3rd Guards Airborne Division

Last updated
3rd Guards Airborne Division
Active1942–1945
Country Soviet Union
Allegiance Red Army
BranchAirborne
SizeDivision
Engagements
Decorations Order of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov, 2nd class
Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class
Battle honours Uman
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Ivan Nikitich Konev (8 December 1942 – 19 November 1945)

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. [1]

Contents

History

The 3rd Guards Airborne Division was formed on 8 December 1942 after the disbanding of the 8th Airborne Corps. The division was placed under the 1st Shock Army on 6 February 1943 for the attack on the Demyansk Pocket. When the attack began on 26 February, the attached tanks of the 37th Separate Tank Regiment became bogged down in the snow, and German resistance slowed the advance. The division captured Sosnovka by 5 March and was on the eastern bank of the Porus River on 11 March. On the next night, the division was replaced by the 9th Guards Airborne Division.

The division was reassigned to the 53rd Army south of Maloarkhangelsk. As part of the 13th Army and 60th Army, the 3rd Guards Airborne fought in the Battle of Kursk and the Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive. On 9 September, the division captured Bakhmach. After capturing Oster, the division crossed the Desna River and fought to expand the bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper to Hornostaipil.

The division fought in the Battle of Kiev, capturing Dymer, Radomyshl and Korostyshiv. In November and December 1943, the 3rd Guards Airborne thwarted German counterattacks in the Kiev defensive operation. It then fought in the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive. In January and February 1944, the division fought in the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket. On 3 March 1944, the division became part of the 35th Guards Rifle Corps of the 27th Army. Three days later, the division crossed the Hirsky Tikych, which allowed the capture of Khrystynivka and Uman, for which it was given the title Uman.

Fighting in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the division crossed the Southern Bug, the Dniester and the Prut, capturing Trostianets, Ladyzhyn, Tulchyn and Mohyliv-Podilskyi. [2] On 26 March, the division reached the Prut after capturing Edineț on the Romanian border. For its performance in crossing of the Dniester and the Prut, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov 2nd class. The division crossed the Siret River at Pașcani and held the bridgehead against counterattacks. After the end of the offensive, the division rested before the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. On 20 August, in concert with the 104th Rifle Corps, the division attacked in the direction of Bacău, Vaslui and Huși, seeking to destroy Army Group South Ukraine.

The division attacked Hill 155 in cooperation with the 27th Guards Tank Brigade, capturing the first and second trenches. The 8th Guards Airborne captured Hill 177, a center of German resistance, within 8 hours. The 8th and 10th Guards Airborne broke through the German line and crossed the Bahlui River. On 25 August, the division captured Bârlad, which forced the Germans back to Focșani and Ploiești. On the 27th, the division captured Focșani and then Ploiești in cooperation with the 93rd Guards Rifle Division. The division advanced 296 kilometers and had reached Turda by 15 September.

In the Battle of Debrecen, the 3rd Guards Airborne captured Cluj-Napoca and entered Hungary. On the night of 7 November, the division crossed the Tisza and took Füzesabony on 11 November. In conjunction with the 110th Guards Rifle Division, the division captured Eger on 30 November. Moving westward, the division entered Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1945. The division stopped counterattacks during the Siege of Budapest. In March 1945, the division repelled Operation Spring Awakening. After assisting the 4th Guards Army in the capture of Székesfehérvár on 22 March, in an action for which it gained the Order of Kutuzov 2nd class, the division captured Zalaegerszeg on 29 March.

Days later, the division entered Austria at Fürstenfeld. The division entered Graz on 9 May at the end of the war and met British troops on the Mur at Bruck an der Mur. The 3rd Guards Airborne became part of the Southern Group of Forces on 15 June and returned to Tulchyn on 13 August. [3] On 20 December 1945 it became the 125th Guards Rifle Division with the 35th Guards Rifle Corps. [1] The 125th Guards Rifle Division was disbanded sometime in 1946. [1]

Composition

[4] [5]

Awards

Heroes of the Soviet Union

Related Research Articles

The 78th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed in 1932, in Novosibirsk, in the Siberian Military District. After being used to provide cadres for new divisions, in September 1939 the division was reformed for the second time. In 1940 the division was transferred to Khabarovsk in the Far Eastern Front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Târgu Frumos</span>

The First Battle of Târgu Frumos was fought during World War II between Axis powers commanded by Otto Wöhler and Soviet forces led by Ivan Konev. Historian David Glantz has described it as part of a failed Soviet invasion of Romania, while Russian and German sources have described it as part of the Târgu Frumos Operation.

