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| 3rd Airborne Corps 87th Rifle Division (II) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1942 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Soviet Airborne Troops |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Vasili Glazunov |
The 3rd Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Red Army in World War II. [1] The corps was established near Kyiv.
Formation of the corps began in spring 1941 in the Odessa Military District, [2] with headquarters and the main part of the corps at Pervomaysk and the 212th Airborne Brigade at Voznesensk. In the first half of August 1941 the corps fought as infantry in the Battle of Kiev and suffered heavy losses. [3] On 29 August, its commander, Vasili Glazunov, was appointed commander of the Soviet airborne. At the beginning of September, it fought in the defense of Konotop. In November 1941, the corps was reorganized as the 87th Rifle Division (second formation), under Colonel Alexander Rodimtsev, former commander of the 5th Airborne Brigade.
The 87th Rifle Division was assigned to the 40th Army. On December 4 the Germans broke through the defensive front of the 40th Army, and building on the success in the north-east, occupied Prilepa and several other localities. The division was tasked to close the breach.
On the morning of December 8 the enemy resumed the offensive on the Kursk-Kastornoye direction. The commander of the 40th army set the division the task to provide cover in the occupied positions, regroup and come out on foot to the area Serebryanka-Tretyakov-Athanasian to stop the fight in the counter offensive of the Germans. Then it had to, in cooperation with other parts to crush in settlements Leninsky and transhipments opposing enemy force and immediately capture the city and Cheremisinovo Shchigry. After 40 km, the division was able to focus in a given area only in the evening on 10 December. The morning of 11 December, she attacked the German positions and captured two villages.
On 22 December, the division attacked in conjunction with the 1st Guards Rifle Division and 2nd Guards Rifle Division and captured Marmyzhi. On 24 December, elements of the 87th fought in the villages of Inanovka Pozhidaevka and Krasnaya Polyana. By the end of 27 December, the division was in the area of the villages of Plahovka, Golovinovka and Petrovka. In the first half of January 1942, the division conducted defensive operations in the area. On 16 January, the German troops attacked but were unable to break through. On 18 January, the division attacked in the direction of Kryukovo-Rusakova and to capture the eastern outskirts of Shchigry. The division was ordered to be converted into the 13th Guards Rifle Division on 19 January for its actions during these battles. The new numbering was officially awarded on 4 March 1942.
In spring 1941, the corps was composed of the following units.
In addition, it was suggested that the 719th Airfield Support Battalion and the 250th and 327th Air Assault Bomber Aviation Regiments, intended for paradropping personnel, [4] be included in the corps. However, due to the outbreak of the Operation Barbarossa, these units did not join the corps.
The 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division is a formation of the Russian Ground Forces, originally formed within the Soviet Red Army as the 3rd Mechanised Corps. The division was reformed in 2021 from the former 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
The 2nd Mechanised Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
The 5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division, named on the 60th anniversary of the USSR, was a military formation of the Soviet Ground Forces. It was formed from the 6th Mechanized Corps created in 1940 and destroyed in 1941 in the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The corps was reformed in November 1942 under the same name, but with a different organizational structure. In early 1943, the 6th Mechanized Corps was granted "Guards" status and became the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.
The 4th Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Red Army in World War II. It fought in the Vyazma airborne operation, an unsuccessful landing during the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive.
The 5th Mechanised Corps was a mechanised corps of the Red Army, formed on three occasions. It was first formed in 1934 and was converted into the 15th Tank Corps in 1938. It was reformed in the Far East in 1940 and moved west before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It fought in the First Battle of Smolensk, losing large numbers of tanks in the Lepel counterattack. The corps was encircled in the Smolensk pocket and after breaking out was disbanded in late August 1941. Its third formation, from elements of the 22nd Tank Corps, occurred in September 1942. The corps fought in: Operation Little Saturn, Operation Gallop, the Second Battle of Smolensk, the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, and the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. In September 1944, it became the 9th Guards Mechanised Corps.
Vasily Afanasyevich Glazunov was a Soviet lieutenant general, who was the first commander of the Soviet airborne (VDV). He was twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union.
