The 49th Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. The division was formed in October 1942 from the

2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division The 2nd Guards Mikhail Kalinin, M. I. Kalinin Taman Motor Rifle Division is a Russian Guards, Guards Mechanized infantry, mechanised infantry Division (military), division of the Russian Ground Forces. Its Military Unit Number is 23626. The 2nd ...

Formation

The 49th Guards Rifle Division was formed in the Western Front reserves near Moscow on 13 October 1942 from the remains of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division. The unit was immediately assigned to the newly formed 13th Guards Rifle Corps in the

2nd Guards Army The 2nd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army that fought in World War II, most notably at Stalingrad. History The 2nd Guards Army was formed according to the order of the Staff of the Supreme High Command (Stavka) from O ...

. They were sent south to the Stalingrad area in December 1942 and went into action south of Stalingrad. When formed, its order of battle was as follows: * 144th Guards Rifle Regiment * 147th Guards Rifle Regiment * 149th Guards Rifle Regiment * 100th Guards Artillery Regiment * 56th Guards Separate Anti-tank Battalion * 64th Guards Anti-Aircraft Battery (up to 25 April 1943) * 1st Guards Machine Gun Battalion (up to 1 June 1943) * 51st Guards Reconnaissance Company * 57th Guards Separate Sapper Battalion * 77th Guards Separate Signals Battalion * 561st (53rd) Medical and Sanitation Battalion * 52nd Guards Separate Chemical Defense Company * 609th (53rd) Auto-Transport Company * 638th (48th) Field Bakery * 641st (50th) Divisional Veterinary Hospital * 572nd Field Postal Station * 44th Field Office of State Bank Later the division helped liberate

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

(the name "Khersonskaya" was conferred on the division). It took part in the liberation of Romania and Hungary. The division ended the war in Austria. By this time the division had the following honorifics: Khersonskaya,

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet Union, Soviet award established on ...

2nd Class.

Postwar

After the end of the war the division became a part of the

Southern Group of Forces The Southern Group of Forces (YUGV) was a Soviet Armed Forces formation formed twice following the Second World War, most notably around the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. First Formation On June 15, 1945, the 26th and 37th Armies (fr ...

, being reorganised as the 33rd Guards Mechanised Division.Feskov et al 2013, p. 71 In September 1949 the 33rd Guards Mechanized Division arrived in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

from the

Odessa Military District The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...

, becoming part of the Special Mechanized Army. The 33rd Guards Mechanized Division was detached to the Special Corps and fought in Operation Whirlwind, the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. After the end of the operation, the division became part of the newly reformed

. On 4 June 1957, the division became the 33rd Guards Motor Rifle Division. The division was based at

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

with the 38th Army. In 1958 it moved to Kishinev and became part of the 14th Army. The division was disbanded there on 8 October 1960.

Commanders

69th Rifle Division

* Colonel Athanasius Dmitrievich Shemenkov (June 1938 – December 1940)

107th Tank Division

* Colonel Piotr Nikolaevich Domrachev (18 July 1941 – 30 August 1941) * Colonel Porfiry Chanchibadze (31 August 1941 – 15 September 1941)

107th Motorized Rifle Division

* Colonel Porfiry Chanchibadze (16 September 1941 – 12 January 1942)

2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division

* Colonel Porfiry Chanchibadze (12 January 1942 – 24 October 1942)

49th Guards Rifle Division

* Major General Porfiry Chanchibadze (25 October – 14 November 1942) *

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Denis Podshivailov – (15 November 1942 – 11 April 1943; promoted to major general 27 November 1942) * Colonel Georgy Kolesnikov – (12 April – 14 November 1943) * Lieutenant Colonel Lev Puzanov (1 December 1943 – 10 January 1944) * Colonel

Vasily Margelov Vasily Filippovich Margelov (; ; – 4 March 1990) was a Red Army General of the army (USSR), General who was the commander of the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV) from 1954 to 1959 and from 1961 to 1979. Margelov modernized the VDV and was a Hero o ...

(11 January – 15 May 1944) * Colonel Stepan Salychev (16 May – 21 June 1944) * Colonel Vasily Margelov (22 June 1944 – 11 May 1945; promoted to major general 13 September 1944)

References

Sources

* * {{Soviet Union divisions G049 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner