| 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1964–1989) 63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division 4th Guards Mechanized Division 4th Guards Mechanized Corps 13th Tank Corps (1942–1943) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1942–1989 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg) Red Army (1942-1946) Soviet Army (1946-1989) |
| Type | Infantry |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Decorations |
|
| Battle honours | Stalingrad (removed and replaced withVolgograd) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
The4th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Russian:4-я гвардейская мотострелковая дивизия) was a motorized infantry division of theSoviet Army during theCold War.
The division began its history as the13th Tank Corps of theRed Army, formed in April 1942 duringWorld War II and fought in the Soviet counterattack againstCase Blue, theBattle of Voronezh, and theBattle of Stalingrad. The corps lost so many tanks that it was reorganized with amechanized corps structure in November, though it retained the 13th Tank Corps designation. For its actions the corps became the4th Guards Mechanized Corps in early 1943 and received theStalingrad honorific. It continued to fight in combat for most of the rest of the war, receiving theOrder of the Red Banner for its role in theNikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive of early 1944, theOrder of Suvorov, 2nd class for its actions in theOdessa Offensive, and theOrder of Kutuzov, 2nd class for its actions in theSecond Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. In the final months of the war the corps advanced into Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and southern Czechoslovakia before being withdrawn into the reserve.
Several weeks after the end of the war, the corps was converted into the4th Guards Mechanized Division and based atSofia. In the late 1940s it was withdrawn to Ukraine, and was based atLugansk by the time it became the63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957. It was renumbered as the 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division to preserve its traditions in 1964, and was sent toTermez during theSoviet–Afghan War to replace a division deployed to the latter. When it returned to Lugansk in 1989, the division was reduced to a storage base, which was disbanded in 1991.
The corps was formed during April and May 1942 in theStalingrad Military District as the 13th Tank Corps, under the command of Major GeneralPyotr Shurov. It included the 65th, 85th, and 88th Tank Brigades as well as the 20th Motor Rifle Brigade and support units. The corps saw its first combat on 10 June in the area of Prikolotnoye southwest ofKupiansk as part of theSouthwestern Front. During June and July the corps was part of the28th Army, then transferred to the21st Army to participate in theBattle of Voronezh (the Voronezh–Voroshilovgrad Operation). Shruov was mortally wounded in July and replaced by ColonelTrofim Tanaschishin, who would be promoted to major general on 7 December 1942 and to lieutenant general on 30 August 1943. On 23 July 1942 it was transferred to theStalingrad Front, with which it fought in theBattle of Stalingrad. Due to heavy losses of tanks, in November the corps was reorganized as a mechanized corps with the 1st, 17th, and 62nd Mechanized Brigades, though it retained the 13th Tank Corps designation.[1]
The corps fought inOperation Uranus, helping to encircle the Axis southern flank, in the repulse of the German counterattackOperation Winter Storm, and in the counteroffensive ofOperation Little Saturn. For "showing perseverance, courage, discipline, and organization" in these actions, in addition to the "heroism displayed by its personnel," the corps was made an eliteGuards unit, the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, on 9 January 1943, and received the Stalingrad honorific on 27 January. Its subordinate brigades accordingly became the 13th, 14th, and 15th Guards Mechanized Brigades. Between January 1943 and mid-January 1944 the corps fought as part of theSouthern Front, which became the4th Ukrainian Front on 20 October 1943. It participated in theRostov Offensive, theDonbass Strategic Offensive, and theMelitopol Offensive during this period.[1]
Transferred to the3rd Ukrainian Front in mid-January 1944, the corps was attached to the8th Guards Army for theNikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive. Between 16 and 18 January it was relocated to support a breakthrough of the flanks on the 46th and 8th Guards Armies, with the objective of capturing the critical rail junction of Apostolovo to link up with forces of the4th Ukrainian Front and cut off German troops in the Nikopol bridgehead.[2] The corps numbered 7,304 men on 31 January of which 3,394 were considered "bayonets" (combat troops), and fielded 123 tanks and self-propelled guns. Of these, 92 were T-34 medium tanks, sixteen T-70 light tanks, oneMk III Valentine tank, eightSU-85 self-propelled guns, and sixSU-152 heavy self-propelled guns. Artillery support was provided by eight 20 mm guns, four 37 mm guns, 23 45 mm anti-tank guns, 29 76 mm guns, 34 82 mm mortars, and fourteen 120 mm mortars.