The 239th Fighter Aviation Division was a fighter aircraft unit of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

and the

Russian Air Force " Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , bat ...

, which was in existence during World War II and from 1949 to 1998.

First formation

Its first formation was established on 12 June 1942 from the 6th Shock Aviation Group. With 6th Air Army from July 1942. On 1 July 1942 its first formation was part of the

6th Air Army The 6th Air Army was an air army of the Red Army's Air Force during the Second World War and from 1946-1949. It was formed twice : in 1942 as part of the Red Army's Air Forces, and redesignated in 1944, and in 1946 and redesignated in 1949. The 6 ...

. Fought in

Battle of Demyansk (1943) The Battle of Demyansk was part of the Soviet Union, Soviet offensive Operation Polar Star against Axis powers, Axis forces which took place in Demyansk from 15 to 28 February 1943. The Northwestern Front and Mikhail Khozin Special Group engaged ...

and Staraya Russa Offensive. In recognition of its actions, the division was renamed the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Division on 18 March 1943.

Second formation

Its second formation traces its origins to the formation of the 323rd Fighter Aviation Division in May 1943. In 1945 its headquarters was established at

Kluczewo Airfield Kluczewo Airfield is a former Soviet airbase located in Kluczewo, a suburb of Stargard Szczeciński in Poland. Its concrete runway measured 2,500 x 60 m, but it has been closed to air traffic since 1992. Today the area of the former base has b ...

, Poland. In 1945 it had three regiments, all equipped with Yak-9 fighters, the 149th, 269th, and 484th Fighter Aviation Regiments. It spent much of its service after the Second World War with the

4th Air Army 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 ...

in Poland. On the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Poland, the division headquarters moved in July 1992 to

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

in the

Karelian ASSR The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( rus, Каре́льская Автоно́мная Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respub ...

, becoming part of the

76th Air Army The 76th Air Army was a unit of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949–1980, and again from 1988–98. As the 13th Air Army, it was originally formed on 25 November 1942 and based on air units of the Leningrad Front. 13th Air Army's initial components ...

. The 159th Fighter Aviation Regiment moved to

Petrozavodsk Airport Petrozavodsk Airport (russian: Аэропорт Петрозаводск, krl, Petroskoin lendoazema, fi, Petroskoin lentoasema; ; ex: Besovets, Petrozavodsk-2) is a joint civil-military airport in Russia located northwest of Petrozavodsk in ...

(Besovets) and joined the

, and the 582nd and 871st Fighter Aviation Regiments moved to

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

and eventually disbanded.Feskov et al. 2004, p.140, Jane's World Air Forces, Issue 0, March 1996, and International Air Power Review, Vol. 13, Summer 2004, p.88 The division was disbanded on 1 May 1998.

References

{{Reflist Aviation divisions of the Soviet Air Forces Aviation divisions of the Russian Air Forces Air units and formations of the Soviet Union in World War II