The 1st Guards Zvenigorod–Bucharest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Airborne Division (Russian: 1-я гвардейская воздушно-десантная Звенигородско-Бухарестская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия) was a division of the

Soviet Airborne Troops The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed b ...

. The division was first formed in December 1942 and fought in the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. Being one of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost four million troops at one point and stretched over a front. Ov ...

, the

Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, the

Uman–Botoșani offensive The Uman–Botoșani offensiveTsouras, p. 244 or Uman–Botoshany offensive () was a part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, carried out by the Red Army in the western Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the German 8th Army (Wehrma ...

, the

second Jassy–Kishinev offensive The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

, the

Battle of Debrecen The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place from 6 to 29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II. The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainia ...

, the

siege of Budapest The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapes ...

and the Prague offensive. In August 1945 it was sent east and fought in the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

. The division became the 124th Guards Rifle Division in November 1945 and disbanded in 1956.

History

The division was formed in accordance with an order from 8 December 1942 from the 4th Airborne Corps headquarters and the 1st Airborne Brigade. The division became part of the Special Group commanded by

Mikhail Khozin Mikhail Semyonovich Khozin (; 27 February 1979) was a Soviet general. He was the commander of the Leningrad Front from October 1941 to June 1942, until he was relieved from command and replaced by Leonid Govorov for failing to relieve the 2nd S ...

. In mid-February 1943, it was concentrated south of Zaluceni. Its objective was to advance into a breach in the German lines in the

1st Shock Army The 1st Shock Army () was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 1st Shock Army was created in late 1941 and fought in the northern areas of Russia and the Baltic States until the surrender of Germany i ...

offensive zone. In March, the division fought in the

Staraya Russa Staraya Russa (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...

operation, but was unable to capture the town. In August, it made another attempt and cut the Staraya Russa- Kholm road on 18 August. It then advanced to the Porus River at the villages of Chirikov and Kotov. The division entrenched in positions there. After the end of the fighting, it was sent to the rear to rest and refit; in September, it was transferred to the

Steppe Front The Steppe Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War which existed from July to October 1943. History On 9 July 1943, Stavka designated a new Reserve Front in the Voronezh region, that had been effective since 30 April.G ...

. It fought in the capture of

Left-bank Ukraine The Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left (east) bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of Kyiv and Cherkasy. Left-bank Ukrain ...

in the area east of

Kremenchug Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

. On 9 October, it crossed the Dnieper near Moldavan Island and the villages of Soloshino and

Perevolochna Perevolochna () is a former fortress and town in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Cossack Hetmanate, and later a village in Poltava Oblast. Before the establishment of Kamianske Water Reservoir in the 1960s, here also existed a river cr ...

. October 9, 1943, crossed the Dnieper near the island of Moldovans, Soloshino,

, advancing in the second echelon of the 37th Army. From October to December, the division advanced towards Krivoy Rog and Kirovograd. In January and February 1944, the division fought in the Korsun–Shevchenkovsky offensive and took part in the encirclement of German troops around

Zvenigorod Zvenigorod () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Moscow Oblast of western Russia. In 2010 it had a population of about 16,000. History The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a ...

. The division was awarded the honorific "Zvenigorod" for its actions during the fighting on 13 February. Between March and April, it fought in the

. During the offensive, the division reached the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

and

Dubăsari Dubăsari (; mo-Cyrl, Дубэсарь) or Dubossary (; ; ) is a city in Transnistria, with a population of 23,650. Claimed by both the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistria, Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the city is under the latter's ad ...

. During the summer it fought in the

. During the offensive, it advanced in the second echelon of

53rd Army The 53rd Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army which was formed in August 1941, disbanded in December 1941, and reformed in May 1942. It fought throughout World War II before again being disbanded after the war in October 1945. Th ...

towards

Focșani Focșani (; ) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. , it has a population of 66,719. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...

. On 31 August, it entered

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. At the end of September, the division reached the Hungarian border northwest of Arad. On 6 October, it launched an offensive from there during the

and reached the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

. The division crossed the Tisza in November during the Budapest offensive. By February 1945, the division was positioned on the

Hron The Hron (; ; ; ) is a long left tributary of the DanubeP ...

. It fought in the Bratislava–Brno offensive in April and the Prague offensive in May. During June and July, the division was transferred to Choibalsan in Mongolia, along with the 53rd Army. It became part of the 18th Guards Rifle Corps. In August 1945, it fought in the Khingan–Mukden offensive operation, part of the

. At the end of the war, it was in

Tongliao Tongliao; ''Tüŋliyou qota'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Тонляо хот is a prefecture-level city in eastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. The area is and as of the 2020 census, its population was 2,873,168 (3,139,153 in 2010). Ho ...

, where the division conducted its first airborne operation. On 5 December 1945 the division became the 124th Guards Rifle Division, still with the 18th Guards Rifle Corps in the East Siberian Military District. The division relocated to

Nizhneudinsk Nizhneudinsk ( rus, Нижнеу́динск, p=nʲɪʐnʲɪˈudʲɪnsk; , ''Doodo-Üde'') is a town and the administrative center of Nizhneudinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Uda River ( Yenisei's basin), northwest of ...

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...

in the spring of 1946. It became the 20th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade there and was directly subordinated to the district as a result of postwar troop reductions. In October 1953 it was upgraded to a division again. The East Siberian Military District became the

31st Rifle Corps 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. Mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits res ...

of the

Transbaikal Military District The Transbaikal Military District () was a military district of first the Soviet Armed Forces and then the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed on 17 May 1935 and included the Buryat Republic, Chita Oblast, and Yakutia. Chita was ...

around this time. The division thus became part of the 31st Rifle Corps. On 4 April 1956, the division was disbanded.Feskov et al 2013, p. 152

Composition

The 1st Guards Airborne Division included the following units. *3rd Guards Airborne Regiment (formed from 8th Airborne Brigade) *6th Guards Airborne Regiment (formed from 9th Airborne Brigade) *13th Guards Airborne Regiment (formed from 214th Airborne Brigade) *4th Guards Airborne Artillery Regiment *2nd Guards Airborne Antitank Battalion *5th Separate Guards Airborne Reconnaissance Company *11th Field Bakery *13th Veterinary Hospital *2464th Field Post Office

Subordination

Notes

References

* *Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, ''The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War'', Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. .

History

Composition

Subordination

Notes

References

Further reading