51st Guards Rifle Division
51st Guards Rifle Division | |
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Active | 1942–1960 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army (1942-1946) Soviet Army (1946-1960) |
Type | Infantry |
Engagements | |
Decorations | |
Honorifics |
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The 51st K. E. Voroshilov Guards Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Rifle Division (Russian: 51-я гвардейская стрелковая Витебская ордена Ленина Краснознамённая дивизия имени К. Е. Ворошилова) was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued serving in the Soviet Army in the early years of the Cold War.
The division was formed in November 1942 from the
Origins and Battle of Stalingrad
The 76th K. E. Voroshilov Red Banner Rifle Division received Guards status and became the 51st Guards Rifle Division on 23 November 1942, as a reward for its performance during Operation Uranus in the Battle of Stalingrad, in which the division attacked out of the Kletskaya bridgehead with the 21st Army, defeating the opposing Romanian troops. The 76th was one of the prewar divisions of the Red Army and had originally been formed in 1920 as an Armenian unit. The division, commanded by Major General Nikolay Tavartkiladze, received its Guards battle flag on 5 January 1943. The division participated in the breakthrough of German defenses northwest of Stalingrad, becoming the first unit of the 21st Army to enter the city. It linked up with troops from the 13th Guards Rifle Division on 26 January. The division was awarded the Order of Lenin on 19 June 1943 for "successful operations" during Operation Koltso. After the battle ended, the 21st Army was itself raised to Guards status, becoming the 6th Guards Army. The 51st Guards spent most of the rest of the war with the 6th Guards Army.[1]
Between 5 July and 23 August the division fought in the
The Soviet advance continued throughout the summer of 1944, with the division pushing into the Baltic states, pursuing the retreating German troops from Polotsk to Turmantas, Joniškis to Tryškiai, and Bēne to Priekule in the Šiauliai offensive. For success in the battles of fall 1944 the 156th and 158th Guards Rifle Regiments were awarded the Order of Kutuzov 3rd class and the Order of the Red Banner. In the last months of the war, the division fought in the blockade of the Courland Pocket. Together with the forces of the 1st Baltic Front, the division advanced to the Baltic coast, where it ended the war.[1]
During the war, 32 soldiers of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union, twelve received all three awards of the Order of Glory, and a total of 19,114 total decorated.[1]
Postwar
After the end of the war, the 51st Guards Rifle Division remained in Latvia. It was reorganized as the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division on 25 June 1957, becoming part of the
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Kasyanenko 2008.
- ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 162.
Bibliography
- 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.
- Kasyanenko, V. I. (2008). "51-я гвардейская Витебская ордена Ленина Краснознаменная стрелковая им. К.Е. Ворошилова дивизия". 29 гвардейская ракетная витебская ордена Ленина Краснознаменная дивизия. Исторический очерк (in Russian). Moscow: Tsentralny Izdatelsko-Poligrafichesky kompleks RVSN (TsIPK).
Further reading
- Mutallimov, Khalil (1978). 51-я гвардейская многонациональная [The Multinational 51st Guards] (in Russian). Baku: Azerbaijan State Publishing.
- 51st Guards Rifle Division Combat Journals on Pamyat Naroda