11th Guards Army

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11th Guards Army
Active1943–1997
DisbandedRedesignated as Ground and Coastal Defence Forces of the Baltic Fleet
Country
Branch
Type
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The 11th Guards Army (

Soviet Ground Forces, and the Russian Ground Forces
, active from 1943 to 1997.

History

World War II

For its prowess in battle, the second formation of the

18th, and 84th Guards, and the 108th and 217th Rifle Divisions, several artillery divisions, armoured units, and other support units.[3]

The army fought in Operation Kutuzov, during which it included the 8th, 16th, and 36th Guards Rifle Corps, the 5th Tank Corps, and the 108th Rifle Division. Beginning the offensive on 12 July as part of the Western Front, the army broke through the main and reserve defensive lines of the German forces by the end of the first day. It advanced 70 kilometers by 19 July, threatening the line of communications of the German forces around Oryol. The 11th Guards Army transferred to the Bryansk Front on 30 July and continued the offensive to the south and southwest, contributing to the defeat of the German troops south of Oryol.[2]

The army became part of the Baltic Front (the

Frische Nehrung.[2]

It also fought in the

.

Postwar

In July 1945, the army headquarters was used to form the headquarters of the

Soviet airborne and relocated to Polotsk, and its 11th and 83rd Guards Rifle Divisions were disbanded.[5]

From the end of 1946 to 1956, the 11th Guards Army included the 16th Guards Rifle Corps with the 1st and 16th Guards Rifle Divisions, and the

Major unit headquarters locations in the late 1980s[5]

For the rest of the Cold War, the army's organization remained mostly unchanged. On 22 February 1968, it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Armed Forces. In August of that year, the 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division participated in the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and upon its conclusion joined the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia. Henceforth, the army included four divisions: the 1st (based at Kaliningrad) and 26th (Gusev) Guards Motor Rifle, and the 40th Guards (Sovetsk) and 1st (Kaliningrad) Tank. The tank divisions were maintained at a higher strength then the motor rifle divisions, and the 1st Guards Motor Rifle was maintained at a reduced strength with virtually no artillery and few armored vehicles. On 28 August 1988, the rocket battalions of the army's divisions were used to form the 463rd Rocket Brigade, directly subordinated to army headquarters.

Decline of the USSR

As the size of Soviet forces was reduced towards the end of the Cold War, the 26th Division was downsized into the 5190th Guards Weapons and Equipment Storage Base in September 1989. When Soviet troops withdrew from Eastern Europe in 1991, the 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division returned to Gusev, after which the 5190th Guards Base was disbanded, and the 11th Guards Rocket Brigade arrived in Chernyakhovsk.[5]

By early 1991, the 11th Guards Army included 620 tanks, 753 BMPs and BTRs, 239 guns, mortars, and Multiple rocket launchers, 71 attack helicopters, and 38 transport helicopters.

In September 1993 the 1st Tank Division was reduced into the 2nd Independent Tank Brigade.[6]

On 19 November 1993 the 40th Guards Tank Division at Sovetsk in the Kaliningrad Oblast was reduced in status to become the 10th Guards Tank Brigade. The 11th Guards Army was disbanded on 1 February 1997 by being redesignated the Ground and Coastal Defence Forces of the Baltic Fleet.[7][5]

In June 1997 the 10th Guards Tank Brigade was renamed the 196th Guards Weapons and Equipment Storage Base.[8] The storage base was disbanded itself in 2008. In 1998 the 2nd Independent Tank Brigade became the 385th VKhVT.[6]

Commanders of the Army

The following generals commanded the army.[9][10][5]

  • Lieutenant General Ivan Bagramyan (17 April – 15 November 1943)
  • Major General Alexander Ksenofontov (16–25 November 1943)
  • Colonel General Kuzma Galitsky (26 November 1943 – 24 October 1946)
  • Colonel General Alexander Gorbatov (25 October 1946 – 27 March 1950)
  • Colonel General Pavel Batov (27 March 1950 – 8 June 1954)
  • Colonel General Pyotr Koshevoy (8 June 1954 – 15 July 1955)
  • Lieutenant General Iosif Gusakovsky (15 July 1955 – 16 April 1958)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 25 May 1959) Yefim Marchenko (16 April 1958 – 23 September 1960)
  • Colonel General Mikhail Povaly (23 September 1960 – 13 December 1961)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 27 April 1962) Khachik Hamparian (13 December 1961 – 19 March 1966)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 23 February 1967) Alexander Altunin (19 March 1966 – 28 June 1968)
  • Lieutenant General Yury Naumenko (28 June 1968 – 16 October 1971)
  • Lieutenant General Dmitry Sukhorukov (4 November 1971 – 20 March 1974)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 14 February 1977) Alexander Ivanov (20 March 1974 – March 1979)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 5 May 1980) Yury Petrov (March 1979 – July 1982)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 28 April 1984) Vladimir Platov (July 1982 – 1984)
  • Major General Georgy Saburov (1984)
  • Lieutenant General Fedor Melnychuk (1984–1988)
  • Major General Yury Grekov (1988 – 4 January 1989)
  • Lieutenant General Anatoly Koretsky (1989–1991)
  • Lieutenant General Andrey Nikolaev (February–July 1992)
  • Guards General Lieutenant Anatoli Pimenov (Пименов, Анатолий Иванович) (1992–1997)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "11-я Гвардейская армия" [11th Guards Army] (in Russian). Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Grachev 1994, p. 365.
  3. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 1 June 1943
  4. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 440.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Feskov et al 2013, pp. 446–449.
  6. ^ a b Zverev 2020.
  7. ^ Morskoi Sbornik, No. 12, 1997, p.26, via Austin and Muraviev, The Armed Forces of Russia in Asia, Tauris, 2001, p.349. See also Morskoi Sbornik, No. 1, 1998, p.25, No. 2, 1998, p.29
  8. ^ Holm, Michael. "40th Guards Tank Division [40-я гвардейская танковая Померанская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия]". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991 Organisation and Order of Battle. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  9. ^ "11-я гвардейская армия". gako2006.narod.ru. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  10. ^ Holm, Michael. "11th Guards Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 1 February 2016.

References

Further reading