4th Guards Rifle Division
4th Guards Rifle Division (September 18, 1941 – 1946) | |
---|---|
Vienna Offensive | |
Decorations | Order of the Red Banner |
Battle honours | Apostolovo Vienna |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Col. Pyotr Fedorovich Moskvitin Maj. Gen. Anatolii Yosifovich Andreev Maj. Gen. Georgii Pavlovich Lilenkov Col. Sergei Ivanovich Nikitin Col. Yosef Kuzmich Stetsun Maj. Gen. Gavriil Yefimovich Kukharev Maj. Gen. Kuzma Dmitryevich Parfyonov |
The 4th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division on September 18, 1941, from the 1st formation of the
Formation
The 4th Guards was the last of four Guards rifle divisions created in the aftermath of the fighting for Yelnya.[1] Unlike most later Guards divisions, its regiments and battalions retained their previous numbers with "Guards" added, as, for example: "477th Guards Rifle Regiment". On February 9, 1942 these were all re-designated, and its order of battle became as follows:
- 3rd Guards Rifle Regiment from 477th Rifle Regiment
- 8th Guards Rifle Regiment from 542nd Rifle Regiment
- 11th Guards Rifle Regiment from 603rd Rifle Regiment
- 23rd Guards Artillery Regiment from 632nd Howitzer Regiment
- 9th Guards Antitank Battalion from 135th Antitank Battalion
- 14th Guards Sapper Battalion from 154th Sapper Battalion
- 7th Guards Reconnaissance Battalion from 245th Reconnaissance Battalion
- 17th Guards Antiaircraft Battery from 475th Antiaircraft Battalion
- 5th Guards Signal Battalion from 422nd Signal Battalion (later 5th Guards Signal Company)
- 1st Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion
- 2nd Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
- 6th Guards Motor Transport Company
- 13th Guards Field Bakery
- 10th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital
- 11961st Field Postal Station (later 827th)
- 173rd Field Office of the State Bank
The division also had an anti-aircraft machine-gun company, a training battalion and a band platoon. At around the same date, it also received the 16th Guards Mortar Battalion (82mm and 120mm mortars).[2] Col. Pyotr Fedorovich Moskvitin, who had commanded the 161st since August 22, remained in command until September 30 when he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Anatolii Yosifovich Andreev.
Battle of Leningrad
After a short period for rebuilding the 4th Guards was railed, along with its "sister"
4th Guards would spend the next eight months in fighting along the Volkhov. In late January, 1942, it was transferred to
By the beginning of May, 2nd Shock was once more effectively cut off, and Lt. Gen. M.S. Khozin of Leningrad Front was proposing that 6th Guards Corps be refitted and break through to the encircled army to make it possible to complete the advance on Lyuban. Yet another narrow corridor was forced through the German cordon, but on May 16 the 4th Guards, along with the 24th Guards and most of the rest of their corps were obliged to withdraw eastwards again.[6] Two days earlier General Andreev had been reassigned to a staff position in 59th Army and was replaced in command by Col. Sergei Timofeevich Biyakov, who was in turn succeeded by Maj. Gen. Georgii Pavlovich Lilenkov from the 378th Rifle Division on June 30. The division was moved, with its Corps, to Volkhov Front in July, then left the Corps and was dispatched south to join the newly formed 1st Guards Army.[7]
Stalingrad and aftermath
1st Guards Army was in
Operation Uranus
As of September 3 the 4th Guards had been transferred to the
This transfer was due to the completion of the encirclement of 6th Army on November 23 and the fact that 5th Tank was having difficulty overcoming Axis-held strongpoints along the
The
The Rychkovskii bridgehead, which the enemy intended to use as a trampoline [springboard] for an offensive toward Stalingrad, ceased to exist by 1000 hours on 13 December.
