4th Guards Airborne Division
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about 4th Guards Airborne Division?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The 4th Guards Airborne Division (Russian: 4-я гвардейская воздушно-десантная дивизия) was an airborne division of the Red Army that fought as infantry during World War II.
111th Guards Rifle Division (28 June 1945–c. 1946–1947) 4th Guards Airborne Division (8 December 1942–28 June 1945) | |
---|---|
Active | 8 December 1942–c. 1946–1947 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army (Soviet Army from 1946) |
Type | Airborne |
Role | Infantry |
Engagements | German-Soviet War |
Decorations |
|
Battle honours | Ovruch |
Formed in December 1942 from three airborne brigades, the division spent the next few months training for airborne operations. However, it first saw combat as an infantry unit in the Demyansk Offensive in late February 1943, then helped defend Ponyri during the Battle of Kursk. The division fought in Operation Kutuzov and advanced west in the Battle of the Dnieper, during which it captured Pryluky and crossed the Dnieper. It received the Ovruch honorific for the capture of the key rail junction during the Battle of Kiev. The division then fought in the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive and the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive in late 1943 and early 1944.
The 4th Guards received the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky for actions during the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, then fought in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive and received the Order of Suvorov. The division advanced westward into Hungary, fighting in the Battle of Debrecen and the Budapest Offensive in late 1944. In the last months of the war it fought in the Bratislava–Brno Offensive and ended the war fighting in the Prague Offensive. Shortly after the end of the war, the division was redesignated as the 111th Guards Rifle Division, and disbanded in 1946–1947.