Professional Documents
Culture Documents
3rd Guards Airborne Division: History Composition Awards References
3rd Guards Airborne Division: History Composition Awards References
The division fought in the Battle of Kiev, capturing Dymer, Radomyshl and Korostyshiv. In November and
December 1943, the 3rd Guards Airborne thwarted German counterattacks in the Kiev defensive operation.
It then fought in the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive. In January and February 1944, the division fought in
the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket. On 3 March 1944, the division became part of the 35th Guards
Rifle Corps of the 27th Army. Three days later, the division crossed the Hirsky Tikych, which allowed the
capture of Khrystynivka and Uman, for which it was given the title Uman.
Fighting in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the division crossed the Southern Bug, the Dniester and the Prut,
capturing Trostianets, Ladyzhyn, Tulchyn and Mohyliv-Podilskyi.[2] On 26 March, the division reached the
Prut after capturing Edineț on the Romanian border. For its performance in crossing of the Dniester and the
Prut, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov 2nd class. The
division crossed the Siret River at Pașcani and held the bridgehead against counterattacks. After the end of
the offensive, the division rested before the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. On 20 August, in concert with the
104th Rifle Corps, the division attacked in the direction of Bacău, Vaslui and Huși, seeking to destroy Army
Group South Ukraine.
The division attacked Hill 155 in cooperation with the 27th Guards Tank Brigade, capturing the first and
second trenches. The 8th Guards Airborne captured Hill 177, a center of German resistance, within 8 hours.
The 8th and 10th Guards Airborne broke through the German line and crossed the Bahlui River. On 25
August, the division captured Bârlad, which forced the Germans back to Focșani and Ploiești. On the 27th,
the division captured Focșani and then Ploiești in cooperation with the 93rd Guards Rifle Division. The
division advanced 296 kilometers and had reached Turda by 15 September.
In the Battle of Debrecen, the 3rd Guards Airborne captured Cluj-Napoca and entered Hungary. On the
night of 7 November, the division crossed the Tisza and took Füzesabony on 11 November. In conjunction
with the 110th Guards Rifle Division, the division captured Eger on 30 November. Moving westward, the
division entered Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1945. The division stopped counterattacks during the Siege of
Budapest. In March 1945, the division repelled Operation Spring Awakening. After assisting the 4th Guards
Army in the capture of Székesfehérvár on 22 March, in an action for which it gained the Order of Kutuzov
2nd class, the division captured Zalaegerszeg on 29 March.
Days later, the division entered Austria at Fürstenfeld. The division entered Graz on 9 May at the end of the
war and met British troops on the Mur at Bruck an der Mur. The 3rd Guards Airborne became part of the
Southern Group of Forces on 15 June and returned to Tulchyn on 13 August.[3] On 20 December 1945 it
became the 125th Guards Rifle Division with the 35th Guards Rifle Corps.[1] The 125th Guards Rifle
Division was disbanded sometime in 1946.[1]
Composition
[4][5]
Awards
References
1. Feskov et al. 2013, 147.
2. "Уманская воздушно-десантная дивизия" (http://xn----7sbfkccucpkracijq8iofobm.xn--p1ai/%2
5D1%2581%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B2%25D0%25B5%25D1%2582%25D1%2581%25D0%
25BA%25D0%25B0%25D1%258F-%25D0%25B2%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B5%25D0%25B
D%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B0%25D1%258F-%25D1%258D%25D0%25BD%25D1%2586%2
5D0%25B8%25D0%25BA%25D0%25BB%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BF%25D0%25B5%25D
0%25B4%25D0%25B8%25D1%258F/%25D0%25A3/%25D0%25A3%25D0%25BC%25D0%2
5B0%25D0%25BD%25D1%2581%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B0%25D1%258F-%25D0%25B
2%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B7%25D0%25B4%25D1%2583%25D1%2588%25D0%25BD%25
D0%25BE-%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B5%25D1%2581%25D0%25B0%25D0%25BD%25D1%
2582%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B0%25D1%258F-%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B
2%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B7%25D0%25B8%25D1%258F). xn---
-7sbfkccucpkracijq8iofobm.xn—p1ai. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
3. "Гвардейские воздушно-десантные |" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151022010422/http://m
yfront.in.ua/krasnaya-armiya/divizii/gvardejskie-vozdushno-desantnye.html). myfront.in.ua.
Archived from the original (http://myfront.in.ua/krasnaya-armiya/divizii/gvardejskie-vozdushno-
desantnye.html) on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
4. Pettibone, Charles D. (2009-11-18). The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World
War II: Volume V – Book B Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=Vr4Xr1EeezQC). Trafford Publishing. ISBN 9781426978159.
5. "Действующая армия. Перечни войск. Перечень № 6. Танковые дивизии. Гвардейские
воздушно-десантные дивизии" (http://www.teatrskazka.com/Raznoe/Perechni_voisk/Pereche
n_06_02.html#02). www.teatrskazka.com. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР
после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the
USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian).
Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.