The 27th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, which fought in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Guards Airborne Division</span> Military unit

The 4th Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Red Army that fought as infantry during World War II.

The 1st Guards Zvenigorod–Bucharest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. The division was first formed in December 1942 and fought in the Battle of the Dnieper, the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, the Uman–Botoșani offensive, the second Jassy–Kishinev offensive, the Battle of Debrecen, the siege of Budapest and the Prague offensive. In August 1945 it was sent east and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The division became the 124th Guards Rifle Division in November 1945 and disbanded in 1956.

The 2nd Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Red Army during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Nikitich Konev</span> Soviet military commander

Ivan Nikitich Konev was a Soviet major general during World War II and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Konev led the 3rd Guards Airborne Division through most of the war and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the division during the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. Postwar, Konev continued to serve in the Soviet Army and became the deputy commander of multiple army corps.

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

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 10th Guards Airborne Division was an infantry division of the Red Army from 1942 to 1946.

The 105th Guards Airborne Division was an airborne division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.

The 114th Guards Airborne Division was a Red Army airborne division. It was first formed as the 14th Guards Airborne Division. In December 1944, it was converted to the 114th Guards Rifle Division and became an airborne unit again in June 1946.

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 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 16th Guards Tank Division was a tank division of the Soviet Army and later the Russian Ground Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Training Center for Junior Specialists (Kazakhstan)</span> Kazakh Army training center

The Training Center for Junior Specialists of the Kazakh Ground Forces named after Karasai Batyr is a Ground Forces formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The 35th Guards Rifle Corps was a rifle corps of the Red Army during World War II that became part of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.

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.

The 41st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in August 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 10th Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the last 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 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front, then to the 24th Army in Don Front, and suffered heavy casualties north of Stalingrad before being withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding. Returning to 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front in November it took part in Operation Little Saturn as part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps and then advanced into the Donbas where it was caught up in the German counteroffensive in the spring of 1943. During the summer and fall the division fought its way through eastern Ukraine as part of the 6th, and later the 57th Army under several corps commands. It would remain in the southern part of the front for the duration of the war. By February 1944 it was in the 7th Guards Army and took part in the battle for the Korsun Pocket, winning its first battle honor in the process. Shortly after it was transferred to the 4th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration, still moving through several corps headquarters. The 41st Guards saw limited service in the first Jassy-Kishinev offensive in the spring, but considerably more in August's second offensive and several of its subunits received battle honors or decorations. The division itself won a second honorific during the offensive into Hungary in January 1945 and was later decorated for its role in the capture of Budapest. After the fall of Vienna in April it did garrison duty in the city for a short time before being directed west into lower Austria where it linked up with U.S. forces in the last days of the war. In October, while still in Austria, it was converted to the 18th Guards Mechanized Division.

The 206th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the prewar buildup of forces. Its first formation in March 1941 was based on the last prewar shtat for rifle divisions. When the German invasion began it was still organizing well away from the front near Krivoi Rog but was soon sent to the Kiev Fortified Sector where it eventually came under command of the 37th Army. It was deeply encircled by the German offensive in September and destroyed, but not officially stricken from the Soviet order of battle until late December.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Feskov et al. 2013, 147.
  2. ↑ "Уманская воздушно-десантная дивизия". xn----7sbfkccucpkracijq8iofobm.xn—p1ai. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  3. ↑ "Гвардейские воздушно-десантные |". myfront.in.ua. Archived from the original on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  4. ↑ Pettibone, Charles D. (2009-11-18). The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II: Volume V – Book B Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Trafford Publishing. ISBN   9781426978159.
  5. ↑ "Действующая армия. Перечни войск. Перечень № 6. Танковые дивизии. Гвардейские воздушно-десантные дивизии". www.teatrskazka.com. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.