The 118th Estonian Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and later the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. It was formed following the German surrender in June 1945 from the 2nd wartime formation of the 7th Estonian Rifle Division. The division became a brigade in 1946 and became a division again in 1950. It was disbanded in 1956.

History

The division was formed on June 28, 1945 from the re-designated 7th Estonian Rifle Division. On the same date the entire

8th Estonian Rifle Corps The 8th Estonian Rifle Corps (2nd formation) (russian: 8-й Эстонский стрелковый корпус, et, 8. Eesti Laskurkorpus) was a formation in the Red Army, created on 6 November 1942, during World War II. An 8th Rifle Corps ( ...

was raised to Guards status as the 41st Guards Rifle Corps. On its formation the 118th Guards inherited the honorific title and decoration of the 7th, with its full title being 118th Guards Rifle Estonian, Tallinn, Order of the Red Banner Division. The division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Karl Adamovich Allikas, who had commanded the 7th Estonian Rifle Division since January 6, 1943. This re-designation took place nearly two months after

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

, but before the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

, so technically the 118th Guards can be considered a wartime formation, although it did not see combat in Manchuria. In February 1946 General Allikas was replaced in command by Maj. Gen. Johan Yakovlevich Lombak, who had previously commanded the 249th Estonian Rifle Division (later 122nd Guards Rifle Division). The division was downsized into the 22nd Guards Separate Rifle Brigade in 1946. It was based at

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

. The division was reformed from the 22nd Guards Separate Rifle Brigade in 1950, and served until 1956 with

4th Guards Rifle Corps Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

(the

10th Guards Army The 10th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Germany during World War II under the command of several generals. Formed in 1943, the army fought under various headquarters and ended the war besieging cut-off German force ...

previously), before being disbanded again on July 7, 1956 at Tallinn. and Feskov et al 2013, p. 152

References

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External links

Kark Adamovich Allikas
G118 Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1956 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1945 establishments in the Soviet Union 1956 disestablishments in the Soviet Union {{Russia-mil-stub