The 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division (

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, internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union. Fo ...

35100)Michael Holm
27th Guards Motorised Rifle Division
/ref> 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, after ...

rifle

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

in World War II which later became a Soviet Army motor rifle division.

History

The division draws its history from the 75th Naval Rifle Brigade formed in the end of 1941. As part of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army a ...

in 1942 the brigade participated in the Demiansk operations - the Moscow counteroffensive. For its fighting performance it became the 3rd Guards Rifle Brigade in March 1942, having spent all its time in reserve, became the 27th Guards Rifle Division in April–May 1942. With a view to the preservation of fighting and revolutionary traditions of earlier formations, the name "Omsk" which

27th Rifle Division The 27th Rifle Division (russian: 27-я стрелковая дивизия) was a tactical unit in the Red Army of Soviet Russia and then the Soviet Union, active between 1918 and 1945. First formed during the Russian Civil War on November 3, 1 ...

had during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

had earlier was given to the new division. It included the 76th Guards Rifle Regiment ( :ru:76-й гвардейский стрелковый полк), the predecessor to today's

15th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade The 15th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Alexandria (Peacekeeping) Brigade (russian: 15-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая Александрийская бригада) (миротворческая), transli ...

. In the late summer of 1942, it was rushed south to help stop the German offensive into the northern Caucasus and Stalingrad. It took part in the destruction of the German 6th Army during the winter of 1942/43. During World War II the division was part of the 4th Tank Army, 1st Guards Army, the 24th Army, the 66th Army, the 65th Army and since February 1943 the 62nd Army. In April 1942 the 62nd Army became the Eighth Guards Army. In July 1942 the division was part of

58th Army The 58th Combined Arms Army (russian: 58-я общевойсковая армия) is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered at Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania, within Russia's Southern Military District. It was formed in 1941 as pa ...

, alongside 16th Guards Rifle Division and two other rifle divisions.

Combat Composition of the Soviet Army ''Boevoi sostav Sovetskoi armii'' ("Combat composition of the Soviet army") is an official Second World War Soviet Army order of battle published in five parts from 1963 through 1990 by the Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff and Voenizdat. ...

, 1 July 1942 The division was back with the 8th Guards Army of the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

in May 1945. The division participated in 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 ...

, Izyum-Barvenkovo, Donbass, Zaporozhye, Nikopol-Krivoi Rog, Bereznegova-Snigirovka, Odessa, Lublin - Brest,

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, Küstrin, Warsaw-Poznan and the Berlin offensive operation. For services in battle the division was awarded the honorific "Novobug" in March 1944, then awarded 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 ...

and Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd degrees. Over 10 thousand of its soldiers were awarded awards and medals, and 7 were awarded the

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. Its commanders included Colonel Konstantin Vindushev (1942), and

Viktor Glebov The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

(1942–1945), Glebov was originally a colonel but was made a general-major in November 1942. Since 1945 the division remained as part of the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

, where it became 21st Guards Mechanised Division, then 21st Guards Motor Rifle Division on 17 May 1957. On 17 November 1964 it was renamed 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division. It remained in Germany until May 1991, when it was withdrawn to

Totskoye Totskoye (russian: То́цкое) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Totsky District of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. Population: During World War I, it was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp that became notorious ...

in the

Volga-Ural Military District Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. T ...

. It has contributed many personnel for peacekeeping operations. The division was renamed the 21st Guards Motor Rifle Brigade on 1 June 2009, after the beginning of the

2008 Russian military reform The Serdyukov reform (), named after its originator, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, was a major structural reorganisation of the Russian Armed Forces that began in 2009. Significant reforms of the Russian Armed Forces were announced in Oc ...

Composition in Germany, c1988

Source: Craig Crofoot, GSFG manuscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com, and Holm 2015. *Division Headquarters –

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

, East Germany 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east * 68th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Halle 51° 26′ 30″ north, 11° 56′ 50″ east * 243rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east * 244th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (BTR) –

Schlotheim Schlotheim is a town and a former municipality in the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated east of Mühlhausen. Since December 2019, it is part of the town Nottertal-Heilinger Höhen. Notable residents *Werner ...

51° 15′ 50″ north, 10° 38′ 30″ east *28th Tank Regiment – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east *54th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east *286th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east *488th Independent Anti-Tank Battalion – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east *5th Independent Reconnaissance & Radio EW Battalion – Mühlhausen 51° 12′ 20″ north, 10° 27′ 00″ east *35th Independent Guards Signals Battalion – Halle 51° 29′ 40″ north, 11° 55′ 40″ east *29th Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Halle 51° 26′ 40″ north, 11° 57′ 10″ east *44th Repair-Reconstruction Battalion *367th Independent Chemical Defence Battalion *21st Independent Medical-Sanitation Battalion *1126th Independent Material Support Battalion *327th independent Helicopter Squadron - Schlotheim

Composition c.2001

Source warfare.ru *HQ 27th Motor Rifle Division nd Combined-Arms Army**81st Motor Rifle Regiment, Samara 7th MRDAgentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 5 Mar 01; 21 Jan 03). **152nd Tank Regiment(Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 13 Sep 01). **433rd Motor Rifle Regiment 7th MRDAgentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 13 Sep 01).

Sources

*http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/gvsd027/default.html *Bonn, Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front, 2005, p. 365 {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2013

027 O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scal ...

Military units and formations established in 1964 Military units and formations disestablished in 2009 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1964 establishments in the Soviet Union 2009 disestablishments in Russia