The 1st Guards 'Vienna'

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 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 ...

Mechanized Corps was a

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 ...

armoured Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

formation that saw service 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 ...

on the Eastern Front. After the war it continued to serve with

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

occupation forces in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

. It was originally the

1st Guards Rifle Division First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. The unit had approximately the same size and combat power as an early-war

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

Panzer Division, or a British Armoured Division during World War II. It was under the command of General Lieutenant

Ivan Russiyanov Ivan Nikitich Russiyanov (; 11 September 1900 – 21 March 1984) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Russiyanov served as a clerk and in staff positions after joining the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Afte ...

, and gained the honorifics "Vienna, Voronezh". In its final form, as the 171st Guards District Training Centre, it was disbanded while being stationed in Tbilisi in 1992.

History

The 1st Guards Mechanized Corps was formed in November 1942 in the

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...

region during the re-establishment of the Mechanized Corps as a formation in the

. It was then assigned to the Southwestern Front which was under the command of General N. F. Vatutin to participate in the encirclement of German

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

Operation Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launch ...

, which was undertaken during the Battle of Stalingrad. The corps consisted of the following units: Combat Units * 1st Guards Mechanized Rifle Brigade * 2nd Guards Mechanized Rifle Brigade * 3rd Guards Mechanized Rifle Brigade * 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th Guards Tank Regiments (combined into the 9th Guards Tank Brigade by 1945) * 116th Guards Artillery Regiment * 1504th Guards Anti-Tank Regiment * 267th Mortar Regiment * 407th Guards Mortar Battalion Support Units * 54th Guards Signalling Battalion * Corps Train Changes to unit organization *The 116th Guards Artillery Regiment had been replaced by the 382nd Guards, 1453rd, and 1821st self-propelled gun regiments by 1945. *The 1504th Guards Anti-Tank Regiment was no longer with the corps in 1945. *The 11th Guards Motorcycle Battalion and 1699th Anti-Aircraft Regiment had been added to the corps by 1945. In 1942, the corps fought in

; in 1943, the

Third Battle Of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to ...

, 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 ...

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, and the Battle of the lower Dnepr, and in 1945, the

Battle of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budap ...

, the Balaton Defensive Operation, and 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 ...

. Depending on the specific tasks allotted, units from the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the ''Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stav ...

(''Stavka'' reserve) could be added to help it achieve its mission. When the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps returned to the front in January 1945, its tank formations were completely equipped with American M4A2 Sherman Lend-Lease tanks. The Corps had been re-designated the 1st Guards Mechanised Division by March 1946 and served in the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

before being reorganised as the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957, 2nd Guards MR Training in 1960, and then the 16th Guards MRD on 17 November 1964 (

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: Войсковая часть) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union The Soviet ...

35695). On 18 August 1968 renamed 100th Guards Training Motorised Rifle Division. At some point afterwards, probably in the late 1980s, it was renamed the 171st Guards District Training Centre. On September 7, 1985, the division was named after Lieutenant General I.N. Russiyanov. Since 1987, the division began to be called the 171st Guards District Training Center (Military Unit Number 30105). It was based in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

throughout the postwar period. In June 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, it was disbanded. Remaining Russian units in that location gained the designation of the 137th Military Base. Yet that same month, the battle banner of the division, its honours and awards were transferred to the 212th District Training Centre in

Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai Chita ( rus, Чита, p=tɕɪˈta, , ) is a city and the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway route, roughly east of Irkutsk. Geography Chita lies at the confluence of the Chita and Ingod ...

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

(Military Unit 30672). Up until 1987 the 212th DTC had been the 49th Tank Training Division. With the change, the centre in Chita became the 212th Guards District Training Center "Vienna of the Orders of Lenin and Kutuzov," for junior specialists named after Lieutenant General I.N. Russiyanov.V.I. Feskov et al 2013, Chapter 26.

Assignment

1942

* Southwestern Front **

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 ...

1943

* Southwestern Front

1944

* STAVKA Reserve, later part of the Kharkov Military District

1945

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front (Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southweste ...

Bibliography

* Bonn, K.E. 'Slaughterhouse - The Handbook of the Eastern Front', Aberjona Press * Erickson, J. 'The Road to Stalingrad' * Glantz, D. 'From the Don to the Dnepr'

References

External links

Red Army Studies

Battlefield.ru

Eastern Front.co.uk

Lost Battalion Games Article
{{Soviet Union divisions G001 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946