militia. The assigned units included the
2nd,
7th,
8th,
13th Moscow Militia divisions. In addition, on 20 July 1941,
18th Moscow People's Militia Divisions was assigned to the Army at positions west of Moscow. The 18th had a strength of 10,000. On 18 July the army was incorporated into the Moscow line of defense and took up defensive positions in the vicinity of
Karacharovo. On 30 July the army was assigned to the
Reserve Front. On 1 October, the army included the
2nd Rifle Division,
8th Rifle Division,
29th Rifle Division and the
140th Rifle Division. It also included the 685th Corps Artillery Regiment, 533rd Antitank Artillery Regiment, 877th Antitank Artillery Regiment, 200th Naval Artillery Battalion and the 36th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion. On 3 October the army was heavily engaged in
a defensive battle against German forces advancing on
Vyazma as part of the northern wing of
Operation Typhoon. On 5 October the army was reassigned to the
Western Front and two days later along with the
16th,
19th,
20th and
24th Armies were encircled by the German
4th and
9th Armies and
3rd and
4th Panzer Groups. The 32nd Army was disbanded on 12 October 1941. Small elements of the army were able to break out of the encirclement and were assigned to the
16th and
19th Armies. Commanders: • Lieutenant General
Nikolai Klykov (July - August 1941) • Major General
Ivan Fedyuninsky (August - September 1941) • Major General
Sergei V. Vishnevskii (September 1941 - October 1941) ==Second formation==