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5th Guards Motor Rifle Division

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5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya Order of Kutuzov II Degree Motor Rifle Division named for the 60th Anniversary of the USSR
File:5Guards.jpg
Active10.06.1945 (NKO Order 0013 NKO 10.06.1945) - early 1990s
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeMechanised Infantry
SizeDivision
Part of40th Army (Soviet Union) (1979 - 1988)
EngagementsWorld War II
Soviet war in Afghanistan

The 5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division named the 60th anniversary of the USSR(5gv.msd) - was a military formation of the Soviet Ground Forces.

Creation of 6th Mechanised Corps

Mechanised Corps of the Red Army were set up just before World War II.[1] By June 1941, 29 existed in the Red Army, although the degree of staffing they had significantly varied. One of these units was the 6th Mechanised Corps, which began to form 15 July 1940 in Bialystok (in the Western Special Military District). It was attached to the 10th Army in the Bialystok fortified region.[2][3] It was under the command of Major General M.G. Khatskilevichwhen the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941.[4]

The Corps initially comprised the 4th and 7th Tank Divisions and the 29th Mechanised Division, as well as smaller units.[5][6] On 22 June 1941, 6th Mechanised Corps consisted 32,382 men, 1131 tanks, 242 Armoured Cars, 162 Artillery Pieces, 187 mortars, 4779 Vehicles, 294 Tractors & 1042 Motorcycles including lighter models T-26, Bt-7 & Bt-5's, & T-28's & 201 of the newer T-34 & KV-1 models in the 7th Tank Division & 151 in the 4th Tank Division.

Just like the 4th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union), the 6th Mechanised Corps stood out of the remaining mechanised corps of the Red Army.[7]

On 22 June 1941 it was fully formed, and stationed not further than 100-150 kilometers from the border.[7]

Defeat in Operation Barbarossa

The 6th Mechanised Corps was heavily involved in the first battles with Germans. At 23:40 on the day of German invasion,[7] Pavlov ordered his Deputy Front Commander Lieutenant General I. V. Boldin to take command over what would be later called Boldin's group. The group's core was the entire 6th Mechanised Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps, with 11th Mechanised Corps to be attached.[7] The Boldin's group first and last mission was against German armoured forces of Hoth's 3rd Panzergruppe advancing at the vulnerable boundary line between Soviet Northwestern Front and Soviet Western Front at Merkinė.[7]

A destroyed KV-1 is inspected by German Troops in Russia in 1941

David Glantz states that the tank divisions of 6th Mechanised Corps on 24 June 1941 were committed piecemeal against the advancing German units often without infantry support and were relentlessly pounded by the German aircraft of Luftflotte 2. Without adequate ammunition and with many tanks in a state of disrepair and sent to several different locations without fuel reserves, they were quickly immoblised.[8][9] A Western Front report on 27 June noted that 6th Mechanised Corps had lost 20–26% of its tank strength in its 4th and 7th tank Divisions.

Solonin states that the only battle that 6th Mechanised Corps saw was an attack of 24 June, when it lost 2% of tanks.[10] Corps dissipated soon without any other combat, with negligible losses to aircraft, and with distance traveled that hardly necessitated any fuel tanking or repairs.[7] Corps scattered on 27 June near Krynki, personnel retreating east in small groups, and the equipment has been abandoned or destroyed en masse.[7] Author treats this case as a very significant example of the stance of the Soviet troops at the beginning of the German invasion.

Communication with the headquarters of the commander of Force General Lieutenant Ivan Boldin was lost. Khatskilevich died on 25 June 1941. June 27th was killed the commander of Corps Maj. Gen. Michael G. Hatskilevich.

Hoth's panzers had reached Vilnius on the 23rd of June, then Grodno, and finally Minsk by 26 June. By 25 June 1941 Guderian's 2nd Panzergruppe reached Slonim and Vawkavysk & cut off the retreat of the greater part of the 10th & 3rd Armies at Białystok who could not retreat across the Shchara River because Luftflotte 2 had destroyed the bridges. It reached Vilnius on the 27th June trapping the greater part of 13th and 4th Armies also at Minsk.

6th Mechanised Corps was destroyed in the Białystok encirclement and was formally dissolved in late July 1941.[9][11] Field Marshall Von Bock, C-in-C, Army Group Centre, wrote in his order of the day of 8 July 1941 that 100,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed, with 287,704 captured at the Battle of Białystok–Minsk. In addition 2,585 tanks, 1,449 guns and mortars & 242 combat aircraft were captured from 22 Rifle & seven Tank Divisions, three Cavalry Divisions & six Mechanised Brigades had been wiped from the Soviet Order of Battle.

