The Horea, Cloșca și Crișan Division (full name: ''Romanian 2nd Volunteer Infantry Division 'Horea, Cloșca și Crișan' '') was established in April 1945 from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n volunteers, mostly

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, but also

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activists such as

Valter Roman Valter or Walter Roman (October 9, 1913 – November 11, 1983), born Ernst or Ernő Neuländer, was a Romanian communist activist and soldier. During his lifetime, Roman was active inside the Romanian, Czechoslovakian, French, and Spanish ...

. It was created by the Soviet Union at Kotovsk, and named after the Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan.

History

Its first leader was General

Mihail Lascăr Mihail Lascăr (; November 8, 1889 – July 24, 1959) was a Romanian general during World War II and Romania's Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1947. He was born in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, Kingdom of Romania, and graduated from the Infantry ...

, who had been taken prisoner in November 1942, during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. General Lascăr commanded the division from April 12 to September 12, 1945. The division did not see combat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In late 1945 the division was reported to have been integrated into the Romanian 4th Army. Under the firm control of Romanian communists and backed by

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

troops, the HCsC Division was a key instrument with which the Soviets established complete communist control of Romania after the war against the wishes of the regular

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Force ...

. By 1947, the HCsC Division, along with its sister unit, the Tudor Vladimirescu Division, was motorised and partially equipped with tanks, giving the two divisions a significant advantage in mobility and firepower. From 1954 the division's lineage appears to have been merged with that of the previous 1st Cavalry Division. The Independent Cavalry Division became the Inspectorate General of Cavalry in 1897, Divizia I Cavalerie Independenta in 1913, Brigada 1 Cavalerie in 1948, Divizia 59 Cavalerie in 1953, Divizia 91 Mecanizata "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan" in 1954, 6th Mechanised Division "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan" in 1956, Divizia 6 Tancuri "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan" in 1964. In 1989, as part of the Fourth Army, its composition was reported as: *HQ 6th Tank Division /Horea, Cloșca și Crișan/ -

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

: **2nd Tank Regiment -Targu Mureș : with T-55/A/AM2 tanks, TAB-71M and R-1451 apc-s, TABC-79 recon vehicles, MR-4 quad 14,5mm aa hmg-s, SR-114/-132, DAC-443T and -665T trucks, T-55T evacuation tanks, MTP-2/BTR-60 recovery apc-s, **5th Tank Regiment -Turda : same as the 2nd **6th Tank Regiment -Aiud : same **4th Mechanised Regiment -Zalau : with TR-77 tanks, TAB-71/-71M apc-s, TABC-79 recon vehicles,

SU-76 The SU-76 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76'') was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the ZIS-3 mod. 1942 76-mm divisional ...

sp guns, ZiS-3 76mm field guns, Md.1982 120mm mortars, ?? TAB-71AR with 82mm mortars, AG-9 rr-s, MR-4 quad 14,5mm aa hmg-s, DAC-443T and -665T trucks, TER-800 evacuation tank, TERA-71L recovery apc-s, **20th Artillery Regiment -Tarnaveni ??: with M-30 122mm how., D-20 152mm how., APR-21 122mm mrls, SR-114 and DAC-444 trucks, ATS-59G or TAR-76 arty tractors, TAB-71A-PCOMA command vehicles, **166th Recon Battalion -Targu Mureș :with

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car designed and developed ...

recon vehicles and DAC-444T and SR-114D trucks, **216th AA Artillery Battalion -Targu Mureș In 1994 it was transformed into the 6th Army Corps "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan", and in 2000 into Brigada 6 Tancuri "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan". Later the division appears to have become the 6th Tank Division and been based at

.'Romanian Army during the Cold War' via http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/ro-sr-army.htm. See also http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-presa_regionala_arhiva-1720612-brigada-6-tancuri-istorie.htm

References

External links

*''Third Axis Fourth Ally'', Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995. . *https://web.archive.org/web/20071007125337/http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi1998/current1/mi22.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Horea Closca si Crisan Division Divisions of Romania Military history of Romania during World War II Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II Expatriate units and formations of Romania Socialist Republic of Romania Romania–Soviet Union relations Military units and formations established in 1945