2nd Guards Tank Corps
2nd Guards Tank Corps
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2nd Guards Tank Corps

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2nd Guards Tank Corps

The 2nd Guards Tatsinskaya Tank Corps was a tank corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front of Europe. The unit's most notable moment was in the raid on Tatsinskaya during Operation Little Saturn in World War II. After the war, it continued to serve with the Soviet occupation forces in Central Europe. It was originally the 24th Tank Corps. The formation had approximately the same size and combat power as a Wehrmacht Panzer Division, and less than a British Armoured Division had during World War II.

After the war the Corps became the 2nd Guards Tank Division in 1945.

During the 21st century, the division was reformed into the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, as part of the 36th Combined Arms Army.

The 24th Tank Corps was formed in 1942 during re-establishment of the tank corps as a formation. It was equipped with a mix of T-34 medium, T-60 light, KV-1 heavy, and U.S. Lend-Lease M3 Stuart light tanks. General Major of Tank Forces Vasilii M. Badanov was placed in command. It was assigned to the 6th Army and participated in the Stalingrad Defensive Operation on the Don River in July 1942, where it lost approximately two-thirds of its tanks. Its 24th Motorized Brigade conducted offensive operations along the Don together with 25th Guards Rifle Division.

After rebuilding, the corps was assigned to the 3rd Guards Army under the command of General Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko, to participate in encircling German Army Group A in Operation Saturn during the Battle of Stalingrad.

The 24th Tank Corps consisted of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade (Colonel G.I. Kolypov); 54th Tank Brigade (Colonel V.M. Polyakov); the 130th Tank Brigade (Colonel S.K. Nesterov); and the 24th Motor Rifle Brigade (Colonel V.S. Savchenko). Support units included the 13th Mining Engineer Company; the 158th Mobile Repair Base; and the Corps Train.

The Corps undertook the raid on Tatsinskaya during Operation Little Saturn, from 16 to 28 December 1942. It had to pull out of threatened encirclement under cover of darkness. Much of the matériel and many men were lost during the break-out, but the damage to the Germans had been done. German forces engaged in the relief of Stalingrad had to be withdrawn to deal with the raiders, and many irreplaceable transport planes of the Luftwaffe had been destroyed, with their crews and ground personnel mostly killed. The 24th Tank Corps claimed the destruction of 84 tanks, 106 guns, the killing of 12,000 Axis soldiers and the capture of almost 5,000 more in this operation. In the midst of the successful raid it was renamed the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and given the honorific 'Tatsinskaya.' It was also among the first recipients of the newly created Order of Suvorov for this operation. After the raid Badanov was promoted to General-Lieutenant.

During the year at some points the corps was assigned to the 1st Guards Army.

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