Second Formation

The idea of ​​mechanised corps were revived in the spring of 1942. The second formation of 6th Mechanised Corps was done in November 1942. On the basis of Headquarters' 14th Tank Corps, the 6th Mechanised Corps was reformed on Nov. 26, 1942 at the station Kostereva in accordance with NKO directive number 11905907ss and GABTU number 1105723 dated November 26, 1942. Major General of Armored Forces Semyon Ilyich Bogdanov was appointed the commander of the 6th Mechanised Corps.

On December 18, 1942, 6th Mechanised Corps was assigned to the 2nd Guards Army of the Southern Front, where it was involved in stopping the onset of Manstein's " Winter Rain" offensive, which did not break through to the encircled Wehrmacht Sixth Army in Stalingrad. Then the Corps participated in the counterattack and the capture of Zimovniki on January 8, 1943. The corps, part of the assaulting force, freed the Zimovniki station (Zimovnikovsky District, Rostov Oblast), where the Nazis supply of munitions flowed through the Luftwaffe aerodromes. During this the 6th Mechanised Corps was given the honorary title Zimovnikovsky. For these successful operations the corps received the honorary title Zimovnikovskogo and was transformed into the 5th Guards Mechanised Corps.

The corps then participated in the Battle of Kursk. On 1 August 1943, part of 5th Guards Tank Army, it comprised 10th, 11th and 12th Guards Mechanised Brigades, 24th Guards Tank Brigade, and smaller supporting units.[12] Together with other units, it fought in the southern fase "fire" arc against selective 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, Nazis knocked out Belgorod, liberation which saluted Moscow. After that, the 5th Guards Mechanised Corps took part in the elimination of the Korsun-Shevchenko Pocket.

Later, in 1944, 5th Zimovnikovsky Guards Mechanised Corps, led the fight in Moravia and Upper Silesia. As part of the 4th Guards Tank Army it crossed the Oder, Neisse and on April 30, it took part in the Battle of Berlin. After taking Berlin, 5 May 1945 the 5th Zimovnikovsky Guards Mechanised Corpstook part in the capture of Prague. On May 8, 1945 the 10th Mechanised Brigade of the Corps first entered the city, for which the unit received the honorary title of Prague.

Postwar

The 5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya Order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division named for the 60th anniversary of the USSR was formed on 10 June 1945 on the basis of 5th Guards Mechanised Corps, created 26 November 1942. On 28 June 1945 the divisions was awarded the Order of Kutuzov of II degree. In 1946 the Division was relocated to the Turkestan Military District.

After the war, 5th Guards Mechanised Corps became 5th Guards Mechanised Division, and after a brief period as 53rd Guards Motor Rifle Division from 1957 to 1965, it became the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division.

The Division in Afghanistan

In the night from 27th to December 28 Afghanistan, from Kushka, the 5th Guards MRD entered Afghanistan on the route Herat - Shindand (a battalion from the 56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade else on Dec. 26 took control of the pass Rabat Mirza, between Kushkov and Herat).[13] On December 26 at 1920 hours Commander 5th Guards MRD, Major-General Yuri Shatalin, ordered the crossing of the state border with Afghanistan. Division was pulled out of the Kushka, Tahta - Bazaar, and Iolotan. At the set time of one the 5th Guards MRD came out in the future points of the dislocation near the towns: - Herat, Shindand, Kandahar, the division headquarters was located under the Shindand. The first loss amounted to 2 people. But at the very beginning it was quite peaceful. Recalls the division commander, and in the future Commander in Chief of the Russian Internal Troops, Colonel-General Yuri Shatalin:

"It happened at dawn on December 27. Surprised: 5:00 am, and the streets full of people with flowers. It turned out, meet the «shuravi", as we were called, the Soviet soldiers. A similar meeting was warm and in other towns and villages in the north of Afghanistan. "

  • Since the summer of 1980 5th Guards MRD began to participate in raids against the Afghan mujahadin. During the period of the Afghan war the division participated in 156 scheduled and unscheduled operations.
  • On 1 March 1980 the division was reorganised. The 373rd Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Motor Rifle Regiment, stationed in pos.Adraskan, had formed part of the division on its arrival in the country. On 1 March 1980, the regiment was reorganised as the 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (by reorganizing the staffing structure of departments and adding the 2nd Battalion of the 56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade). After the reorganisation the brigade was relocated to the city of Kandahar.
File:OJEC 5 th Guards Motorized Rifle divizii.jpg
organizational-staff structure of the5gv.msd th October-1986
  • From 1980 to 1982 the division was commanded by the future commander of the famous 40th Combined Arms Army General Boris Gromov.
  • On February 15, 1989, the last units of the 40th Combined Arms Army, and with it the army commander, Colonel General Boris Gromov left Afghanistan. Withdrawal in the West direction is carried out by two methods: by air (carried - 5,142 people) and land (6,986 people). 10 colonies from 4 garrisons (Shindand, Adraskan, Herat, Turgundi). Total conclusions 49 parts, totaling 11,907 people, 2,016 combat vehicles, 45 combat aircraft. The return march was on the same route Shindand - Turgundi, on their own.
  • For all The Afghan war four soldiers of the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, and 12,825 in total were awarded orders and medals. Since May 1988 the division under the Geneva conventions began to prepare withdrawal from Afghanistan. Conclusion 5th Guards MRD from the garrison Shindand - Herat Turugundi - Kushka began as scheduled on Jan. 29, 1989, and ended February 15, 1989. The Division was relocated permanently to the city of Kushka.
  • Total deadweight losses from the division from 27.12.1979 to 15/02/1989 were as follows: 1135 (910 of them in combat).

