The 51st K. E. Voroshilov Guards Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Rifle Division () was an 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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that continued serving in 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 ...

in the early years of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The division was formed in November 1942 from the 76th K. E. Voroshilov Red Banner Rifle Division, converted into an elite

Guards unit Guards units (russian: Гвардия, translit=Gvardiya) were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after ...

designated the 51st Guards Rifle Division for its actions in

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus (russian: Опера́ция «Ура́н», Operatsiya "Uran") was the codename of the Soviet Red Army's 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis ...

during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

. The 51st Guards fought in

Operation Koltso Operation Koltso (Operation Ring) was the last part of the Battle of Stalingrad. It resulted in the capitulation of the remaining Axis forces encircled in the city. Initial attack The operation was launched on 10 January 1943 with a mass artiller ...

at the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, receiving the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

for its actions. The division went on to fight in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

in 1943 and

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

in 1944, receiving the Vitebsk honorific for its performance in the Vitebsk–Orsha offensive during the latter. The division advanced into Latvia in the

Šiauliai offensive The Šiauliai offensive (russian: Шяуляйская наступательная) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29, 1944, during the Se ...

, ending the war blockading the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...

. Stationed in Latvia postwar, the division was converted into the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957 and was disbanded in 1960 during reductions of Soviet conventional forces. Its personnel were retrained and formed the core of the new 29th Guards Rocket Division, which inherited the honors of the 51st Guards.

Origins and Battle of Stalingrad

The 76th K. E. Voroshilov Red Banner Rifle Division received Guards status and became the 51st Guards Rifle Division on 23 November 1942, as a reward for its performance during

in the

, in which the division attacked out of the

Kletskaya Kletskaya (russian: Клетская) is a rural locality (a stanitsa) and the administrative center of Kletsky District of Volgograd Oblast, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Easte ...

bridgehead with the 21st Army, defeating the opposing Romanian troops. The 76th was one of the prewar divisions of the Red Army and had originally been formed in 1920 as an Armenian unit. The division, commanded by Major General Nikolay Tavartkiladze, received its Guards battle flag on 5 January 1943. The division participated in the breakthrough of German defenses northwest of Stalingrad, becoming the first unit of the 21st Army to enter the city. It linked up with troops from the

13th Guards Rifle Division The 13th Guards Poltava Order of Lenin Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army that was highly decorated during World War II. Formed in January 1942 from the 87th Rifle Division ...

on 26 January. The division was awarded the

on 19 June 1943 for "successful operations" during

. After the battle ended, the 21st Army was itself raised to Guards status, becoming the

6th Guards Army The 6th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Nazi Germany during World War II under the command of General Ivan Chistyakov. The Army's chief of staff was General Valentin Antonovich Penkovskii. The 6th Guards Army was ...

. The 51st Guards spent most of the rest of the war with the 6th Guards Army. Between 5 July and 23 August the division fought in the

and the Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation, during which it participated in the capture of

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

, and Kharkov. From October 1943 to early January 1944, the division and the army, operating under the

2nd Baltic Front The 2nd Baltic Front (russian: 2-й Прибалтийский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. History The 2nd Baltic Front was formed on October 20, 1943 as a result of the renaming of the Baltic ...

, occupied defenses northwest of Nevel, then fought in the Battle of Nevel. From 23 June, the division and the army, now part of the

1st Baltic Front The First Baltic Front (Russian language, Russian: Пéрвый Прибалтийский фронт) was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. It was commanded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenk ...

, fought in

. During the operation, the division advanced over 250 km in continuous fighting, conducting four assault crossings of rivers, including crossing the

Western Dvina , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

twice. For their actions in the assault crossing of the Western Dvina, fifteen soldiers of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union on 22 July. The division closed the encirclement of the German defenders of

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

and on 4 July 1944 captured

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

. For their combat successes, the division was awarded the Vitebsk honorific and its three rifle regiments, the 154th, 156th, and 158th Guards, awarded the Polotsk honorific on 23 July. The Soviet advance continued throughout the summer of 1944, with the division pushing into the Baltic states, pursuing the retreating German troops from Polotsk to

Turmantas Turmantas ( pl, Turmont) is a town in the Zarasai district municipality, Lithuania. Located on the border with Latvia, it is a railway station on the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg railway. The village is known since 1798. It began growing after co ...

Joniškis Joniškis (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Juonėškis'') is a town in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border. Joniškis i ...

to Tryškiai, and Bēne to Priekule in the

. For success in the battles of fall 1944 the 156th and 158th Guards Rifle Regiments were awarded the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

3rd class and 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 ...

. In the last months of the war, the division fought in the blockade of the

. Together with the forces of the 1st Baltic Front, the division advanced to the Baltic coast, where it ended the war. During the war, 32 soldiers of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union, twelve received all three awards of the

Order of Glory Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, and a total of 19,114 total decorated.

Postwar

After the end of the war, the 51st Guards Rifle Division remained in Latvia. It was reorganized as the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division on 25 June 1957, becoming part of the 10th Army Corps. Like most divisions in the Soviet interior military districts, the division was maintained at reduced strength with only one of three motor rifle regiments combat ready. By the late 1950s, division headquarters was at

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

, the tank and artillery regiments at Paplaka, a motor rifle regiment at

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

, and the two cadre-strength motor rifle regiments and a tank battalion at Priekule. The division was disbanded on 10 March 1960 during reductions of Soviet conventional forces under

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

and its personnel transferred to the

Strategic Missile Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Фед� ...

, retrained to serve in

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

units. The 138th Guards Red Banner Artillery Regiment was used to form the 344th Missile Regiment of the 29th Guards Missile Division, which inherited the honors of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division. Several officers of the 51st Guards assumed senior positions in the 29th Guards Missile Division, including the commander and deputy commander of its tank regiment, who assumed the corresponding positions in the 307th Missile Regiment. On

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

1965, 51st Guards Rifle Division posthumous Heroes of the Soviet Union Senior Sergeants Lutsevich and A. I. Krasilnikov were commemorated by being permanently placed on the rolls of the 344th and 867th Missile Regiments of the 29th Guards, respectively.

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Origins and Battle of Stalingrad

Postwar

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading