| 75th Guards Tank Division (11 April 1965–1 July 1989) 75th Guards Heavy Tank Division 14th Guards Heavy Tank Division 14th Guards Tank Division 64th Guards Mechanized Division 17th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade 75th Guards Rifle Division (1 March 1943 – 1946) | |
|---|---|
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army (Soviet Army from 1946) |
| Type | Infantry (Mechanized from 1953, Tank from 1954) |
| Size | more than 10,000 (Second World War) |
| Engagements | World War II
|
| Decorations |
|
| Battle honours | Bakhmach |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Major GeneralVasily Gorishny |
The75th Guards Rifle Division (Russian:75-я гвардейская стрелковая дивизия,romanized: 75-ya gvardeyskaya strelkovaya diviziya) was aRed Armyinfantry division duringWorld War II and afterwards, which later became the 75th Guards Tank Division and was finally disbanded in the 1990s.
The 75th Guards Rifle Division was redesignated at the beginning of March 1943 from the second formation of the95th Rifle Division in recognition of the latter's courage and heroism during theBattle of Stalingrad. It fought in theBattle of Kursk, defending positions aroundPonyri on the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, and was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner for its actions. The division fought inOperation Kutuzov and theBattle of the Dnieper in the summer and early fall. It was awarded the honorific "Bakhmach" for helping to capture that city. The division then fought in theBattle of Kiev and advanced into eastern Belarus towards the end of the year. In January 1944 it fought in theKalinkovichi-Mozyr offensive and received theOrder of Suvorov, 2nd class for its actions. From late June the 75th Guards fought inOperation Bagration, advancing westwards into Belarus. For its actions the division was awarded its second Order of the Red Banner. In September the division was transferred to the Baltic and fought in theRiga offensive. It was relocated to eastern Poland in December and fought in theVistula–Oder offensive,East Pomeranian offensive, andBattle of Berlin in the final months of the war.
Postwar, the division was withdrawn toTula and downsized into the 17th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade. The brigade was relocated toChuguyev, and became the 64th Guards Mechanized Division in 1953. In 1954 it became the 14th Guards Heavy Tank Division, and in 1965 it was redesignated the 75th Guards Tank Division. The division was downsized into a storage base in 1989, and finally disbanded in 1990.
The division was formed on 1 March 1943 by the redesignation of the95th Rifle Division (Second formation), which was made aGuards unit for its courage and heroism in thedefense of Stalingrad. Its structure included the 90th, 161st, and 241st Rifle Regiments, and the 57th Artillery Regiment, which became the 212th, 231st, and 241st Guards Rifle Regiments, and the 159th Guards Artillery Regiment, respectively, on 4 April, and other smaller units.[1] The division was commanded by Major GeneralVasily Gorishny, who led the division for the rest of the war.[2] Initially part of theCentral Front reserve, it joined the13th Army in May. In reserve, the 75th Guards were brought up to full strength and replenished from their losses at Stalingrad.[3]
During July 1943, as part of the army's17th Guards Rifle Corps alongside the70th Guards Rifle Division, the division fought in theBattle of Kursk. Facing one of the main German thrusts in the area of thePonyri 2sovkhoz, the 75th Guards helped repulse the attack, positioned in the second defensive belt.[4] On 6 July, the second day of the battle, the 70th and 75th Guards, supported by the9th and16th Tank Corps, attacked the2nd Panzer Division, positioned between Bobrik and Saborovka, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from its start line. In fierce fighting, the 2nd Panzer managed to slightly expand its bridgehead over theSvapa River. At Ponyri, the 75th Guards' 84th Separate Guards Anti-Tank Battalion was attacked byTiger tanks, but managed to claim fivePanzer IVs with its 45 mm anti-tank guns.[5] At 19:30, German tanks and infantry attacked into the division's flank and rear west of Snova after pushing the6th Guards Rifle Division back. The 75th Guards speedily regrouped and repulsed the German attack, destroying up to 30 tanks according to Soviet reports.[6] On 7 July the German attacks at Ponyri 2 continued, with an attack by thirty tanks and infantry from the9th Panzer Division achieving a limited advance against the 75th Guards by 17:00.[7] During the day the infantry from the division supported tanks and anti-tank guns in inflicting heavy losses on the attacking German tanks.[8] On the afternoon of 10 July, after the German troops retreated to their original positions, the 75th Guards participated in a general counterattack in the sector.[9] Regrouping and exploiting the breakthrough, the division went on the offensive duringOperation Kutuzov on 15 July.[10] For its exemplary fighting performance, the division was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner on 21 July 1943.[2] By 25 July, the 75th Guards reached the line of Glazunovka and Nizhny Tagino, overcoming stiff German resistance.[11] 5 soldiers of the division were madeHeroes of the Soviet Union (all posthumously), and 173 officers and men recognized with awards and medals.[12]
