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16th Guards Rifle Division
The 16th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 249th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in Kalinin Front when it was redesignated and remained in the northern half of the front throughout the war. In the summer it was assigned to Western Front's 30th Army to the north of the Rzhev salient and took part in the stubborn and costly struggle for the village of Polunino just east of that town in August. It returned to the fighting in March 1943 in the followup to the German evacuation of the salient, then was reassigned to the new 11th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration of the war. During the summer offensive against the German-held salient around Oryol it assisted in the liberation of Karachev and received its name as an honorific. By December, after fighting through western Russia north of Smolensk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Pronin
Mikhail Andreyevich Pronin (russian: Михаил Андреевич Пронин; 1 October 1892 – 26 November 1978) was a Soviet Army major general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Pronin served as a sapper in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and was drafted into the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, serving in artillery units. Between the wars, he held various staff positions in artillery and later infantry units, rising to regimental and then division command in the late 1930s. Pronin commanded the 144th Rifle Division for two years after Operation Barbarossa began and was demoted in mid-1942 to brigade command, then tried for incompetence. He returned to brigade command after the case was dropped later that year. During 1943, Pronin commanded two divisions and a corps and spent much of 1944 away from the front due to illness and further military education. In late 1944 he returned to the front and became commander of the 16th Guards Rifle Division, being mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg, present day Kaliningrad, Russia. The siege started in late January 1945 when the Soviets initially surrounded the city. Heavy fighting took place for control of overland connection between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, however by March 1945 Königsberg was hundreds of kilometres behind the main front line in the eastern front. The battle ended when the German garrison surrendered to the Soviets on 9 April after a three-day assault made their position untenable. Beginning The East Prussian offensive was planned by the Soviet Stavka to prevent flank attacks on the armies rushing towards Berlin. Indeed, East Prussia held numerous troops that could be used for this. During initial Stavka plann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
11th Guards Army
The 11th Guards Army () was a field army of the Red Army, the Soviet Ground Forces, and the Russian Ground Forces, active from 1943 to 1997. History World War II For its prowess in battle, the second formation of the 16th Army was redesignated as the 11th Guards Army on 1 May 1943 in accordance with a Stavka directive of 16 April, under the command of Lieutenant General Ivan Bagramyan, who was promoted to colonel general on 27 August. The army included the 8th and 16th Guards Rifle Corps and one rifle division directly controlled by the army headquarters. On 1 June 1943 the 11th Guards Army consisted of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps ( 11th, 26th and 83rd Guards Rifle Divisions), 16th Guards Rifle Corps ( 1st, 16th & 31st Guards, and 169th Rifle Divisions), and the 5th, 18th, and 84th Guards, and the 108th and 217th Rifle Divisions, several artillery divisions, armoured units, and other support units. The army fought in Operation Kutuzov, during which it included the 8th, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rzhev
Rzhev ( rus, Ржев, p=ˈrʐɛf) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Staritsa (town), Tver Oblast, Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population: History Rzhev was founded in the Middle Ages and rivals Toropets as the oldest town in the region. Rzhevians usually point out that their town is mentioned in the Novgorod Republic, Novgorod laws as early as 1019. Their neighbors from Toropets, on the other hand, give more credence to Rzhev's first mention in a major chronicle under 1216, when it was in possession of Mstislav the Bold, Prince of Toropets. Whatever the truth may be, it is clear that medieval Rzhev was bitterly contested by three regional powers—the Novgorod Republic, the Principality of Smolensk, and the Grand Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. Following the Mongol invasion of Russia, Mongol invasion, Rzhev pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
30th Army (Soviet Union)
The 30th Army was a Soviet field army of the Red Army active between 1941 and 1943. It was re-organised to the 10th Guards Army (Soviet Union), 10th Guards Army on 16 April 1943. History It was formed on 13 July 1941 based on the 52nd Rifle Corps from the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Stavka). Initially, the 5th Army consisted of the 119th Rifle Division, 242nd Rifle Division, 243rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union), 243rd Rifle Division, 251st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) (both drawn from NKVD personnel), 51st Tank Division, artillery and other units. The army was built around a solid core of NKVD border guard servicemen. The army's first commander, Major General Vasily Khomenko, was the former commander of the Ukrainian District of NKVD Border Guards. On 15 July 1941 the army was transferred to the Reserve Front, Front of the Reserve Armies and assisted top construct defensive works on the defensive line running through Selizharovo, Olenino, Tver Oblast, Olenino, and Vasili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (Soviet Union)
