61st Guards Rifle Division
The 61st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 159th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War.
| 61st Guards Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1943–1946 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Engagements | Operation Little Saturn Operation Gallop Third Battle of Kharkov Donbas Strategic Offensive (August 1943) Battle of the Dniepr Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive Odessa Offensive First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive Budapest Offensive Operation Spring Awakening Nagykanizsa–Körmend Offensive Vienna Offensive |
| Decorations | Order of the Red Banner |
| Battle honours | Slavyansk |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Mikhail Borisovich Anashkin Maj. Gen. Leonid Nikolaievich Lozanovich Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Kasatkin Maj. Gen. Konstantin Alekseevich Sergeev |
The division was formed in the 3rd Guards Army of Southwestern Front and immediately continued operations in the Soviet winter counteroffensive. In the spring of the year the Front was forced over to the defensive, but by August the division was part of the 34th Guards Rifle Corps of the same Army, fighting into the Donbas and towards the Dniepr River and winning a battle honor in the process. In late October 3rd Guards Army was moved to 4th Ukrainian Front and the 61st Guards helped force several crossings of that river in the Zaporozhe area. During the winter it took part in the fighting around Nikopol and Krivoi Rog in the Dniepr bend before being reassigned, with its Corps, to the 6th Army in the 3rd Ukrainian Front. In April, as that Army advanced towards the Dniestr River the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Odessa. When the final offensive that drove Romania out of the Axis began the 61st Guards was in the 66th Rifle Corps of 37th Army, still in 3rd Ukrainian Front. In November, as the campaigns into the Balkan states continued the division made its final transfer, to the 6th Guards Rifle Corps of 57th Army, still in 3rd Ukrainian Front. It ended the war advancing into Austria, was moved to Romania postwar, and was disbanded in December, 1946.