21st Guards Airborne Division

Last updated
21st Guards Airborne Division
Active1948–1955
CountryFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Branch Soviet airborne
TypeAirborne
SizeDivision
Part of 15th Guards Airborne Corps
Garrison/HQ Valga
Decorations AlexNevskyOrder.png   Order of Alexander Nevsky

The 21st Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Soviet airborne from 1948 to 1955. It was based in Valga and was formed from a regiment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division. It was disbanded in 1955, with two regiments being transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division and 76th Guards Airborne Division. [1]

History

The division was activated on 15 October 1948 in Valga in Estonia from the 346th Guards Airlanding Regiment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division, inheriting the Order of Alexander Nevsky from the regiment. The division was part of the 15th Guards Airborne Corps. [2] It included the 97th Guards Airborne Regiment, 104th Guards Airlanding Regiment and 1293rd Guards Artillery Regiment. [3] In 1949, the Separate Landing Security Company was disbanded. At some point the 104th Guards Airlanding Regiment became an airborne regiment, having previously been a glider-borne regiment. On 15 November 1953, the division was reorganized. The Separate Communications Company became the Separate Guards Communications Battalion. On the same day, the Separate Medical & Sanitary company became a battalion while the Separate Guards Antitank Artillery Battalion and Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company were disbanded. On 25 April 1955, the division was disbanded. Its 97th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division and its 104th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 76th Guards Airborne Division. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

106th Guards Airborne Division Military unit

The 106th Guards Tula Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Airborne Division, more generally referred to as the Tula Division, is one of the four airborne divisions of the Russian Airborne Troops, the VDV. Based in the city of Tula, to the south of Moscow, it is administratively located within the Western Military District.

Soviet Airborne Forces Military unit

The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed before the Second World War, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and for many years after 1945 was the largest airborne force in the world. The force was split after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the core becoming the Russian Airborne Forces, losing divisions to Belarus and Ukraine.

97th Guards Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine) Military unit

The 97th Guards Mechanized Brigade was a rifle, and then a motor-rifle division of the Soviet Union's Army, before becoming a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, based in Slavuta in western Ukraine.

76th Guards Air Assault Division Military unit

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov. The division traces its lineage back to the 76th Guards Rifle Division, formed in March 1943 from the 157th Rifle Division for that division's actions during the Battle of Stalingrad. The division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, Operation Bagration, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the Berlin Offensive. Postwar, it was converted into an airborne division.

7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division Military unit

The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division is an elite guards division of the Russian Airborne Troops.

103rd Guards Airborne Brigade Military unit

The 103rd Guards Airborne Brigade is currently an active airborne brigade of the Belarusian Special Forces. Its predecessor unit was the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, which was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. It was established in 1946 and disbanded in 1993, a year after its transfer to the Armed Forces of Belarus. The division was formed from the 103rd Guards Rifle Division, which fought as infantry during the final months of World War II in the Vienna Offensive following its formation in late 1944.

The 266th Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. The 266th was formed three times during the war.

The 40th Guards Rifle Division was one of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions of the Red Army formed from airborne troops in the spring and summer of 1942 in preparation for, or in response to, the German summer offensive. It fought in the Stalingrad area during that battle, eventually in the operations that encircled German 6th Army, and then continued to serve in the several campaigns in the south sector of the front, helping to liberate Ukraine and the Balkans, and ending the war at Vienna.

The 13th Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.

The 17th Guards Rifle Division was created on March 17, 1942, from the first formation of the 119th Rifle Division, in recognition of that division's stalwart defense against German Army Group Center in the Battle of Moscow, and in the subsequent strategic offensive that threw the German forces back from the capital. The 17th Guards continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of the Great Patriotic War. It became the 123rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957 and converted into the 129th Guards Machine-Gun Artillery Division in 1989. In 2001, it was converted to the 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division and became the 70th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in 2009. The brigade is currently based in Ussuriysk.

The 6th Guards Airborne Division was a Red Army airborne division that fought as infantry during World War II.

The 11th Guards Airborne Division was the name of two separate airborne divisions of the Soviet Airborne Troops. The division was first formed in late 1943 from three airborne brigades and did not see action before its conversion to the 104th Guards Rifle Division nearly a year later. The division was formed a second time in 1948 from a regiment at Ryazan and was disbanded in 1955.

11th Guards Air Assault Brigade Military unit

The 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops, currently based at Sosnovy Bor near Ulan Ude in Buryatia. The brigade was first formed in 1968 as the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade and two of its helicopter regiments fought in the Soviet–Afghan War. The brigade formed in 1968 at Mogocha as the 11th Separate Airborne Brigade. In 1971 it became the 11th Air Assault Brigade. In 1988, the brigade became an airborne brigade again. It moved to Ulan Ude in May 1993. The brigade became an air assault brigade in 1998. The brigade received the Guards title in 2015.

The 38th Guards Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Soviet airborne. It was activated during World War II in August 1944 and became a rifle corps in December of that year. The corps fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive during the spring of 1945. After the end of the war, it was converted back into an airborne corps. The corps served at Tula until its 1955 disbandment when the Soviet airborne was reorganized.

The 31st Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Soviet airborne from 1948 to 1959. Originally part of the 39th Guards Airborne Corps, it was directly subordinated to Soviet airborne headquarters after the corps was disbanded in 1955. The division's only combat occurred in Operation Whirlwind, the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

35th Guards Air Assault Brigade Military unit

The 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airmobile brigade of the Kazakh Air Assault Forces. It is currently based in Kapchagay. The brigade traces its history back to the Soviet Union as the 111th Guards Airborne Regiment, formed in 1948 as part of the 11th Guards Airborne Division. After the 11th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded in April 1955, the regiment became part of the 105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division. The 105th Guards Airborne Division was broken up in the fall of 1979 and the regiment became the 35th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the brigade became part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was renamed to the 35th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade.

The 213th Motor Rifle Division was a motorized infantry division of the Soviet Army. The division was based in Totskoye and existed from 1968 to 1991. In 1991, the division merged with the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division.

The 111th Tank Division was a Tank division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and after 1946, the Soviet Army. The division was formed in the summer of 1941 in the Soviet Far East from the tank regiment of a motorized division that had been reorganized into a motor rifle division, and had thus lost its tank regiment. The division never fought in combat and was in reserve during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Postwar, the division continued its garrison duty in the Far East. The 111th was renumbered as the 16th Tank Division in 1955.

The 36th Guards Rifle Division was a Guards infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed from the 9th Airborne Corps in August 1942 as a result of the Soviet need for troops to fight in the Battle of Stalingrad. The division was awarded the honorific Verkhnedneprovsk for its crossing of the Dnieper in September 1943 near that town, later receiving the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, for its actions in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in March 1944. It fought in the siege of Budapest during late 1944 and early 1945, receiving the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, for its actions. In late 1945, it was converted into the 24th Guards Mechanized Division. Stationed in Romania, it was disbanded in early 1947.

References

  1. 1 2 Holm, Michael. "21st Guards Airborne Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  2. Feskov et al 2013, p. 236
  3. 1 2 Feskov et al 2013, p. 248