The 252nd Rifle Division was the eighth of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District.
Ivan Ivanovich Zatevakhin was a Red Army Lieutenant general who commanded the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV) from 1944 to 1946.
The 1st Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Red Army during World War II. It fought in the Battle of Kiev, the Battle of Moscow and in the Battle of Demyansk.
The 37th Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army which fought during World War II.
Viktor Grigoryevich Zholudev was a Red Army major general and posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union. Zholudev fought in the 1929 Sino-Soviet conflict, the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 and the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol, as well as World War II. Zholudev commanded the 37th Guards Rifle Division during its defense of the Stalingrad tractor factory during the Battle of Stalingrad.
The 2nd Airborne Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II. It fought in the Battle of Kiev. In the summer of 1942, the 2nd Airborne Corps became the 32nd Guards Rifle Division.
The 120th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times. Its first formation became the 6th Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the Yelnya Offensive. Its second formation became the 69th Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the Battle of Stalingrad. The division was reformed a third time in late April 1943. It was disbanded "in place" with the Central Group of Forces in the summer of 1945.
The 61st Rifle Corps was a Red Army infantry corps during World War II, formed twice. The 61st Rifle Corps was formed firmed in Tula during September 1939. After Operation Barbarossa, it was transferred to the front in Belarus and fought in the Battle of Smolensk. After suffering heavy losses at Smolensk, it was disbanded in early August 1941. Reformed in spring 1943, the corps fought in Operation Kutuzov, the Lublin–Brest Offensive and the Berlin Offensive. The corps was disbanded after the end of the war in summer 1945.
The 20th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps was almost entirely destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and the Battle of Smolensk, in which it defended Mogilev.
The 5th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed twice.
The 212th Airborne Brigade was an airborne brigade of the Soviet Airborne Troops, formed twice.
The 33rd Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 3rd Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the second of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 47th Army in the North Caucasus Front but was soon moved to the Volga Military District and saw its first action as part of 62nd Army in the fighting on the approaches to Stalingrad. It was withdrawn east of the Volga in September, but returned to the front with the 2nd Guards Army in December, and it remained in this Army until early 1945. After helping to defeat Army Group Don's attempt to relieve the trapped 6th Army at Stalingrad the 33rd Guards joined in the pursuit across the southern Caucasus steppe until reaching the Mius River in early 1943. Through the rest of that year it fought through the southern sector of eastern Ukraine as part of Southern Front and in the spring of 1944 assisted in the liberation of the Crimea, earning a battle honor in the process. The Crimea was a strategic dead-end, so 2nd Guards Army was moved north to take part in the summer offensive through the Baltic states and to the border with Germany as part of 1st Baltic Front. During the offensive into East Prussia the division and its 13th Guards Rifle Corps was reassigned to 39th and the 43rd Armies before returning to 2nd Guards Army in April. For its part in the capture of the city-fortress of Königsberg the 33rd Guards would receive the Order of Suvorov. In mid-1946 it was converted to the 8th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade.
The 1940 formation of the 160th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. The division completed its formation at Gorki in the Moscow Military District and at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in the same area, assigned to the 20th Rifle Corps in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. It was moved west by rail to join the 13th Army of Western Front in the first days of July 1941 in the Mogilev area. At the end of the month the division was assigned to the reserves of Central Front before becoming part of Operations Group Akimenko in the reserves of Bryansk Front. In mid-September it was encircled and forced to break out; in the process it lost its commanding officer, much of its command staff and so many men and heavy weapons that it was briefly written off. Its number was reallocated to the 6th Moscow Militia Division and for the next 18 months there were two 160th Rifle Divisions serving concurrently. By the start of Operation Typhoon at the end of September it was in Operations Group Ermakov; while falling back to southwest of Kursk it managed to avoid encirclement but remained barely combat-effective due to its heavy losses.
The 219th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was redesignated about 10 weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Due to a chronic lack of vehicles, and especially tanks, the division had been effectively serving as a motorized rifle brigade since June 22, so the redesignation was a formality and it was soon destroyed in the encirclement battle east of Kiev.