That evening the commander of 5th Shock, Lt. Gen. M. M. Popov, ordered the attack to continue towards Verkhne-Chirskii. This bridgehead was also heavily fortified and defended by about 3,500 German troops and a large number of antitank guns. During December 14 the division, with 7th Tanks, fought towards the town. At the same time the 315th Rifle Division of Stalingrad Front crossed the Don and seized a bridgehead south of Nizhne-Chirskaia. Meanwhile, the German commander, Field Marshal E. von Manstein, was adamant that the bridgehead must be held for the sake of the morale of 6th Army. On December 15 the 5th Shock Army eliminated the bridgehead at Verkhne-Chirskii while the 11th Panzer was distracted and wearing itself out in the fighting south of Ostrovskii; the loss of the two bridgeheads effectively eliminated any prospect of a relief drive on the shorter route.[13]
Offensive on Rostov
Over the next two weeks the 4th Guards worked its way south along the east bank of the Don until by December 28 it was opposite the village of Suvorovskii along with the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps. The 5th Shock and 2nd Guards Armies began an offensive that day on the town of Tormosin against the partially-encircled positions of 4th Panzer Army's Group Mieth south of the Chir and west and north of the Don. By nightfall on the next day the division had secured a solid bridgehead on the western bank which allowed 3rd Guards Cavalry to cross overnight and early the next day and begin a steady advance which deepened the bridgehead to as much as 20 km. During the same night the Stalingrad Front was redesignated as the new Southern Front with the intention of coordinating the advance on Rostov-on-Don.[14]
The division followed 5th Shock to the new Front on January 3, 1943. At this time the
In the fighting on January 7 the 5th Shock faced two regiments of the
On 10 January 1943, the enemy attacked the units of 258th RD and 4th Guards RD with the forces of up to a regiment of infantry and 100 tanks and, having created the threat of their complete encirclement, forced the latter to withdraw to Trofimov and Kriukovskii. On the night of 10–11 January 1943, 1328th and 362nd RRs of 315th RD, together with units of 258th RD and 4th Gds. RD, began a fighting withdrawal to the line of the Kagalnik River. Beginning at first light on 11 January 1943, the enemy continued to attack the withdrawing units of 315th and 258th RDs and 4th Gds. RD with a force of motorized infantry with a large number of tanks.
All three divisions suffered significant losses in this fighting and were withdrawn to the rear for rebuilding, which in the case of 4th Guards continued until at least January 24.[16]
Hitler finally authorized Manstein to withdraw his forces from the eastern Donbas, including Rostov, on February 6. On the same day multiple battalions of the division and of the 258th and 40th Guards Rifle Divisions attacked across the Northern Donets near the boundary between the German 336th and 384th Infantry Divisions which produced heavy fighting but only meagre gains in an attempt to liberate the villages of Aparinskii and Krestovskii. The German withdrawal to the Mius River line began on February 8, taking 5th Shock by surprise, and was completed by February 18. During the Soviet advance the division reached the Mokryi Log region on the 11th and on the 13th cooperated with the 300th Rifle Division in taking the town of Bolshoi Dolzhik. On February 15 and 16 it was in the Army's second echelon protecting its left flank. Shortly after midnight on the 17th its lead elements approached Lysogorka where it concentrated through the day in preparation for a further advance the next morning which took it to Novo-Spasovka in readiness to attack toward Russkoe.[17]
By February 21 5th Shock reached the Mius. On March 3 the Army was fortifying the scant bridgeheads it had taken on the west bank of the river, and the advance halted for the coming months.[18] In April, the division became part of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps, and it would remain in that formation, with short exceptions, for the duration of the war.[19]
Into Ukraine and the Balkans
General Lilenkov was replaced in command of the division on June 5 by Col. Sergei Ivanovich Nikitin. On June 19 the 4th Guards was recognized for its distinguished service with the award of the Order of the Red Banner.[20] After several failed attempts a new offensive starting on August 13 cracked the defenses of German 6th Army on the Mius line and it began to fall back to the Dniepr with Southern Front in pursuit. On September 13 Colonel Nikitin handed his command to Col. Yosef Kuzmich Stetsun. The Front was redesignated as 4th Ukrainian Front on October 20, and 4th Guards remained with it until nearly the end of the year when it was reassigned, along with its Corps, to 69th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. Colonel Stetsun had been replaced by Col. Gavriil Efimovich Kukharev on December 2. In January, 1944 the Corps was moved again, to 46th Army in 3rd Ukrainian Front. During the Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive the division was awarded its first battle honor:
