14th Guards Rifle Division
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The 14th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 96th Rifle Division, which was officially a mountain unit at the time, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was on Southern Front when it was redesignated and was soon assigned to the 57th Army. It was encircled during the May German counterattack in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Its first commander was made a prisoner of war, later dying in German captivity. A cadre of the division managed to escape and was sent to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. In July it joined the 63rd Army and took part in the attacks against the Italian 8th Army that created the bridgehead south of the Don River near Serafimovich during August. In October, now in the 21st Army of Don Front, it was active in two probing attacks against the Romanian forces now containing the bridgehead which inflicted severe casualties in advance of the Soviet winter counteroffensive. At the start of that offensive the division was in 5th Tank Army, but was soon transferred to 1st Guards Army and then to the 3rd Guards Army when that was formed. It was under this Army as it advanced into the Donbas in late winter before returning to 57th Army during most of 1943, fighting through east Ukraine and across the lower Dniepr by the end of the year. After being briefly assigned to 53rd Army in December it was moved to 5th Guards Army in February, 1944 where it remained for the duration, mostly in the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. It saw action in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive and won its first decoration, the Order of the Red Banner, as it advanced, before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border. In late spring, 1944 the division was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 14th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was awarded the Order of Lenin for its part in the liberation of Sandomierz. On January 22, 1945, its commander suffered mortal wounds in the fighting for a bridgehead over the Oder River. In the drive on Berlin in April the division and its regiments won further honors and decorations but despite these distinctions it was disbanded in August, 1946.
14th Guards Rifle Division | |
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Active | 1942–1946 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army |
Type | Division |
Role | Infantry |
Engagements | Barvenkovo–Lozovaya Offensive Second Battle of Kharkov Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Little Saturn Operation Gallop Poltava-Kremenchug Offensive Battle of the Dniepr Uman–Botoșani Offensive First Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive Vistula-Oder Offensive Lower Silesian Offensive Battle of Berlin Battle of the Oder–Neisse Spremberg–Torgau Offensive Operation Battle of Bautzen (1945) Prague Offensive |
Decorations | Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of Kutuzov |
Battle honours | Vinnitsa In the name of Jan Fabricius |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Ivan Shepetov Maj. Gen. Afanasy Gryaznov Col. Vladimir Rusakov Col. Georgii Pavlovich Slatov Maj. Gen. Vikentii Vasilevich Skryganov |