41st Guards Rocket Division
ICBM division of the Soviet & Russian Strategic Rocket Forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 41st Guards Rocket Division (Russian: 41-я гвардейская ракетная дивизия) was a division of the Soviet and Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, active from 1961 to 2001.
68th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (8 October 1943–17 March 1945) 6th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division 138th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade 41st Guards Rocket Division (29 April 1961–1 December 2001) | |
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Active |
|
Country | Soviet Union (1943-1991) Russia (1991-2001) |
Branch |
Strategic Rocket Forces (from 1961) |
Type | Division |
Role |
|
Part of | 33rd Guards Rocket Army (1970–2001) |
Garrison/HQ | Aleysk (1964–2001) |
Anniversaries | 11 June (formation)[1] |
Engagements | World War II |
Decorations | Order of Kutuzov Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class |
Battle honours |
The division traced its lineage to the formation of the Red Army's 68th Anti-Aircraft (AA) Artillery Division during World War II in October 1943. The 68th Division was assigned to the 38th Army, directly subordinated to the 1st Ukrainian Front, and assigned to the 4th Tank Army (later the 4th Guards Tank Army) for the duration of its combat service, which began in April 1944. The division provided air defense and artillery support to ground troops, and fought in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the Silesian Offensives, the Berlin Offensive, and the Prague Offensive. In March 1945 it became the 6th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division, and for its actions during the war the division received the honorifics Berlin and Lvov and was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class and the Order of Kutuzov 2nd class. In the postwar period the division continued to serve with the 4th Guards Tank Army in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and East Germany. In 1958 it was redesignated as the 138th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade. It was withdrawn to the Soviet Union two years later and disbanded.
In 1961 its heritage was transferred to the Strategic Rocket Forces' 41st Guards Rocket Division, recently expanded from the 216th Rocket Brigade at Tyumen. The division relocated to Aleysk in 1964, and operated intercontinental ballistic missiles from there as part of the 33rd Guards Rocket Army. In 2001 it was disbanded in accordance with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.