3rd Guards Tank Army

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3rd Guards Tank Army
3rd Guards Mechanised Army (1946–1957)
18th Guards Army (1957–1964)
Active1942–1969
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeArmoured
RoleBreakthrough and Exploitation in Deep Operations
Size500–800 tanks
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		General Colonel Pavel Rybalko

The 3rd Guards Tank Army (

army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, then in Germany and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Postwar, the army served as occupation troops in East Germany
, went through several name changes, and was finally deactivated in 1969.

History

Second World War

First Formation

Tanks of the army in Germany, 1945

The 3rd Tank Army was formed as part of the

Soviet Western Front, the 3rd Tank Army successfully counter-attacked the German Second Panzer Army in August 1942. Soon afterwards, in September 1942, Romanenko handed over command to Colonel General Pavel Rybalko
, who held command of the Army for the remainder of the war.

Committed to the fighting for

Voronezh Front, the 3rd Tank Army was subsequently encircled and virtually destroyed by German forces. The Army's remnants were reorganised as the 57th Army.[2]

Second Formation

The army was reformed as the 3rd Guards Tank Army in May 1943, including the

Prague
, entering that city on May 9.

Cold War

Soon after the end of the war, the 6th and 7th Guards Tank Corps were converted into tank divisions with the same numbers, and the 9th Mechanized Corps into the 9th Mechanized Division. By 1946, the army had been re-designated as the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army and was headquartered in

82nd Motor Rifle Division, the former 9th Mechanized Corps, was withdrawn to Slavuta in the Carpathian Military District, where it disbanded. Up to 1964 it had preserved two formations which had served with it during World War II: the 6th and 7th Guards Tank Divisions (former similarly numbered Tank Corps).[5]

In August 1964, the headquarters of the 18th Guards Army was relocated to

Alma-Ata, where it became the operational group of the Turkestan Military District. The 6th and 7th Guards Tank Divisions and the 14th Guards Motor Rifle Division were transferred to other units within the GSFG.[6] The operational group was converted back into the 18th Army (without the Guards designation) on 4 March 1969, but was used to activate the headquarters of the Central Asian Military District on 24 June.[7][8]

Commanders

The 3rd Tank Army was commanded by the following officers:[9]

  • Lieutenant General Prokofy Romanenko (25 May–24 September 1942)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 19 January 1943) Pavel Rybalko (25 September 1942 – 26 April 1943)

The 3rd Guards Tank Army, 3rd Guards Mechanized Army, and 18th Guards Army were commanded by the following officers:[6]

  • Lieutenant General (promoted to Colonel General 30 December 1943 and Marshal of Tank Troops 1 June 1945) Pavel Rybalko (14 May 1943–February 1947)
  • Lieutenant General Vasily Mitrofanov (February 1947–May 1950)
  • Lieutenant General Vasily Butkov (May 1950–30 September 1953)
  • Lieutenant General (promoted to Colonel General 8 August 1955) Viktor Obukhov (30 September 1953 – 15 April 1958)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 25 May 1959)
    Sergey Sokolov
    (15 April 1958 – 21 January 1960)
  • Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 7 May 1960) Georgy Anishchik (22 January 1960 – 28 August 1964)

Order of Battle

World War 2

On February 1, 1943, on the eve of the Third Battle of Kharkov, 3rd Tank Army comprised the following formations:

3rd Tank Army[10]

  • 12th Tank Corps (Major General of Tank Forces M.I. Zinkovich)[11]
    • 30th Tank Brigade
    • 97th Tank Brigade
    • 106th Tank Brigade
    • 13th Motor Rifle Brigade
    • 6th Armored Car Battalion
  • 15th Tank Corps (Major General of Tank Forces Vasily Koptsov)[12]
    • 88th Tank Brigade
    • 113rd Tank Brigade
    • 195th Tank Brigade
    • 52nd Motor Rifle Brigade
    • 5th Armored Car Battalion
  • 48th Rifle Division
  • 62nd Guards Rifle Division
  • 111th Rifle Division
  • 160th Rifle Division
  • 184th Rifle Division
  • 179th Tank Brigade
  • 39th Armored Car Battalion
  • 37th Rifle Brigade
  • 8th Artillery Division
    • 2nd Light Artillery Brigade
    • 12th Gun Artillery Brigade
    • 28th Howitzer Artillery Brigade
  • 1172nd Tank Destroyer Brigade
  • 1245th Tank Destroyer Brigade
  • 15th Guards Mortar Brigade*
  • 62nd Guards Mortar Regiment*
  • 97th Guards Mortar Regiment*
  • 315th Guards Mortar Regiment*
  • 71st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
  • 470th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
  • 391st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment

* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for Katyusha rocket launcher units.

Following 3rd Tank Army's destruction, it was reconstructed as 3rd Guards Tank Army, and by December 31, 1943, it was organized as follows:

3rd Guards Tank Army[13]

* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for Katyusha rocket launcher units.

Notes

  1. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  2. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  3. ^ "17. Juni 1953 – Situation Report from Andrei Grechko and A. Tarasov". 17juni53.de.
  4. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 130.
  5. ^ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 61–63, 163, 386.
  6. ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, p. 386.
  7. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 131.
  8. ^ Holm, Michael. "18th Guards Combined Arms Army". ww2.dk. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  9. ^ Beloborodov 1963, p. 530.
  10. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  11. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  12. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  13. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  14. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  15. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .
  16. ISBN 0-7006-1359-5
    .

References

Further reading
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