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The division's soldiers then helped clear left-bank Ukraine during theChernigov-Pripyat offensive of theCentral Front, part of the70th Army and then the60th Army's30th Rifle Corps. For helping to clearBakhmach, the division was given the honorific "Bakhmach" on 9 September. On 25 September parts of the division crossed theDnieper River in the area of Tarasovichi and Yasnogorodka and seized a bridgehead.[10] During the subsequent weeks, the 75th Guards fought in fierce fighting to expand the bridgehead. For courage shown in battle, 63 officers and men of the division were madeHeroes of the Soviet Union, and 829 recognized with awards and medals.[2]
In October and November 1943, the division, part of the 60th Army of the1st Ukrainian Front, fought in theKiev offensive operation.[10] From January to July 1944 the division fought as part of the65th Army of the Belarusian (from 17 February1st Belarusian) Front. On 6 January, the division numbered 7,516 personnel, including 821 officers and 2,214 non-commissioned officers.[13] Between 8 and 14 January, the 75th Guards fought in theKalinkovichi-Mozyr offensive, which aimed to captureKalinkovichi andMozyr in eastern Belarus. The division was part of the105th Rifle Corps along with the132nd and253rd Rifle Divisions at the time. In the first echelon, the 75th Guards and the 132nd were tasked with takingDavydovichi,Kholodniki, andDomanovichi. After the corps' breakthrough, the1st Guards Tank Corps was to exploit it and encircle Kalinkovichi from the northwest.[14] The assault began at 09:40 hours on 8 January, just before the end of an artillery bombardment. The division and the rest of its corps ran into strong German opposition, and only a limited advance was achieved.[15] The 75th Guards were unable to advance and retreated back to their jumping-off positions at the end of the first day.[16] After several days of indecisive fighting, the 1st Guards Tank Corps was committed to achieve the breakthrough on 11 January. The division covered the corps' realignment on a new direction of advance.[17]
The infantry-supported tank attack broke through the German line, and the division cooperated with the 1st Guards Tank Corps'17th Guards Tank Brigade in the attack on5th Panzer Division positions along and east of the Shatsilki–Kalinkovichi road, but ran into fierce resistance. Assisted by airstrikes and an artillery bombardment, the tank brigade was able to capture the village of Anisovichi. The69th and 75th Guards Rifle Divisions cleared 65th Army lines of communications and supply of German troops, enabling the 1st Guards Tank Corps to continue advancing south. In the afternoon of 12 January, the two rifle divisions provided support to the 15th and 17th Guards Tank Brigades in their successful assaults on the fortified villages of Turovichi and Zapolye, only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Kalinkovichi.[18]
The final assault on Kalinkovichi began on 13 January, by which time the German troops had begun withdrawing to new defensive positions along theIpa River, northwest of the town. Facing strong resistance from rear guards, the 1st Guards Tank Corps briefly halted its advance 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Kalinkovichi at midday in order to call in airstrikes and allow the 105th Rifle Corps to catch up. The last village strongpoint on the road to Kalinkovichi, Antonovka, was captured by an assault of the 105th Rifle Corps and the 1st Guards Tank Corps. The division supported the tanks until the latter reached the outskirts of the town, then shifted west towards the Ipa.[19]
For exemplary fighting performance in the offensive, the 75th Guards Rifle Division was awarded theOrder of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 15 January. During the subsequentOzarichi-Ptich offensive from 16 to 30 January, the division was held in general reserve.[20] Along with the rest of the 105th Rifle Corps, the 75th Guards were positioned in the second echelon of a reinforced shock group that also included the69th,82nd, and162nd Rifle Divisions in the first echelon after the advance on the northern sector of the penetration bogged down. The first echelon was able to break through and on 31 January the second echelon was committed to expand the penetration west and east to capture ground north of Savichi and the town ofSyshchichi to the east.[21] In mid-February the division supported a local offensive of the48th Army as part of the95th Rifle Corps, which achieved a gain of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).[22]