In Afghanistan, the 5th Guards MRD comprised

  • Divisional Headquarters - Shindand.
    • Agitotryad.
    • Managerial company.
    • Bakery.
    • 795th Station courier mail service.
    • 251-I Battery Management and artillery reconnaissance.
    • 814th military fire brigade.
    • 582-second bath and laundry item
    • Field establishment of the State Bank of the USSR
    • 164th Separate flame thrower Company(before March 1985 - 164th Separate Company of Chemical Protection).
  • 101st Motor Rifle Regiment - Herat
  • 371th Guards Berlin Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Motor Rifle Regiment - Shindand.
  • 12th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Motor Rifle Regiment - Herat.
  • 24th Guards Prague Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Tank Regiment - Shindand.
  • 1060th Artillery regiment Shindand.
  • 1122th Sevastopol Redflag Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment - Shindand.
  • 1377th Separate Antitank Artillery Battalion Shindand.
  • 650th separate Prague Order of Alexander Nevsky reconnaissance battalion. Shindand.
  • 68th Guards separate engineering battalion. pos. Adraskan.
  • 388-th separate battalion. Shindand.
  • 307-th separate missile division. Herat.
  • 177-th separate repair battalion of recovery Shindand.
  • 375-th independent battalion of material support Shindand.
  • 46th separate medical-sanitary battalion Herat.

After the withdrawal from Afghanistan

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, based on the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division 'Zimovnikovskoy,' a unit of Turkmenistan's Ministry of Defense was established with the honorary title of "Turkmenbashi Saparmurat Niyazov's" located in the city of Kushka.

Heroes of the Soviet Union of 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division

Source:[14]

  • Kuchkin captain Gennady Pavlovich, Hero of the Soviet Union [15]
  • Colonel Vladimir Neverov Lavrentyevich, Hero of the Soviet Union [16]
  • Captain Fyodor Ivanovich Pugachev, Hero of the Soviet Union [17]
  • Captain Sergey Gushin, Hero of the Soviet Union [18]

Notes

  1. ^ - h & catid = 1:2009-12-27-11-21-03 & Itemid = 24 DIVISION FIVE: A short biography of Nikolai Starodymov
  2. ^ David Porter, (2009), 'Soviet Tank Units 1939-1945', Amber Books, ISBN 978-1-906626-21-1, p.34
  3. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p150
  4. ^ David Glantz, Before Stalingrad Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941, 2003, p32
  5. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p229
  6. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p 155
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Mark Sołonin (2007). 22 czerwca 1941 czyli Jak zaczęła się Wielka Wojna ojczyźniana (in Polish) (1 ed.). Poznań, Poland: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis. pp. 94–150, 166–170, 528–529. ISBN 9788375101300. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |translation= ignored (help) (the only English translations of Solonin's works seem to be, as of June 2011, these online chapters)
  8. ^ David Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 1998, p 130
  9. ^ a b Paul Carell, Hitler Moves East, 1971 p 70-71
  10. ^ 18 tanks of 7th Tank Division lost during an unsuccessful attack against either German 162th or 256th Infantry Division; Solonin 2007 p. 144
  11. ^ David Glantz, Before Stalingrad Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941, 2003, p32-p35
  12. ^ http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1943/19430801.html
  13. ^ Source for this section is Site Veteran 5 Zimovnikovskoy Guards Red Banner ordena Kutuzov II degree Cavalry Division Name the 60th anniversary of the USSR.
  14. ^ Heroes of the Soviet Union and full cavaliers of the Order of Glory
  15. ^ Hero Soviet Union Kuchkin Gennady
  16. ^ Hero Soviet Union Vladimir Neverov Lavrent'evich
  17. ^ Hero the Soviet Union Fyodor Ivanovich Pugachev
  18. ^ Hero Soviet Union Sergey Gushin
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