"APOSTOLOVO... 4th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Kukharev, Gavriil Yefimovich)... The troops who broke through the enemy defenses and participated in the battles for Apostolovo and on the lower Dniepr, by the order of the Supreme High Command of February 6, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.[21]
Colonel Kukharev was promoted to the rank of major general on March 19, just as the division was engaged in heavy combat within a small bridgehead over the Southern Bug north of the city of Mykolaiv. Strong German counterattacks forced a withdrawal to the river flats which were flooded from spring rains making them mostly indefensible and on the next day General Kukharev plus much of his command group perished. Due to the conditions it was impossible to recover the bodies for several weeks. In total the division suffered 126 officers and men killed, 246 wounded and 291 missing in action in three days of fighting.[22] On March 21 Col. Kuzma Dmitryevich Parfyonov took over as commander; he would be promoted to the rank of major general on April 19, 1945 and remained in command for the duration of the war.
Jassy-Kishinev Offensives
In early April 4 Guards was approaching the lower reaches of the
Prior to the start of the Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive the 31st Guards Corps was brought from the reserve of 3rd Ukrainian Front under cover of darkness to insert into the 46th Army's right flank and form the Army's shock group along with
The offensive began with a powerful artillery preparation just after dawn on August 20 and almost immediately gained important successes. The shock group broke through the German
August 22 saw a significant change to 46th Army's role in the offensive. 4th Mechanized was directed to the northwest to take part in the encirclement of the Axis
On August 23 the Corps was ordered northwest to reestablish contact with 37th Army and reached a line from Ferapontovka to Tomai.[27] As a result of its successes in this campaign the 8th Guards Rifle Regiment received the battle honor "Lower Dniestr". As the division continued to advance on August 28 the 3rd Guards Rifle Regiment and the 23rd Guards Artillery Regiment were given an honorific for their parts in the liberation of the Romanian city of Brăila,[28] and on September 8 the 11th Guards Rifle Regiment was similarly recognized for its role in the taking of the Bulgarian city of Ruse.[29]
Into Hungary and Austria
In September the 31st Guards Corps, still with 46th Army, was moved to 2nd Ukrainian Front, where it remained into November, although as of the beginning of the month the 4th Guards was a separate division under Army command.[30] The 46th's part in the first stage of the offensive on Budapest began at 1400 hours on October 29 with an advance in the direction of Kecskemét and ultimately the Hungarian capital itself. It faced forces of the Hungarian 3rd Army with the 13th and 31st SS Divisions and 24th Panzer Division. On the first day the Army advanced between 8–15 km despite numerous counterattacks and the fighting continued into the night. By the end of October 31 the penetration had been deepened to 24–40 km and on November 4 the Army reached a line from Üllő to Dömsöd which marked the outer line of the Budapest defenses, but was unable to capture the city due to the shifting of Axis reserves and was ordered to temporarily go over to the defense. It returned to the attack on November 11 but apart from clearing several bridgeheads on the east bank of the Danube achieved little else up to the 26th.[31]
Encirclement of Budapest
Later that month the 4th Guards returned to 31st Guards Corps which was subordinated to 4th Guards Army and which also entailed a return to 3rd Ukrainian Front.[32] 4th Guards Rifle Division and its Corps would serve under those commands for the duration, with brief exceptions. As the offensive developed on November 30 the Front advanced from 4–28 km while 4th Guards Army gained 16 km and reached a line from Tolna to Kisvaszar. In accordance with a prior plan, 31st Guards Corps was to force the Danube with its main forces in the Madocsa area. The 40th Guards Division led the crossing with the 4th Guards in second echelon; it was to take Dunaföldvár by the morning of December 2. The crossing operation came as a surprise to the Axis defenders and on December 1 the Front, led by 31st Corps, advanced as much as 26 km and was involved in street fighting for the town of Dombóvár.[33]
On December 20 the 4th Guards and 46th Armies began a new drive to complete the encirclement of Budapest. 4th Guards Army had five rifle divisions in the first echelon, including the 4th and 40th Guards of 31st Guards Corps, with the immediate task of defeating the Axis forces between Lake Velence and the Sárvíz Canal and capture the city of Székesfehérvár no later than the end of the second day. After an artillery preparation of 40 minutes the infantry attack stepped off at 1145 hours. The Corps had the direct support of the 26th Light Artillery Brigade, 466th Mortar Regiment, 230th Howitzer Regiment, two assault engineer-sapper battalions and the 366th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment equipped with ISU-122s.[34] 4th Guards Army faced a mix of German and Hungarian units including the 23rd Panzer and elements of the 1st Panzer Divisions, an SS infantry regiment, a Hungarian cavalry regiment and elements of three infantry regiments. These forces were holding along a position called the "Margarita Line".[35]
