5th Guards Tank Army
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2013) |
5th Guards Tank Army | |
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Bobruisk (1946–1992) | |
Engagements | World War II
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Decorations | Order of the Red Banner |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
The 5th Guards Tank Army (Russian: 5-я гварде́йская та́нковая а́рмия) was a
Its organisation varied throughout its history, but in general included two or more Guards
After the war, the 5th Guards Tank Army moved to the
World War II
The 5th Guards Tank Army was formed on 25 February 1943 based on a
Battle of Kursk
In 1943, it played a significant role in the
Operation Bagration
In June 1944, the 5th Guards Tank Army was used as the main exploitation force during the Soviet summer offensive,
Baltic Offensive
Late in 1944, the 5th Guards Tank Army was committed against
However, by March 1945, the 5th Guards Tank Army was being drawn down, with the subordinate
In early April 1945, the army moved to a position on the Baltic coast and attacked on 9 April 1945 to clear German defensive positions by the mouth of the Vistula River. For this operation, the army no longer controlled the 29th Tank Corps, but had attached the 98th Rifle Corps and the 1st Polish Tank Brigade. This operation continued until the end of the war.[5]
After the war, Rotmistrov wrote a memoir and history of the unit, The Steel Guards.
Cold War
In July 1945, the army was relocated to
On 20 May of that year, the army was redesignated as the 5th Guards Tank Army. The 22nd Mechanized became the 36th Tank Division, then the 193rd in 1965, while the 12th Mechanized Division became the 5th Heavy Tank Division and was disbanded in 1960. On 21 February 1974, the army was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In August 1979, the 84th Motor Rifle Division (a mobilization unit) was attached to the army at Marina Gorka after transferring from the 28th Army; it was disbanded in 1987.[6] Until the late 1980s, the army included three tank divisions – the 8th Guards at Marina Gorka, the 29th at Slutsk, and the 193rd at Bobruisk-25. Support units included the 302nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade at Marina Gorka, the 460th Rocket (formed 1988) and 306th Gun Artillery Brigades at Osipovichi, and the 56th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade at Slutsk.[8]
In 1990, as the Cold War drew to a close, the 8th Guards and 29th Tank Divisions were reduced to storage bases. To replace the 8th Guards, the
Belorussian Army
In June 1992 the army was taken over by Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and on 12 August 1992 renamed 5th Guards Army Corps.[7]
The 5th Guards Army Corps was still active in September 2001, when the Belarus Minister of Defence, General Lieutenant Leonid Maltsev, congratulated the remaining Belarus Guards units on 60 years of existence.[9] However, later in 2001, the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus was established on its basis.[10][11]
There is a memorial to the soldiers of the 5th Guards Tank Army at
Commanders
The following officers commanded the army.[6][8]
- Marshal of Tank Troops Pavel Rotmistrov (22 February 1943 – 8 August 1944)
- Colonel General Mikhail Solomatin (9 August 1944 – 18 August 1944)
- Colonel General Vasily Volsky (19 August 1944 – 16 March 1945)
- Lieutenant General Maxim Sinenko (16 March 1945 – January 1946)
- Colonel General Mikhail Solomatin (January-26 April 1946)
- Lieutenant General Pavel Poluboyarov (27 April 1946 – 23 March 1949)
- Lieutenant General Mikhail Panov (23 March 1949 – 17 September 1951)
- Colonel General Mikhail Katukov (17 September 1951 – 23 June 1955)
- Lieutenant General Pyotr Kalininchenko (23 June 1955 – 16 April 1958)
- Lieutenant General Vladimir Smirnov (13 May 1958 – 7 May 1960)
- Lieutenant General Semyon Kurkotkin (7 May 1960 – 28 January 1965)
- Lieutenant General Boris Likhachev (28 January 1965 – 13 November 1967)
- Lieutenant General Saltan Magometov (13 November 1967 – 2 December 1969)
- Lieutenant General Mikhail Zaitsev (2 December 1969 – 11 August 1972)
- Lieutenant General Valery Belikov (11 August 1972 – 20 May 1974)
- Lieutenant General Vitaly Saltykov (3 June 1974 – 5 November 1976)
- Lieutenant General Ivan Gashkov (5 November 1976 – July 1979)
- Lieutenant General Pyotr Ledyayev (July 1979 – 1982)
- Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Khaydorov (1982–1984)
- Lieutenant General Valery Fursin (1984–1987)
- Lieutenant General Anatoly Ushakov (1987–1989)
- Major General Valery Lagoshin (1989-2 May 1991)
- Lieutenant General Stanislav Rumyantsev (3 May 1991 – 12 September 1992)
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b 5-я гвардейская танковая Краснознаменная армия [5th Guards Tank Army]. tankfront.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1943.
- Combat composition of the Soviet Army, March and April, 1945
- ^ "Biography of Colonel-General of Tank Troops Vasilii Timofeevich Volskii – (Василий Тимофеевич Вольский) (1897–1946), Soviet Union". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- ^ "Дорогами побед: Боевой путь 5-й гвардейской танковой армии". militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
- ^ a b c Holm, Michael. "5th Guards Tank Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, pp. 455.
- ^ a b c d Feskov et al 2013, pp. 455–456.
- ^ "Министр обороны поздравил белорусскую гвардию с 60-летней годовщиной" [Defense Minister congratulates the Belarusian Guard on the 60th anniversary]. Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
- Lexis-Nexis.
- ^ Юбилей прославленного объединения [The Anniversary of the Famous Association]. www.mil.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- ^ 5-я гвардейская танковая армия. Памятник освободителям Знаменки. [5th Guards Tank Army Liberators Monument Znamianka]. www.shukach.com (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2016-02-25.
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.
- Glantz, David M. 'Companion to Colossus Reborn' Univ. Press of Kansas, 2005.
Further reading
- Yegorov, P.Y.; Krivoborsky, I.V.; Ivlev, I.K.; Rogalevich, A.I. (1969). Дорогами побед: Боевой путь 5-й гвардейской танковой армии [Road of Victory] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
External links
- (in Russian) army history