38th Guards Airborne Corps (1946–1955) 38th Guards Rifle Corps 38th Guards Airborne Corps (1944–1945) | |
---|---|
Active | 1944–1955 |
Country | |
Branch | |
Type | airborne, infantry |
Size | Corps |
Engagements | World War II |
Battle honours | Vienna |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
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 38th Guards Airborne Corps was formed around 9 August 1944 under the command of Alexander Kapitokhin, part of the Separate Airborne Army. The corps included the 11th, 12th, and 16th Guards Airborne Divisions. [1] On 8 December, the corps became a rifle corps and its divisions were soon converted into infantry divisions. At the same time, the Separate Airborne Army became the 9th Guards Army. [2]
In January 1945, the corps transferred to Hungary with the rest of the 9th Guards Army. The corps first fought in combat on 21 February. On 26 March, Kapitokhin was replaced by Alexander Utvenko in command. [3] [4] It fought during the Vienna Offensive, where its 104th Guards Rifle Division captured Sankt Pölten. [5] Its 105th Guards Rifle Division blocked the Vienna-Linz road. [6] For its actions in the Vienna Offensive, the corps was awarded the honorary title "Vienna". [2] Advancing on the right flank of the 37th Guards Rifle Corps, the corps entered Czechoslovakia and fought in the Prague Offensive, where the 106th Guards Rifle Division captured Znojmo. [2] [7]
The corps briefly became part of the Central Group of Forces before it was relocated to Ivanovo in the Moscow Military District in the summer of 1945. [8] The 104th Division was based at Kostroma, and the 105th and 106th were at Teykovo. [9] On 10 June, the corps was converted back into an airborne corps along with the rest of the corps of the 9th Guards Army, which became the headquarters of the Soviet airborne. Its divisions also became airborne divisions. The 689th Separate Communications Battalion was directly subordinated to corps headquarters around this time. The 104th Guards were transferred to the 15th Guards Airborne Corps in Estonia, and the 105th and 106th Divisions moved to Kostroma and Tula, respectively. The corps headquarters was moved to Tula. In July, Lieutenant General Stepan Povetkin became commander of the corps. Lieutenant General Erofey Dobrovolsky took command in August. He would command the corps for the rest of its existence. [3] On 15 October 1948, the 11th Guards Airborne Division was activated from a regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division at Ryazan to form a third division in the corps. On 25 April 1955, as part of the reorganization of the Soviet airborne, the corps and its 11th Guards Airborne Division were disbanded. [10] The 105th and 106th Divisions were directly subordinated to the headquarters of the Soviet airborne. [11]
The corps was commanded by the following officers. [4]
The corps was composed of the following units in January 1945. [7]
The 100th Guards Rifle Division was an elite Red Army airborne infantry division during World War II. The division fought in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive and the Vienna Offensive. Postwar, it was designated as an airborne division and disbanded in 1955.
The 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Volunteer Tank Division, also known at the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Guards Army. The division traces its heritage back to 1943, during World War II. It is headquartered and based at Boguchar, 160 kilometres south of Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast.
The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division is an elite guards division of the Russian Airborne Troops.
The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition of that army's actions during the Battle of Stalingrad. The 5th Guards Army fought in the Battle of Kursk, Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation, Battle of the Dnieper, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, Vistula–Oder Offensive, Berlin Offensive, and the Prague Offensive. During the Berlin Offensive elements of the army linked up with American troops at Torgau on the Elbe. Postwar, the army was disbanded as part of the Central Group of Forces.
The 103rd Guards Airborne Division 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. Its lineage is continued by a currently active brigade of the Belarusian Special Forces, the 103rd Guards Airborne Brigade.
The 4th Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Red Army that fought as infantry during World War II.
The 9th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, which fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive at the end of the war. The army was formed in January 1945 and included airborne divisions converted into infantry. Postwar, the army headquarters became Soviet airborne headquarters.
The 13th Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.
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The 3rd Guards Airborne Division was a Red Army division of World War II. In December 1945 it appears to have become 125th Guards Rifle Division, while serving with 35th Guards Rifle Corps, 27th Army, Carpathian Military District.
The 35th Guards Rifle Division was a division of the Soviet Red Army in World War II.
The 6th Guards Airborne Division was a Red Army airborne division that fought as infantry during World War II.
The 99th Guards Rifle Division was a Red Army division of World War II. It was formed from the 14th Guards Airborne Division in January 1944. It fought in the Svir-Petrozavodsk Offensive between June and August 1944. It became the 99th Guards Airborne Division in August but was converted into infantry again in December 1944 and January 1945. The division fought in the Budapest Offensive and in the defense against Operation Spring Awakening. At the end of the war it participated in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive. In August 1945 it transferred to the Far East and was converted into an airborne division in 1946. The division served in the Far East for the next decade and was disbanded in 1956.
The 32nd Guards Tank Division was a tank formation of the Soviet Army/Soviet Ground Forces. Its predecessor, the 9th Guards Airborne Division, was a Red Army Airborne division of World War II. On 19 June 1945, it became the 116th Guards Rifle Division. In 1946, it became the 14th Guards Mechanized Division. In 1957, it became the 14th Guards Motorized Rifle Division. In 1982, it became the 32nd Guards Tank Division, which was disbanded in June 1989.
The 126th Guards Rifle Division was a Red Army division from 1945 to 1946, part of the Southern Group of Forces. The 126th Guards Rifle Division was originally the 10th Guards Airborne Division, which was transformed into a rifle division on 20 December 1945.
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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.
The 105th Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.
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