_Medical_Battalion_of_the_75th_Guards_Rifle_Division._1944.jpg)
DuringOperation Bagration, the Red Army's westward offensive through Belarus, which began on 23 June, the division was part of the 105th Rifle Corps[23] in the first echelon of the65th Army.[24] On 24 June, it led the attack on the German trenches held by the36th Infantry Division. Following the breakthrough of the German defenses, the 75th Guards supported the exploitation by the 1st Guards Tank Corps.[25] In stubborn fighting, the division helped takeParichi. The division then participated in the destruction of the German pocket in theBobruisk area during theBobruisk offensive and fought in theMinsk offensive.[10] It captured the city ofBaranovichi in early July, and was given theOrder of the Red Banner for a second time on 5 July 1944.[2]
From August 1944 to the end of the war, the division was part of the61st Army. In September, the 75th Guards were transferred with the army fromBiałystok to thePskov area.[10] As part of the3rd and1st Baltic Fronts, the division participated in clearing the Baltic region, fighting in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.[26] The division fought in theRiga offensive from September, and for helping to capture the city the 212th Guards Rifle Regiment and 159th Guards Artillery Regiment received the honorific Riga, the 241st Guards Rifle Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and the 231st Guards Rifle Regiment was awarded theOrder of Suvorov, 3rd class.[27]
In December, along with the army, it was transferred back to the 1st Belorussian Front. During theVistula–Oder offensive, the division advanced west across Poland.[2][10] For courage shown in battle on theVistula, 3 officers and men of the division were madeHeroes of the Soviet Union, and hundreds recognized with awards and medals.[28]
The division fought in theEast Pomeranian offensive. For courage shown in battle on theOder, 8 officers and men of the division were madeHeroes of the Soviet Union, and 1317 recognized with awards and medals. The last operation of the division in World War II was theBattle of Berlin. The division ended its fighting on 3 May 1945, when it linked up with troops from theNinth United States Army's102nd Infantry Division[10] on theElbe nearWittenberg. During the war, 13,824 of the division's officers and men were awarded awards and medals, including 74 who were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.[2] The 75th Guards Division ranked third among the rifle divisions of the Red Army by the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union – the167th Rifle Division had 108 Heroes and the25th Guards Rifle Division had 77 Heroes.[29][30]
The 75th Guards Rifle Division included the following units in April 1943:[31][32]
The division remained in Germany with the47th Army's9th Guards Rifle Corps, part of theGroup of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany. In February 1946 the army was disbanded and the division withdrawn toIvanovo in theMoscow Military District.[33] After arriving in the district, it replaced the disbanded267th Rifle Division as part of the1st Guards Rifle Corps atTula. In May, it was redesignated as the 17th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade[34] and was subsequently transferred to the13th Guards Rifle Corps. Around the same time the brigade moved toKaluga. The 17th Guards moved toRyazan in April 1947 and toKharkov in theKiev Military District in the fall of 1948.[35] From Kharkov the brigade relocated toChuguyev, part of the20th Guards Rifle Corps.[36] Gorishny commanded the brigade until September 1949, when he took command of another division.[10]
In October 1953, it was converted into the 64th Guards Mechanized Division,[37] with the 159th, 205th, and 216th Guards Mechanized Regiments and the 380th Tank Regiment.[38] On 27 July 1954, the 64th Guards was converted into the 14th Guards Tank Division.[39] Simultaneously, the 205th Guards Mechanized Regiment was disbanded.[40] The 427th Guards Mechanized Regiment instead joined the division.[41] On 18 November, it became a heavy tank division. At the same time, the 159th and 216th Guards Mechanized Regiments became the 283rd and 389th Guards Heavy Tank Regiments, respectively.[40] In May 1957 it became part of the newly arrived6th Guards Tank Army.[42]
By the early 1960s the division included the 283rd and 389th Guards and the 380th Heavy Tank Regiments. On 11 January 1965 it was renumbered as the 75th Guards to restore its World War II numbering, and on 11 April it became a regular tank division.[43] By the late 1980s, the division included the 358th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, the 42nd Guards, 283rd Guards, and 380th Tank Regiments, and the 577th Artillery Regiment, all at Chuguyev. On 1 July 1989, as part ofGorbachev-inspired reductions, it was downsized into the 5362nd Weapons and Equipment Storage Base. The storage base was disbanded in June 1990.[42]
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