The 5th Guards Army was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Guards Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

formation which fought in many critical actions 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the

66th Army The 66th Army was a field army of the Red Army. It was established in August 1942 from the 8th Reserve Army. The 66th Army fought to break through to the Volga River, Volga to the north of Stalingrad during September and October 1942. During Opera ...

in recognition of that army's actions during 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 r ...

. The 5th Guards Army fought in 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 ...

, Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation,

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four m ...

, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, Vistula–Oder Offensive, Berlin Offensive, and the

Prague Offensive The Prague offensive (russian: Пражская стратегическая наступательная операция, Prazhskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya, lit=Prague strategic offensive) was the last major military ...

. During the Berlin Offensive elements of the army linked up with American troops at

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces fi ...

on the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

. Postwar, the army was disbanded as part of the

Central Group of Forces The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...

History

On 5 May 1943, the 66th Army was renamed to the 5th Guards Army in accordance with a

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...

directive dated 16 April 1943. It included the 32nd and 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. The 5th Guards Army fought under command of the

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate gras ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

, and

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

and 1st Ukrainian Fronts from 1943 until the end of the war. In 1943, the army fought in the Battle of Kursk at

Prokhorovka Prokhorovka (russian: Про́хоровка) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Prokhorovka, Belgorod Oblast, a settlement in Prokhorovsky District of Belgorod Oblast ;Rural localities * Prokhorovka, Irk ...

. The Steppe Front formed the strategic reserve for the battle. On 6 July, the army began moving up from its reserve positions. On 8 July the army was reassigned to the Voronezh Front. On the night of 10 July the army's 33rd Guards Rifle Corps arrived at Prokhorovka. On the night of 11 July the army's 32nd Guards Rifle Corps took up defensive positions on the

Psel River The Psel (, translit. ''Psyol''; , translit. ''Psel, Ps'ol, Pslo'') is a river, a left tributary of the Dnieper, which flows through Russia and Ukraine. The Psel has a length of and a drainage basin of .Oboyan, Olkhovatka, Veselyy, and Semyonovka. On the morning of 11 July the advance of the

II SS Panzer Corps The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...

was checked by the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps'

95th Guards Rifle Division The 95th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1943, based on the 1st formation of the 226th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It ended t ...

and

9th Guards Airborne Division 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra a ...

, operating in conjunction with other units. On 12 July the army's troops in conjunction with the

5th Guards Tank Army The 5th Guards Tank Army (Russian: 5-я гварде́йская та́нковая а́рмия) was a Soviet Guards armored formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II. The army was formed in February 1943. Until the afte ...

fought in the counterattack of the Voronezh Front and the Battle of Prokhorovka. Soldiers of the 9th Guards Airborne Division were carried on the hulls of the tanks during the charge down the slopes in front of Prokhorovka. In early August, the army fought in the Belgorod-Bogodukhov Offensive. For the offensive, the army was deployed among other armies on a line running from Gertsovka to the northern

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, D ...

east of Gostishchevo. On the night of 3 August, the army moved up to its start line. Within three hours of the launch of the offensive on the morning of 3 August, the army had broken through the main German positions. From 12 August 1943, the army fought in the Belgorod-Kharkhov Offensive Operation. On 7 September the army became part of the Steppe Front. During the Battle of the Dnieper, the army helped capture

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrativel ...

on 23 September and

Kremenchug Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pro ...

on 29 September. The army then crossed the Dnieper and seized a bridgehead on its right bank. On 20 October Steppe Front was renamed 2nd Ukrainian Front. In early January, the 5th Guards Army fought in the Kirovograd Offensive, part of the Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive. In March and April, the army fought in the Uman-Botosani Offensive. In early May, the army reached the Romanian border. On 26 June the army became part of Stavka reserve. On 13 July it was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front. By mid-July, its troops were concentrated south of Ternopol. During July and August, the army fought in the Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive. For the next six months after the offensive, the army fought in heavy battles to retain the Sandomierz bridgehead. In January and February 1945 the 5th Guards Army advanced out of the bridgehead in the Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive. In February and March, the army fought to encircle German troops in Breslau and destroy German troops in the Oppeln pocket. In April and May the army fought in the Berlin Offensive and the Battle of Bautzen. It was elements of the 5th Guards Army that made contact with the U.S. Army's 69th Infantry Division at Torgau on the Elbe River on 25 April 1945, splitting the Third Reich into two separate parts. The first contact was made between patrols near

Strehla Strehla ( hsb, Strjela) is a small town in the district of Meißen, Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, north of Riesa. This place name means ''arrow'' in Sorbian. Strehla includes the following subdivisions: *Forberge *Görzig/ ...

, when U.S.

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

Albert Kotzebue crossed the River Elbe in a boat with three men of an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon. On the east bank, they met forward elements of the 175th Guards Rifle Regiment, part of the

58th Guards Rifle Division The 58th Guards Rifle Division () was an elite Guards infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed in June 1942 as the 1st Rifle Division (1st formation) and was converted into the 58th Guards Rifle Division at the end o ...

of the

First Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

under the command of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

Alexander Gardiev. ElbeDay1945 (NARA ww2-121)

On 26 April, the commanders of the 69th Infantry Division of the First Army and the 58th Guards Rifle Division of the 5th Guards Army met at Torgau, southwest of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. The same day, another patrol under

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

William Robertson with Frank Huff, James McDonnell and Paul Staub met Soviet

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Alexander Silvashko with some soldiers on the destroyed Elbe bridge of Torgau. The army advanced into Czechoslovakia in early May. Elements of the army liberated Leitmeritz concentration camp on 9–10 May. At the end of the war, the 5th Guards Army included the 32nd and 33rd Guards Rifle Corps, as well as the 34th Guards Rifle Corps.

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. E ...

, 1 May 1945 The army then became part of the

, possibly based in Austria. In June 1946, the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps was disbanded. On 20 July 1946, Lieutenant General

Afanasy Beloborodov Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov (russian: Афанасий Павлантьевич Белобородов; – 1 September 1990) was general in the Red Army during the Second World War who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. ...

became army commander. The army was disbanded on 20 March 1947. Its 14th Guards Mechanized Division became part of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army. The 32nd Guards Rifle Corps was disbanded a little later in 1947, briefly being included in the 4th Guards Mechanized Army.

Structure

1 May 1945

;Rifle forces * 32nd Guards Rifle Corps * 33rd Guards Rifle Corps * 34th Guards Rifle Corps ; Artillery forces * 3rd Penetration Artillery Division * 155th Cannon Artillery Brigade * 10th Guards Fighter Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade * 1073rd Fighter Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment * 1075th Fighter Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment * 469th Mortar Regiment * 308th Guards Mortar Regiment * 29th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division ; Armoured forces * 4th Guards Tank Corps * 150th Tank Brigade * 39th Separate Tank Regiment * 226th Separate Tank Regiment * 1889th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ; Engineer forces * 3rd Pontoon-Bridge Brigade * 55th Engineer Sapper Brigade

Commanders

* Colonel General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov (5 May 1943 – 20 July 1946) * Lieutenant General

(20 July 1946 – 20 March 1947)

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
Army History at samsv.narod.ru

{{Armies of the Soviet Army G005 Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1947 Guards Armies