The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II. The Western Front was created on 22 June 1941 from the Western Special Military District (which before July 1940 was known as Belorussian Special Military District). The first Front Commander was Dmitry Pavlov (continuing from his position as District Commander since June 1940). The western boundary of the Front in June 1941 was long, from the southern border of Lithuania to the Pripyat River and the town of Włodawa. It connected with the adjacent North-Western Front, which extended from the Lithuanian border to the Baltic Sea, and the Southwestern Front in Ukraine. Operational history Front dispositions 22 June 1941 The 1939 partition of Poland according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact established a new western border with no permanent defense installations, and the army deployment within the Front created weak flanks. At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Western Special ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalinin Front
The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army and 30th. In May 1942, the Air Forces of the Kalinin Front were reorganised as the 3rd Air Army, comprising three fighter, two ground attack, and one bomber division. In November 1942 the Kalinin Front, along with the Western Front, launched Operation Mars against the German defenses in the Rzhev/Vyaz'ma salient. The 3rd Shock Army, now allocated to Kalinin Front, started the operation on 24 November by attacking Third Panzer Army at Velikiye Luki, and the next day the Kalinin and Western Fronts assaulted the entire perimeter of the Rzhev salient. The offensive involved the 41st, 22nd, 39th, 31st, 20th, and 29th Armies from both Fronts. The Front was then involved in the Battle of Velikiye Luki in January–March 1943. The 3rd A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
249th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
The 249th Rifle Division was raised in 1941, within days of the German invasion, as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. The division was formed twice, first from a cadre of NKVD soldiers that went on to become the 16th Guards Rifle Division after distinguishing themselves in the fighting for Toropets during the Soviet counteroffensive in the winter of 1941-42. The second formation was largely made up of ethnic Estonians and was known as the 249th Estonian Rifle Division. It fought under that name for the duration, and shortly after the German surrender became the 122nd Guards Rifle Division. 1st Formation The division began organizing on June 26, 1941, in the Ural Military District, Urals Military District. It was one of a series of rifle divisions numbered in the 240–260 range that were built on En cadre, cadres taken from the NKVD, in this case internal troops. Its order of battle, based on the first wartime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Andreevich Pronin
Mikhail Andreyevich Pronin (russian: Михаил Андреевич Пронин; 1 October 1892 – 26 November 1978) was a Soviet Army major general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Pronin served as a sapper in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and was drafted into the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, serving in artillery units. Between the wars, he held various staff positions in artillery and later infantry units, rising to regimental and then division command in the late 1930s. Pronin commanded the 144th Rifle Division for two years after Operation Barbarossa began and was demoted in mid-1942 to brigade command, then tried for incompetence. He returned to brigade command after the case was dropped later that year. During 1943, Pronin commanded two divisions and a corps and spent much of 1944 away from the front due to illness and further military education. In late 1944 he returned to the front and became commander of the 16th Guards Rifle Division, being mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyotr Grigoryevich Shafranov
Pyotr Grigoryevich Shafranov (; – 4 November 1972) was a Soviet Army colonel general and Hero of the Soviet Union. Drafted into the Red Army in 1919, Shafranov fought in the Russian Civil War as an infantryman. During the 1920s he became a junior commander in artillery units and served in artillery staff positions during the late 1930s. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, he was sent to command an artillery regiment and in late 1941 became commander of the artillery of the 249th Rifle Division, which became the 16th Guards Rifle Division. Shafranov commanded the latter between 1942 and 1943, the 36th Guards Rifle Corps from 1943 to 1944, the 5th Army for a brief period in late 1944, and the 31st Army from January 1945. For his leadership of the 31st Army in the East Prussian Offensive, Shafranov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. Postwar, he served in command positions in the National Air Defense Forces and ended his career as representative of the Supreme C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Fyodorovich Tarasov
German Fyodorovich Tarasov (; – 19 October 1944) was a Red Army major general during World War II. An officer in the NKVD Border Troops before World War II, Tarasov was given command of the 249th Rifle Division after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began in June 1941. He led the division during the Battle of Moscow and the Toropets–Kholm Offensive, and was decorated for his leadership of the 249th, which was converted into the 16th Guards Rifle Division. Tarasov was appointed commander of the 41st Army in May 1942, but was relieved of command for his performance during Operation Mars in November and December. He was given command of the 70th Army, formed from NKVD personnel, and led the army during the failed Dmitriyev-Sevsk Offensive in February and March 1943. He was relieved of command again and transferred to command the 24th Army (converted into the 4th Guards Army in April), then in reserve. However, Tarasov was swiftly demoted to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Suvorov
The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 (during World War II) by decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. It was created to reward senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations. The Order of Suvorov was divided into three different classes: 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class. Georgi Zhukov became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov 1st class on January 28, 1943. The Order 1st class was awarded to army commanders for exceptional leadership of combat operations. The Order 2nd class was awarded to corps, division, and brigade commanders for a decisive victory over a numerically superior enemy. The Order 3rd class was awarded to regimental commanders, their chiefs of staff, and battalion and company commanders for outstanding leade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
