75th Guards Rifle Division

The 75th Guards Rifle Division (Russian: 75-я гвардейская стрелковая дивизия 75-ya gvardyeĭskaya strelkovaya diviziya) was a Red Army infantry division during World War II and afterwards, which later became the 75th Guards Tank Division and was finally disbanded in the 1990s.

The Division was formed in the Tula area in September 1942 on the basis of units of the 13th Motor Rifle Division of the NKVD, as the 95th Rifle Division (II Formation). Its structure included the 90th, 161st, and 241st Rifle Regiments, the 57th Artillery Regiment and other smaller units.

Second World War
On 18 September 1942 the division saw combat for the first time, at Stalingrad, where it fought for more than 4 months as part of the 62nd Army with the Stalingrad Front and South Eastern Front, in heavy street fighting. For courage and the heroism in this fighting, on 1 March 1943 the Division became 75th Guards Rifle Division (212, 231 and 241st Guards Rifle, 159th Guards Artillery Regiments and other smaller units).

In July - August 1943, as part of the 13th Army of the Central Front the Division fought in the Battle of Kursk. Facing one of the main German thrust (the Ponyri 2 area), several divisional units resisted the German attack effectively and persistently. For its exemplary fighting performance the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 21 July 1943. The division's soldiers then successfully helped clear left-bank Ukraine during the Chernigov-Pripyatsk (Черниговско-Припятской) operations of the Soviet Central Front. For helping clear Bakhmach the division was given the honourable name Bakhmach (Бахмачской) on 9 September 1943. On 25 September 1943 parts of the division forced the River Dnepr in the Tarasovichi area, seized a bridgehead and during October, fought intensely to expand it. For courage shown in battle, 63 soldiers of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 829 recognised with awards and medals.



In November 1943, the division as part of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the Kiev offensive operation. From January to July 1944 the division fought as part of the 65th Army of the Belarus (from 17.2.1944 1st Belarussian) Front, and for exemplary fighting performance it was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 15 January 1944. In the Belarus operation of 1944, operating as part of the first echelon of the 65th Army, the division together with other formations broke the German defense and in persistent fighting seized Parichami (Паричами). The division then participated in the destruction of the German pocket in the Bobruisk area, cleared the city of Baranovichi and was given the Order of the Red Banner for a second time on 5 July 1944. Since August 1944 the division operated most of the time with 61st Army. As part of the 3rd and 1st Baltic Fronts, the division participated in clearing the Soviet Baltic region, and then fought in the Vistula-Oder and East Prussian operations and the Battle of Berlin as part of the 1st Belorussian Front.

During the war years, about 14,000 of the Division's soldiers were awarded awards and medals, including 74 which were made Heroes of the Soviet Union. Colonel V.A.Gorishny (made General-major on 1.3.1943) commanded the division throughout the war.

Postwar
Between February and April 1946, the Division was relocated to the cities of Tula and Plavsk in place of the disbanded 267th Rifle Division of 1st Guards Rifle Corps. The staff of 267th Rifle Сивашской Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division joined 75th Guards Rifle Division.

On June 12, 1946, 75th Guards Rifle Division was transformed into the 17th Guards Rifle Brigade. The brigade, stationed at Tula, was transferred in the summer of 1946 to 13th Guards Rifle Кёнигсбергский Corps. The brigade was relocated from Tula to Kaluga. In the city of Tula the Brigade released barracks for the 106th Guards Airborne Division which had arrived from the Tejkovskogo area of the Ivanovo region. In May, 1946 the brigade was relocated from the city of Kaluga to the city of Dorogobuzh in the Smolensk area.

The headquarters of 13th Guards Rifle Corps was relocated in the summer of 1946 to the city of Moscow. On April, 15th, 1947 the brigade has been relocated from the city of Kaluga in the city of Ryazan and was a part of 1st Guards Rifle Corps. In August – October 1948, the brigade was sent from Ryazan to the cities of Kharkov and Chuguev in the Kiev Military District, having released barracks areas for the 11th Guards Airborne Division.

In 1952 the Division was reformed from 17th Guards Rifle Brigade, and later became the 64th Guards Mechanised Division, incorporating the 160th, 205th, and 216th Guards Mechanised Regiments, and the 25th Tank Regiment. Later the Division became the 75th Guards Tank Division, with the 187th MRR, 283rd Guards Tank Regiment, and 25th and 380th Tank Regiments. It served for years in the Kiev MD as part of the 6th Guards Tank Army, and finally disbanded in the late 1980s as part of the Gorbachev-inspired reductions. It was disbanded by November 1989.

Sources and references

 * Soldat.ru forum data on history of division
 * Aberjona Press, 'Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front'
 * Feskov et al., 'The Soviet Army during the period of the Cold War'