The 4th and 40th Guards Divisions bypassed Lake Velence from the west to force crossings on the Csaszar Vis River, and while beating off company-sized counterattacks backed by platoons of tanks by 1900 hours on December 21 had reached a line as far as the northern outskirts of Pákozd and east and south of Kisfalud. During the day the 34th Guards Division was committed from second echelon on the boundary between the 4th and 40th but failed to reach its objectives due to heavy resistance. On the morning of December 22 up to 300 German tanks and self-propelled guns of the 3rd, 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions began a counteroffensive that had been planned before the Soviet offensive began and mainly struck the 46th Army. Staging from the Lovasberény area the tank force retook Velence and continued to advance in the face of counterattacks by 18th Guards Tank Corps. The artillery of this Corps and the 31st Guards Corps was brought up to carry out a powerful bombardment of Vereb, after which the tanks were able to retake it. By the end of the day the situation on 46th Army's left flank was being restored, in part by linking up with 4th Guards Division which was attacking north of Lake Velence. As a result of this linkup individual German groups in the Nadap area and the Lovasberény woods were cut off from their units and eventually destroyed by the 180th Rifle Division.[36]
By this time the 4th Guards Army had outflanked Székesfehérvár from three sides and the city was stormed and taken on December 23. The "Margarita Line" had now been pierced along a 75 km front to a depth of 15–20 km and the Axis forces had been effectively crushed with no reserves available. The Army now ordered the victory to be exploited with the 31st Guards Corps following the 18th Guards Tanks in the direction of
Operation Konrad
The
During the next two days the German force continued their drive on Bicske, and the 4th Guards Division joined a position in depth along with the 80th Guards, which had also been damaged in the earlier fighting, and the 62nd Guards Rifle Division along a line from Gebeljuras to Hatvan to Alcsútdoboz, backed by the 49th Antitank Artillery Regiment. These forces were temporarily subordinated to the 21st Guards Rifle Corps. January 5 saw the turning point of the battle with heavy fighting involving a large number of tanks on both sides but the vast quantity of artillery on the Soviet side paralyzed the German attackers, although they persisted for two more days.[39] On January 6 the 8th Rifle Regiment and the 11th Rifle Regiment were decorated for their services in the battles for the towns of Kaposvár, Paks, Bonyhád and Dombóvár in earlier fighting in southwestern Hungary; the former received the Order of the Red Banner and the latter the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd Degree.[40]
The siege of Budapest ended on February 13 and in the spring of 1945 the division advanced across the Hungarian plain into Austria and gained its second honorific:
"VIENNA... 4th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Parfyonov, Kuzma Dmitrievich)... The troops participating in the battles for the liberation of Vienna, by the order of the Supreme High Command of April 13, 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.[41][42]
By mid-April, the 4th Guards Army transitioned to defense along the right bank of the Danube, continuing along the Traisen river. The 4th Guards Rifle Division concentrated northwest of Vienna, where the German surrender found them concentrated in the area of Großhain, Diendorf, Zagging, and Klein to the north of Sankt Pölten.[43] On April 26 the 3rd Regiment was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd Degree, for its successes in the fighting for the towns of Szombathely and Kapuvár.[44] Two days later two men of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union. Guards Maj. Aleksandr Moseevich Koval led a battalion of the 23rd Guards Artillery Regiment and was cited for his command of his guns during the advance on Vienna and during the division's crossing of the Danube Canal even while being wounded.[45] Guards Col. Ivan Nikiforovich Panchenko had commanded the 8th Guards Regiment since March, 1944, had distinguished himself on many occasions during the Ukrainian and Balkan campaigns and received his Gold Star after having been previously recommended for it in December.[46] At the end of the war, the official title of the division was 4th Guards Rifle Apostolovo-Vienna Order of the Red Banner Division. (Russian: 4-я гвардейская стрелковая Апостоловско-Венская Краснознамённая дивизия.)
