4th Guards Motor Rifle Division

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4th Guards Motor Rifle Division
(1964–1989)

63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division
(1957–1964)

4th Guards Mechanized Division
(1945–1957)

4th Guards Mechanized Corps
(1943–1945)

13th Tank Corps
(1942–1943)
Active1942–1989
CountrySoviet Union
Branch Red Army (1942-1946)
 Soviet Army (1946-1989)
TypeInfantry
EngagementsWorld War II
Decorations
Stalingrad (removed and replaced with Volgograd
)
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Russian: 4-я гвардейская мотострелковая дивизия) was a motorized infantry division of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.

The division began its history as the 13th Tank Corps of the

Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive
. In the final months of the war the corps advanced into Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and southern Czechoslovakia before being withdrawn into the reserve.

Several weeks after the end of the war, the corps was converted into the 4th Guards Mechanized Division and based at

Lugansk by the time it became the 63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957. It was renumbered as the 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division to preserve its traditions in 1964, and was sent to Termez during the Soviet–Afghan War
to replace a division deployed to the latter. When it returned to Lugansk in 1989, the division was reduced to a storage base, which was disbanded in 1991.

World War II

The corps was formed during April and May 1942 in the

Voroshilovgrad Operation). Shruov was mortally wounded in July and replaced by Colonel Trofim Tanaschishin, who would be promoted to major general on 7 December 1942 and to lieutenant general on 30 August 1943. On 23 July 1942 it was transferred to the Stalingrad Front, with which it fought in the Battle of Stalingrad. Due to heavy losses of tanks, in November the corps was reorganized as a mechanized corps with the 1st, 17th, and 62nd Mechanized Brigades, though it retained the 13th Tank Corps designation.[1]

Soviet tank crews during the winter of 1942–1943

The corps fought in

Melitopol Offensive during this period.[1]

Identification symbol painted on vehicles of the corps' 36th Guards Tank Brigade

Transferred to the

Odessa among other objectives during the latter, the corps was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 20 April. Among the corps personnel posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title for their actions in these operations were tank commanders and Junior Lieutenants Boris Grebennikov and Vadim Sivkov, and gunner and radio operator Ryadovoy Pyotr Krestyaninov. Tanaschishin was also killed in action during the Odessa Offensive at the end of March and replaced by Major General Vladimir Zhdanov, who commanded it for the rest of the war and was promoted to lieutenant general on 13 September.[1]

Tankers of the corps preparing for an attack in Romania, 1944
A Soviet tank crew discussing plans during the Budapest Offensive

Attacking in conjunction with the

Budapest Offensive. It saw its last combat action during the advance into southern Czechoslovakia on the Hron north of Esztergom, and in late February was withdrawn into the front reserve. The corps then transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command on 15 April, in which it ended the war. For their actions during the war, 16,500 personnel of the corps were decorated, while nineteen others were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.[1]

Postwar

The 4th Guards Mechanized Corps was converted into the 4th Guards Mechanized Division in June 1945;

Lugansk by 1957 and renumbered as the 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division to restore its World War II number on 17 November 1964.[10] Its Stalingrad honorific was removed in 1961 and replaced with Volgograd to reflect the name change of that city on 29 September 1964.[11]

By 1965, the division was directly subordinated to the district headquarters. It was transferred to

BMP-1KSh, 3 1V18, 1 1V19, and 1 UR-67[14] – were stored; the base was disbanded in March 1991.[15]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e Ivanov 2003, p. 643.
  2. ^ Glantz 1989, p. 327.
  3. ^ Zhdanov & Chizh 1944, p. 35.
  4. ^ Zhdanov & Chizh 1944, p. 37.
  5. ^ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 422–423.
  6. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 483.
  7. ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, p. 479.
  8. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 204.
  9. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 207.
  10. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 163.
  11. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 126.
  12. ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, p. 539.
  13. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 485.
  14. ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2001, p. 153.
  15. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 487.

Bibliography

Military documents

Further reading

External links
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