[3] During the offensive, it helped to captureNikopol andApostolovo, earning it theOrder of the Red Banner for its "exemplary completion of combat missions" and "valor and courage" on 13 February 1944. The corps lost 502 killed, 1,254 wounded, and 61 missing during the offensive for a total of 1,817 casualties and 31 tanks and self-propelled guns.[4] The 4th Guards Mechanized was attached to theCavalry Mechanized Group commanded by Lieutenant GeneralIssa Pliyev for the subsequentBereznegovatoye–Snigeryovka andOdessa Offensives. For helping to captureOdessa among other objectives during the latter, the corps was awarded theOrder of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 20 April. Among the corps personnel posthumously awarded theHero of the Soviet Union title for their actions in these operations were tank commanders and Junior LieutenantsBoris Grebennikov andVadim Sivkov, and gunner and radio operatorRyadovoyPyotr Krestyaninov. Tanaschishin was also killed in action during the Odessa Offensive at the end of March and replaced by Major GeneralVladimir Zhdanov, who commanded it for the rest of the war and was promoted to lieutenant general on 13 September.[1]
Attacking in conjunction with the7th Mechanized and18th Tank Corps during the AugustSecond Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the corps reached the area ofHuși andLeova to encircle and destroy a large Axis group of eighteen divisions. For this action it received theOrder of Kutuzov, 2nd class, on 7 September. In early September the corps swept southward into Bulgaria, then west during theBelgrade Offensive to capture theYugoslav capital ofBelgrade on 20 October. For their actions in the latter 214 corps personnel received Yugoslav decorations, and Zhdanov was made aHero of Yugoslavia. The corps was transferred to the2nd Ukrainian Front in late October, and served with it until February 1945. The corps was successively attached to the46th Army from 1 November, Cavalry-Mechanized Group Pliev from 28 November, the6th Guards Tank Army from 23 December, and the7th Guards Army from 26 January 1945 during theBudapest Offensive. It saw its last combat action during the advance into southernCzechoslovakia on theHron north ofEsztergom, and in late February was withdrawn into the front reserve. The corps then transferred to theReserve of the Supreme High Command on 15 April, in which it ended the war. For their actions during the war, 16,500 personnel of the corps were decorated, while nineteen others were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.[1]
The 4th Guards Mechanized Corps was converted into the 4th Guards Mechanized Division in June 1945;[1] its three mechanized brigades and one tank brigade were likewise converted into regiments with the same numbers. By that time, the division was a separate division of theSouthern Group of Forces. It became part of the10th Mechanized Army when that force was formed in June 1946 while stationed atSofia.[5] It briefly became part of theSpecial Mechanized Army there on 20 December 1947, but was withdrawn to theKiev Military District in early 1948,[6] joining the14th Guards Rifle Corps.[7] On 4 June 1957 it was redesignated as the 63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division.[8] At the same time, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Guards Mechanized Regiments became the 365th, 367th, and 15th Guards Motor Rifle Regiments, respectively, while the 36th Guards Tank Regiment was renumbered as the 304th Guards.[9] That year, the division became part of the 6th Guards Tank Army, whose headquarters had recently been transferred to the district. In the Kiev Military District the division was stationed atLugansk by 1957 and renumbered as the 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division to restore its World War II number on 17 November 1964.[10] Its Stalingrad honorific was removed in 1961 and replaced with Volgograd to reflect the name change of that city on 29 September 1964.[11]
By 1965, the division was directly subordinated to the district headquarters. It was transferred toTermez and directly subordinated to theTurkestan Military District headquarters during February 1980, replacing the108th Motor Rifle Division, which had been sent to fight in theSoviet–Afghan War.[7] The division left behind the 15th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, which was used to form the46th Motor Rifle Division at Lugansk, part of the new64th Army Corps.[13] The 15th Guards were replaced by the newly formed 1213th Motor Rifle Regiment at Termez.[12] When the 4th Guards returned to Lugansk in March 1989 after the 108th returned to Termez when the Soviet Army withdrew from Afghanistan, the 46th Motor Rifle Division disbanded that same month, followed by the 64th Army Corps in July. Later that year, the division itself was reduced to the 5197th Guards Weapons and Equipment Storage Base, where nearly 40 vehicles – 26R-145BM, 3R-156BTR, 3PRP-3, 2BMP-1KSh, 31V18, 11V19, and 1UR-67[14] – were stored; the base was disbanded in March 1991.[15]
The following officers commanded the corps and division:[16]
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