Postwar
The division became part of the
References
- ^ David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 181
- ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, 1995, p. 43
- ^ Sharp, "Red Guards" p. 43
- ^ Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad, 1941-1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, pp. 92, 97-109
- ^ Glantz, Battle for Leningrad, pp. 164, 178-79
- ^ Glantz, Battle for Leningrad, pp. 194-95, 202
- ^ Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 43
- ^ Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 304, 316, 321, 328, 390-93
- ^ Glantz, Armageddon in Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 34, 441
- ^ Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book One, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 75-76, 284, 353-55, 399-400, 440
- ^ Glantz, Endgame, Book One, pp. 473-474, 480
- ^ Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 26, 40-41
- ^ Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 46-48, 71-76, 78-81
- ^ Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 274-79
- ^ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2018, pp. 22, 48-49, 53, 55-56
- ^ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 107-18, 290
- ^ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 408-11, 535, 558, 590-91, 607
- ^ Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, pp. 214, 218, 224
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 114
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967a, p. 160.
- ^ http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-1.html. In Russian. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ Aleksander A. Maslov, Fallen Soviet Generals, Frank Cass Publishers, London, UK, 1998, pp. 133-34
- ^ Glantz, Red Storm over the Balkans, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2007, pp. 133-37, 156-57
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Iasi-Kishinev Offensive, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, pp. 55, 67, 83-84
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Iasi-Kishinev Offensive, pp. 101, 106-07
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Iasi-Kishinev Offensive, pp. 115, 122-23
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Iasi-Kishinev Offensive, pp. 255, 258
- ^ http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/10-roumania.html. In Russian. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/3-bulgaria.html. In Russian. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, pp. 289, 320
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation 1945, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, pp. 26-31, 36
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 351
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 223-24
- ^ Sharp, "Red Hammers", Soviet Self-Propelled Artillery and Lend Lease Armor, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. XII, Nafziger, 1998, pp. 35-36
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 50, 223-24, 236, 238, 240, 245
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 259, 261-63. Note that the source mistakenly gives the first date as December 12.
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 264, 266, 268-69, 272-73, 275
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 278-84
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Budapest Operation, pp. 287-89
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 31.
- ^ http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/2-austria.html. In Russian. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 43
- ^ Kadyrov 1985, p. 172.
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 144.
- ^ http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=5443. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=14714. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 488
Bibliography
- Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть I. 1920 - 1944 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part I. 1920–1944] (in Russian).
- Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945 - 1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (in Russian).
- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
- Kadyrov, N. Z. (1985). От Минска до Вены: Боевой путь 4-й гвардейской стрелковой Апостоловско-Венской Краснознаменной дивизии [From Minsk to Vienna: The Combat Path of the 4th Guards Apostolovo-Vienna Red Banner Rifle Division] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. OCLC 609329268.
- Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 182, 299