The 54th Guards 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, afte ...

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 opposing ...

. The division was created on December 16, 1942, from the second formation of the

119th Rifle Division The 119th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times. It was originally raised at Krasnoyarsk in 1939 as a motor rifle division until the following year when it was reorganized as a standard Red Army rifle divisio ...

. It was assigned the honorific title of "Guards" in recognition of that division's leading role 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 ...

, the breakthrough that led to the encirclement of the German/Romanian forces in Stalingrad, and the subsequent elimination of the 3rd Romanian Army. The 54th Guards Division continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of World War II.

History

The 54th Guards was one of the first of many Guards rifle divisions created from the divisions that fought in the Battle of Stalingrad. When formed, its

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the arme ...

was as follows: * 160th Guards Rifle Regiment from the 365th Rifle Regiment * 162nd Guards Rifle Regiment from the 421st Rifle Regiment * 163rd Guards Rifle Regiment from the 634th Rifle Regiment * 125th Guards Artillery Regiment from the 349th Artillery Regiment * Guards Sapper Battalion from the 224th Sapper Battalion.Charles C. Sharp, ''"Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV'', 1995, p. 66 At the time of its formation the division it was serving in the

5th Tank Army 5th Tank Army is the name of several Soviet units during World War II (not to be confused with the 5th Guards Tank Army). Its first formation occurred on 5 June, 1942, commanded by Major-General Alexander Lizyukov, serving under the Bryansk Front ...

of the

Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia. Fo ...

. Later in the Stalingrad campaign it was transferred to various armies of the Southwestern Front. In February 1943 it was in the

18th Rifle Corps 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

of the

3rd Guards Army The 3rd Guards Army () was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The army fought in the Battle of Berlin, during which it mopped up German resistance around Cottbus. 1942 to 1945 It was formed o ...

and in the spring was reassigned to the

3rd Guards Rifle Corps Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

, where it remained for the duration. The 54th Guards Division, along this its corps, was soon reassigned to the Southern Front (renamed

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, ...

on October 20, 1943) and served there for the next 12 months, mostly as part of the

5th Shock Army The 5th Shock Army was a Red Army field army of World War II. The army was formed on 9 December 1942 by redesignating the 10th Reserve Army. The army was formed two times prior to this with neither formation lasting more than a month before being ...

. It campaigned through the Donbas, southern Ukraine, and finally across the

Dnepr River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

in October 1943. During that time, the division was credited with the liberation of the town of Makeevka in

eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khar ...

, and was given its name as an honorific. After the advance ground to a halt along the Dniester River in the spring of 1944, the division was withdrawn into the ''Stavka'' Reserve, and after rebuilding was reassigned to the 28th Army of the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front ( Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to ...

. During this rebuilding, the division became one of the first rifle divisions to have its towed anti-tank gun battalion replaced with a battalion of SU-76 self-propelled guns. With its Army, the 54th Guards drove into central Poland in the summer, and in early 1945 moved into Latvia to help mop up the German forces there. Following this, the 28th Army was shifted back across Poland, to join the 1st Ukrainian Front's offensive into Czechoslovakia in early May. The division ended the war near Prague. By this time the division had the following honorifics: Makeevka,

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 ...

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 t ...

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, 19 ...

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 ...

). After World War II, the division was relocated to Belarus with the

Kobryn Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...

. In the spring of 1946 the division and its corps were transferred to the 3rd Army, and disbanded within the next six months.

References

Sources

* {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 G054 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner