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41st Guards Rifle Division
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41st Guards Rifle Division
The 41st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in August 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 10th Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the last of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front, then to the 24th Army in Don Front, and suffered heavy casualties north of Stalingrad before being withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding. Returning to 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front in November it took part in Operation Little Saturn as part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps and then advanced into the Donbas where it was caught up in the German counteroffensive in the spring of 1943. During the summer and fall the division fought its way through eastern Ukraine as part of the 6th, and later the 57th Army under several corps commands. It would remain in the southern part of the front for the duration of the war. By February 1944 it was in the 7th Guards Army and took part in the battle for the Korsun Pocket, winning its first battle honor in the process. Shortly after it was transferred to the 4th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration, still moving through several corps headquarters. The 41st Guards saw limited service in the first Jassy-Kishinev offensive in the spring, but considerably more in August's second offensive and several of its subunits received battle honors or decorations. The division itself won a second honorific during the offensive into Hungary in January 1945 and was later decorated for its role in the capture of Budapest. After the fall of Vienna in April it did garrison duty in the city for a short time before being directed west into lower Austria where it linked up with U.S. forces in the last days of the war. In October, while still in Austria, it was converted to the 18th Guards Mechanized Division.
The 10th Airborne Corps had been formed for the first time in September 1941 in the Volga Military District but did not officially finish forming its brigades and headquarters until December 5 after which it was moved to the Moscow Military District. The STAVKA employed the Corps to conduct air assault operations west of Moscow during its winter counteroffensive and it suffered heavy losses in the process. Airborne corps were roughly divisional-sized units made up of three brigades of about 3,000 men each. Since they were considered elite light infantry the STAVKA decided they could be assigned Guards status upon reformation. The artillery regiment and many of the other subunits had to be formed from scratch. From March to July 1942 the Corps was engaged in rebuilding and training in the Moscow area before being redesignated as the 41st Guards on August 6 and departing for the front 48 hours later. After the subunits received their designations the division's order of battle was as follows:[citation needed]
Col. Nikolai Petrovich Ivanov, who had led 10th Airborne since the previous year, remained in command of the unit when it was redesignated. He would be promoted to the rank of major general on January 19, 1943. On the morning of August 4 the STAVKA had issued a directive to split the existing Stalingrad Front in two: a truncated Stalingrad and a new Southeastern Front. The latter was to contain the newly created 1st Guards Army which was formed from the last five of the airborne-derived Guards divisions. A further order late the next day directed these divisions with supporting artillery to proceed to the Stalingrad area by rail post haste.
By mid-month it was becoming apparent that the German 6th Army would soon be in a position to launch a general advance on the city by way of Kalach. In planning his defense the commander of Southeastern Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, directed 1st Guards Army:
... after deploying forward to Ilovlinskaia Station [near Ilovlia] must concentrate 39th Guards Rifle Division in the Trekhostrovskaia region by the morning of 14 August and, by day's end, each of three rifle divisions in the Khokhlachev, Perekopskaia and Perekopka, and Novo-Grigorevskaia regions...
On the night of August 18/19 Yeryomenko issued new orders for multiple counterattacks by his forces to tie down 6th Army, including the 41st, 38th and 40th Guards Rifle Division to attack from the Kremenskaia and Shokhin line southwards. Due to Yeryomenko's underestimate of the strength of 6th Army (his order required the three divisions to attack a German force almost twice their combined size), the short time available to prepare, and the lack of artillery, armor and air support the counterattack had no chance to succeed, although some territory was gained. Despite this, by holding the Kremenskaia and Sirotinskaia bridgeheads south of the Don the 1st Guards Army helped set the stage for important developments later in the campaign. The counterattacks ended on August 22 and on the 31st the 1st Guards handed over the bridgeheads and the three divisions to the 21st Army.
The order reassigning the 41st and 38th Guards to 21st Army was quickly rescinded and both returned to 1st Guards Army by September 3. The Army was now under command of Stalingrad Front and during these days it moved east from Kletskaia across the Don to Sadki, 25 km northeast of Kotluban.The forces of 6th Army that had reached Stalingrad in late August were still reliant on a narrow corridor from the Don to the Volga for supplies and the new Deputy Supreme Commander, Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov, was determined to sever the corridor and link up with 62nd Army to the south. Maj. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko, the 1st Guards commander, had received orders from Zhukov on August 30 to begin the offensive on September 2, but found this impossible to achieve. Among other issues, the 41st and 38th Guards (plus the supporting 7th Tank Corps) had to make a redeployment march of up to 200 km. In the end, due to fuel shortages the attack had to be postponed until 0500 hours on September 3. The Army faced the 3rd and 60th Motorized Divisions of XIV Panzer Corps on its attack sector east of Kuzmichi.
The 4th Tank Army had attacked the corridor farther west on September 2, a move that was intended to support Moskalenko's assault but which failed miserably. 1st Guards Army struck at 0530 hours after a weak and ineffective artillery preparation; the 41st and 38th Guards, still moving up, were in second echelon with the 84th Rifle Division. Attacking across flat and treeless terrain in the face of well-prepared German positions the Soviet tanks and riflemen penetrated as much as 4 km deep and cut the width of the corridor in half before becoming bogged down among German strongpoints after suffering significant losses. By 1700 hours the division had concentrated in Sukhaya Karkagon Balka - Hill 132.9 - Hill 126.0 region. The 38th Guards and 84th Divisions were committed to the offensive the next day, but the 41st remained in reserve. It went into action when the offensive was renewed on September 5 and by 1500 hours was fighting along the northwestern slopes of Hill 143.6 and the southeastern slopes of Hill 145.1. By now it was clear that the offensive, which had been joined by the new 24th and 66th Armies, had stalled, although under pressure from Stalin Zhukov persisted until September 13.
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41st Guards Rifle Division
The 41st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in August 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 10th Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the last of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front, then to the 24th Army in Don Front, and suffered heavy casualties north of Stalingrad before being withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding. Returning to 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front in November it took part in Operation Little Saturn as part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps and then advanced into the Donbas where it was caught up in the German counteroffensive in the spring of 1943. During the summer and fall the division fought its way through eastern Ukraine as part of the 6th, and later the 57th Army under several corps commands. It would remain in the southern part of the front for the duration of the war. By February 1944 it was in the 7th Guards Army and took part in the battle for the Korsun Pocket, winning its first battle honor in the process. Shortly after it was transferred to the 4th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration, still moving through several corps headquarters. The 41st Guards saw limited service in the first Jassy-Kishinev offensive in the spring, but considerably more in August's second offensive and several of its subunits received battle honors or decorations. The division itself won a second honorific during the offensive into Hungary in January 1945 and was later decorated for its role in the capture of Budapest. After the fall of Vienna in April it did garrison duty in the city for a short time before being directed west into lower Austria where it linked up with U.S. forces in the last days of the war. In October, while still in Austria, it was converted to the 18th Guards Mechanized Division.
The 10th Airborne Corps had been formed for the first time in September 1941 in the Volga Military District but did not officially finish forming its brigades and headquarters until December 5 after which it was moved to the Moscow Military District. The STAVKA employed the Corps to conduct air assault operations west of Moscow during its winter counteroffensive and it suffered heavy losses in the process. Airborne corps were roughly divisional-sized units made up of three brigades of about 3,000 men each. Since they were considered elite light infantry the STAVKA decided they could be assigned Guards status upon reformation. The artillery regiment and many of the other subunits had to be formed from scratch. From March to July 1942 the Corps was engaged in rebuilding and training in the Moscow area before being redesignated as the 41st Guards on August 6 and departing for the front 48 hours later. After the subunits received their designations the division's order of battle was as follows:[citation needed]
Col. Nikolai Petrovich Ivanov, who had led 10th Airborne since the previous year, remained in command of the unit when it was redesignated. He would be promoted to the rank of major general on January 19, 1943. On the morning of August 4 the STAVKA had issued a directive to split the existing Stalingrad Front in two: a truncated Stalingrad and a new Southeastern Front. The latter was to contain the newly created 1st Guards Army which was formed from the last five of the airborne-derived Guards divisions. A further order late the next day directed these divisions with supporting artillery to proceed to the Stalingrad area by rail post haste.
By mid-month it was becoming apparent that the German 6th Army would soon be in a position to launch a general advance on the city by way of Kalach. In planning his defense the commander of Southeastern Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, directed 1st Guards Army:
... after deploying forward to Ilovlinskaia Station [near Ilovlia] must concentrate 39th Guards Rifle Division in the Trekhostrovskaia region by the morning of 14 August and, by day's end, each of three rifle divisions in the Khokhlachev, Perekopskaia and Perekopka, and Novo-Grigorevskaia regions...
On the night of August 18/19 Yeryomenko issued new orders for multiple counterattacks by his forces to tie down 6th Army, including the 41st, 38th and 40th Guards Rifle Division to attack from the Kremenskaia and Shokhin line southwards. Due to Yeryomenko's underestimate of the strength of 6th Army (his order required the three divisions to attack a German force almost twice their combined size), the short time available to prepare, and the lack of artillery, armor and air support the counterattack had no chance to succeed, although some territory was gained. Despite this, by holding the Kremenskaia and Sirotinskaia bridgeheads south of the Don the 1st Guards Army helped set the stage for important developments later in the campaign. The counterattacks ended on August 22 and on the 31st the 1st Guards handed over the bridgeheads and the three divisions to the 21st Army.
The order reassigning the 41st and 38th Guards to 21st Army was quickly rescinded and both returned to 1st Guards Army by September 3. The Army was now under command of Stalingrad Front and during these days it moved east from Kletskaia across the Don to Sadki, 25 km northeast of Kotluban.The forces of 6th Army that had reached Stalingrad in late August were still reliant on a narrow corridor from the Don to the Volga for supplies and the new Deputy Supreme Commander, Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov, was determined to sever the corridor and link up with 62nd Army to the south. Maj. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko, the 1st Guards commander, had received orders from Zhukov on August 30 to begin the offensive on September 2, but found this impossible to achieve. Among other issues, the 41st and 38th Guards (plus the supporting 7th Tank Corps) had to make a redeployment march of up to 200 km. In the end, due to fuel shortages the attack had to be postponed until 0500 hours on September 3. The Army faced the 3rd and 60th Motorized Divisions of XIV Panzer Corps on its attack sector east of Kuzmichi.
The 4th Tank Army had attacked the corridor farther west on September 2, a move that was intended to support Moskalenko's assault but which failed miserably. 1st Guards Army struck at 0530 hours after a weak and ineffective artillery preparation; the 41st and 38th Guards, still moving up, were in second echelon with the 84th Rifle Division. Attacking across flat and treeless terrain in the face of well-prepared German positions the Soviet tanks and riflemen penetrated as much as 4 km deep and cut the width of the corridor in half before becoming bogged down among German strongpoints after suffering significant losses. By 1700 hours the division had concentrated in Sukhaya Karkagon Balka - Hill 132.9 - Hill 126.0 region. The 38th Guards and 84th Divisions were committed to the offensive the next day, but the 41st remained in reserve. It went into action when the offensive was renewed on September 5 and by 1500 hours was fighting along the northwestern slopes of Hill 143.6 and the southeastern slopes of Hill 145.1. By now it was clear that the offensive, which had been joined by the new 24th and 66th Armies, had stalled, although under pressure from Stalin Zhukov persisted until September 13.