The 38th Guards Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the

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

. It was activated during

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 August 1944 and became a rifle corps in December of that year. The corps fought in the

Vienna Offensive The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street figh ...

and the Prague Offensive during the spring of 1945. After the end of the war, it was converted back into an airborne corps. The corps served at Tula until its 1955 disbandment when the

was reorganized.

History

World War II

The 38th Guards Airborne Corps was formed around 9 August 1944 under the command of

Alexander Kapitokhin Alexander Grigoryevich Kapitokhin (Russian language, Russian: Александр Григорьевич Капитохин; 6 June 1892 – 13 August 1958) was a Red Army lieutenant general. Kapitokhin commanded a sector in the final Siege of Sevast ...

, part of the Separate Airborne Army. The corps included the 11th, 12th, and 16th Guards Airborne Divisions. On 8 December, the corps became a rifle corps and its divisions were soon converted into infantry divisions. At the same time, the Separate Airborne Army became the

9th Guards Army The 9th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, which fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive at the end of the war. The army was formed in January 1945 and included airborne divisions converted into infant ...

In January 1945, the corps transferred to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

with the rest of the 9th Guards Army. The corps first fought in combat on 21 February. On 26 March, Kapitokhin was replaced by

Alexander Utvenko Alexander Ivanovich Utvenko (Russian: Александр Иванович Утвенко; 12 December 1905 – 20 August 1963) was a Red Army Lieutenant general. Utvenko became a Red Army officer in the interwar period and was given command of a ...

in command. It fought during the

, where its 104th Guards Rifle Division captured

Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the States of Austria, State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 Januar ...

. Its 105th Guards Rifle Division blocked the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

road. For its actions in the

, the corps was awarded the honorary title "Vienna". Advancing on the right flank of the

37th Guards Rifle Corps The 37th Guards Airborne Corps was a Red Army airborne corps. The corps was established as the 37th Guards Rifle Corps on 19 January 1944. In August, it was converted into an airborne corps. On 18 December, it became an infantry corps again. The cor ...

, the corps entered

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and fought in the Prague Offensive, where the 106th Guards Rifle Division captured

Znojmo Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...

Postwar

The corps briefly became 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 ...

before it was relocated to

Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...

in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

in the summer of 1945. The 104th Division was based at

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

, and the 105th and 106th were at

Teykovo Teykovo () is a town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River southwest of Ivanovo. Population: 42,800 (1975). History It was founded in the 17th century and was granted town status in 1918. Administrative and municipal statu ...

. On 10 June, the corps was converted back into an airborne corps along with the rest of the corps of the 9th Guards Army, which became the headquarters of the Soviet airborne. Its divisions also became airborne divisions. The 689th Separate Communications Battalion was directly subordinated to corps headquarters around this time. The 104th Guards were transferred to the

15th Guards Airborne Corps In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

in Estonia, and the 105th and 106th Divisions moved to Kostroma and Tula, respectively. The corps headquarters was moved to Tula. In July, Lieutenant General

Stepan Povetkin Stepan Ivanovich Povetkin (; 15 August 1895 – 1 May 1965) was a Red Army lieutenant general. Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Povetkin rose from private to ensign during the war. Joining the Red Army during the Ru ...

became commander of the corps. Lieutenant General Erofey Dobrovolsky took command in August. He would command the corps for the rest of its existence. On 15 October 1948, the

11th Guards Airborne Division The 11th Guards Airborne Division was the name of two separate airborne divisions of the Soviet Airborne Troops. The division was first formed in late 1943 from three airborne brigades and did not see action before its conversion to the 104th Guar ...

was activated from a regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division at

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

to form a third division in the corps. On 25 April 1955, as part of the reorganization of the Soviet airborne, the corps and its 11th Guards Airborne Division were disbanded. The 105th and 106th Divisions were directly subordinated to the headquarters of the Soviet airborne.

Commanders

The corps was commanded by the following officers. * Lieutenant general

(9 August 1944 25 March 1945) * Lieutenant general

(26 March 1945 – July 1946) * Lieutenant general

(July–August 1946) * Lieutenant general Erofey Dobrovolskiy (August 1946 25 April 1955)

Composition

The corps was composed of the following units in January 1945. * 104th Guards Rifle Division * 105th Guards Rifle Division * 106th Guards Rifle Division

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Soviet Union corps Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1955 Corps of the Soviet Airborne Forces