The 105th Guards Airborne Division () was an airborne division of the
Soviet Airborne Troops
The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed be ...
.
The division was originally formed as the 12th Guards Airborne Division as part of the
38th Guards Airborne Corps in December 1943. In December 1944, it became the 105th Guards Rifle Division of the
9th Guards Army The 9th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, which fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive at the end of the war. The army was formed in January 1945 and included airborne divisions converted into infant ...
. On 7 June 1946, the 105th Guards Airborne division was formed from the 105th Guards Rifle Division. Disbanded in 1979, the division was reactivated in 1990. It was taken over by Uzbekistan in 1992, while still not yet fully formed.
The division was dissolved in 1994 and became the 17th Air Assault Brigade.
History
Second World War
The 12th Guards Airborne Division was formed on 23 December 1943 from three Guards Airborne Brigades as part of the
38th Guards Airborne Corps. However, some Soviet accounts state that it began formation months later in March 1944.
The division's first commander was
Mikhail Denisenko, who had commanded the 202nd Airborne Brigade before the war.
It was held in reserve in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
until December 1944.
On 18 December 1944, it became the 105th Guards Rifle Division in
Maryina Horka.
On 5 January 1945, it was assigned to the
38th Guards Rifle Corps. From 21 January to 20 February, it was transported to
Szolnok
Szolnok (; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, wh ...
, where the corps became part of the
9th Guards Army The 9th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, which fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive at the end of the war. The army was formed in January 1945 and included airborne divisions converted into infant ...
. On 30 March, the division crossed the
Rába
The Rába (german: Raab; hu, Rába; sl, Raba ) is a river in southeastern Austria and western Hungary and a right tributary of the Danube.
Geography
Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill. ...
.
The division advanced into Austria and captured
Pressbaum
Pressbaum is a town in the district of St. Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.
In 1881, Johannes Brahms completed his Second Piano Concerto while in the town.
It belonged to Wien-Umgebung District
Bezirk Wien-Umgebung was a d ...
on 6 April. During the
Vienna Offensive
The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945.
After several days of street-to-street f ...
, the 105th Guards blocked the Vienna-Linz road, cutting Vienna off from German reinforcements and allowing other Soviet troops to capture the city.
Along with other units, the division caused severe losses among the
3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf
The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...
, the
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-V ...
, and the Hungarian 2nd Armored Division and 9th Infantry Division of the
Third Army.
On 26 April, the division was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...
. On 5 May, the division marched into
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
and captured
Znojmo
Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian R ...
on 9 May. On 12 May, the division met American troops on the
Vltava
Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at M ...
near the village of Tsisek.
Post-war
The division was awarded the title "Vienna" on 17 May. From 7 June to 5 July, the division was transported east to points northeast of
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, where it became part of the
Central Group of Forces
The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...
. From 16 January 1946 to 16 February, the division was redeployed to
Teykovo
Teykovo (russian: Те́йково) is a town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River southwest of Ivanovo. Population: 42,800 (1975).
History
It was founded in the 17th century and was granted town status in 1918.
Administra ...
in the
Ivanovo Oblast
Ivanovo Oblast (russian: Ива́новская о́бласть, ''Ivanovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It had a population of 927,828 as of the 2021 Russian Census.
Its three largest cities are Ivanovo (the ...
. On 7 June, it was renamed as the 105th Guards Airborne Division.
In 1960, the division, without the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment, was relocated to
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
in the
Turkestan Military District
The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with it ...
. The 351st Guards Airborne Regiment was added to the division from the
106th Guards Airborne Division.
In accordance with a directive of the
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
, from August 3, 1979, to December 1, 1979, the 105th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded.
[Michael Holm]
105th Guards Airborne Division
accessed December 2013. Note that Holm says the disbandment process began on 1 October 1979. From the division remained in the city of
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
the
345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment (much stronger than the usual regimental size) with the separate 115th military-transport aviation squadron. The rest of the personnel of the division were reassigned to fill out other incomplete airborne units and formations and to the newly formed air assault brigades. Based on the division's 351st Guards Parachute Regiment, the
56th Guards Air Assault Brigade was formed in Azadbash,
Chirchik district,
Tashkent Oblast,
Uzbek SSR
Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
. Meanwhile, the 111th Guards Parachute Regiment became the
35th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade.
Service in independent Uzbekistan
In 1990, the division was again reactivated, but it was not complete on the
breakup of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. In connection with the transition of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan to a brigade structure by 1994, the management of the 105th division was reorganized under the 2nd Army Corps of the
Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ўзбекистон Республикаси Қуролли Кучлари), is the name of the unified armed forces of Uzbekistan, consisting of the Ground Force and the Air and Air Defence ...
. On the basis of the 387th Regiment, the 4th Airborne Brigade was formed. Later, the brigade became the 17th Air Assault Brigade of the
Uzbekistan Ground Forces.
[Неизвестная дивизия. 105-я гвардейская воздушно-десантная Краснознамённая дивизия (горно-пустынная)](_blank)
/ref>[О причинах расформирования 105-й гвардейской воздушно-десантной Венской Краснознамённой дивизии](_blank)
/ref>
The unit took part in the Andijan massacre
On 13 May 2005, protests erupted in Andijan, Uzbekistan. At one point, troops from the Uzbek National Security Service (SNB) fired into a crowd of protesters. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the governme ...
, being led by Colonel Pavel Ergashev.
Commanders
* Major general Mikhail Denisenko (21 February 1945 – 5 November 1945)
* Major general Vasily Sokolovsky
Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky (russian: Васи́лий Дани́лович Соколо́вский; July 21, 1897 – May 10, 1968) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World ...
(1946–1951)
* Major general Sergey Guzenko (1951–1956)
* Major general Mikhail Simonov
Mikhail Petrovich Simonov (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Си́монов; 19 October 1929 – 4 March 2011) was a Russian aircraft designer famed for creating the Sukhoi Su-27 fighter-bomber, the Soviet Union's answer to the ...
(1956–1962)
* Major general Mikhail Verbovikov (1962–1967)
* Major general Pavel Kalinin (1967–1970)
* Major general Anatoliy Dobrovolskiy (1970–1972)
* Major general Vladlen Kolesov (1972–1975)
* Major general Yuriy Kuznetsov (1975–1977)
* Major general Pavel Korolyov (1977–1979)
* Major general Gennadiy Borisov
Gennadiy Vladimirovich Borisov (russian: Генна́дий Влади́мирович Бори́сов; born in 1962 in Kramatorsk) is a Crimean amateur telescope making, telescope maker and amateur astronomy, amateur astronomer who discovered ...
(1991–1992)
Composition
105th Guards Rifle Division
* 331st Guards Rifle Regiment
* 345th Guards Rifle Regiment
* 349th Guards Rifle Regiment
* 56th Guards Divisional Artillery Brigade
105th Guards Airborne Division
* 1947
** 331st Guards Airborne Regiment
** 345th Guards Airlanding Regiment
** 165th Guards Airborne Artillery Regiment
* 1979
** 111th Guards Airborne Regiment
** 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment
** 351st Guards Airborne Regiment
References
{{Soviet Union divisions
Airborne divisions of the Soviet Union
Military units and formations established in 1943
Military units and formations disestablished in 1994
Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner