13th Guards Rifle Division
Encyclopedia
The 13th Guards Rifle Division was a Soviet Union
Red Army
infantry
division
that served with distinction during the Second World War.
status and re-designated as the 13th Guards Rifle Division. Other sources (Turbiville) say this formation of 13th Guards Rifle was raised from 5th Airborne Corps.
during the Soviet invasion of Poland
in 1939. Later that year, the division was sent northwards to Finland to serve as reinforcements in the extremely costly Winter War
. As the division was transferred to the Finnish Front during the war's later phases, it escaped the fate of many Red Army units during the opening phases of the Conflict with Finland, which proved to be a tenacious enemy. After the war with Finland ended in early 1940, the unit was transferred again, this time southwards, to Ukraine
, where they remained stationed in the Vladimir Volinsky fortified region.
Wehrmacht
unleashed a furious offensive against the surprised Soviet Union. During the opening hours of the German offensive, the 87th Rifle Division, then a part of the 5th Army, engaged in heavy combat with the Germans. At least a portion of the division was encircled during the opening day of the war. Their involvement in heavy fighting seems to have continued as their recently appointed commander, Major General
Filipp Alyabushev, was killed in action only three days after the start of the war.
Three months later, in the fighting that ended with the encirclement of Kiev
(now known as the Battle of Kiev
), the 87th Rifle Division was still a portion of the 5th Army. Although the entire unit was encircled, along with hundreds of thousands of other Red Army
soldiers, much of the 5th Army were able to fight their way out of the encirclement after a counter-attack
by Belov
's 20th Cavalry Corps broke through the German ring around Kiev. Incidentally, the Belov that commanded the Corps that bought hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers their lives is unknown, but the possibilities are as follows: Alexander Belov, Alexei Belov
, Grigori Belov, Ivan Belov
, Nikolai Belov
, Pavel Belov, Vladimir Belov, and Yetvtikhihy Belov, as all of these men were Red Army officers who participated in the Battle of Kiev). Amongst the survivors of the encirclement of Kiev was Colonel
Alexander Rodimtsev
, the commander of the 5th Army Brigade and the 3rd Airborne Corps. On 6 November, the 87th Rifle Division was re-formed around the survivors of the 3rd Airborne corps and placed under the command of Col. Rodimtsev.
On 19 January 1942, the 87th Rifle was officially awarded Red Guards status and was re-designated as the 13th Guards.
Captain of the 13th earned the first Order of the Great Patriotic War 1st Class to be awarded. Following his unit's success during this offensive, Colonel Rodimtsev was subsequently promoted to Major General.
After the Kharkov operation, the 13th Guards were pulled from the line to be refitted, resupplied, and reinforced.
divisions made their first advance into Stalingrad, marking the opening salvos of the Battle of Stalingrad
, one of the most costly and largest struggles of the war. By the end of the day the German 71st Infantry Division had reached the city center, north of the Tsaritsa Gorge. A Stavka
(Soviet Supreme General Staff) directive ordered the 13th Guards Division (in the midst of its refit, resupply, and reinforcement) to the Volga River
and Stalingrad as reinforcements for the men fighting the Germans on the other bank of the river. After receiving approximately 10,000 men as reinforcements the 13th Guards were rushed to the front and arrived piecemeal, its men exhausted from a grueling forced march across large tracts of territory. Due to being in the midst of re-fit and resupply, one thousand of the division's men were unarmed, and nearly all of the rest were short of ammunition. After being briefed by Lieutenant General
Vasily Chuikov
, the commander of the 62nd Army (which consists of all of the troops fighting within and around Stalingrad), on his assignment, Rodimtsev famously and determinedly declared,
Immediately, Chuikov decided to send this poorly-armed yet determined unit straight into the midst of the battle. Because of the recent influx of new recruits, the division was now largely inexperienced and untrained, and lacked both maps and knowledge of Stalingrad's rubble-strewn streets, which would prove enormously difficult to overcome in the struggle ahead. However, Major General Rodimtsev thanks to his experience fighting in the Spanish Civil War
was well versed in urban warfare
. At 17.00, 14 September, the forward elements of the 13th Guards swiftly crossed the river to reinforce a line that was being held by a mere 15 tanks and few hastily assembled combat groups. It is estimated that more than half of the first wave perished during the river crossing, more than 3,000 being killed in just the first 24 hours of brutal hand-to-hand combat. Ultimately, after extremely heavy losses on both sides, the German advance was repelled. Rodimtsev's soldiers recaptured the Mill and secured the central river crossing for other regiments of the 13th Guards.
Anton Kuzmich Dragan was personally ordered by Chuikov to hold a key railroad station in downtown Stalingrad against an impending German assault. Dragan proceeded to gather a platoon
of less than fifty men and moved them over to the railroad station. Here, the small but determined force prepared itself for the German attack.
Soon after digging in, a substantial force of German infantrymen arrived to seize control of the station. The Russians proceeded to repeatedly frustrate the Germans in an epic room-by-room struggle for control of the depot for nearly three weeks. Breaking through walls, crawling over rafters, and burrowing under the floorboards, the Russians would yield but a portion of the structure to the Germans, only to emerge elsewhere and start the struggle all over again.
Exchanging gunfire down hallways, hurling grenades back and forth between rooms, Dragan's men inflicted significant casualties on the Germans. In spite of this heroic resistance, Dragan's platoon was eventually reduced to a handful of men. After running out of ammunition, and with their rations gone, one of the Soviet Guardsmen took out his bayonet and carved on a wall,
Under cover of darkness, Dragan and the five remaining soldiers under his command eventually slipped out of the building, made their way through the German lines, and were reunited with the 13th Guards.
and in the key strategic building known as "Pavlov's House
" (Yakov Pavlov
was the commanding officer of the platoon which defended the building). Most accounts state that of the 10,000 men of the 13th Rifles that crossed the Volga into the Battle of Stalingrad, only between 280 and 320 of them survived the struggle. This profligacy with life seems incredible to Western eyes, but was not unremarkable during the conflict on the Eastern front.
, the 13th Rifles were held in reserve south of Kursk
, in order to counter the forthcoming German offensive there - Operation "Citadel"
. The original intention was for these two formations to counter-attack
the Germans after the German assault had been ground down by the front line Soviet units, but both formations were committed to prevent a possible breakthrough. After several days of continuous fierce fighting (including the tank battle at Prokhorovka
, in which the 13th Rifles' small number of armored units participated in), they successfully ground the elite German SS formations to a standstill. Meanwhile the rifle battalions on the 13th held the line around Oboyan, repelling attacks from trenches. Relatively few casualties were sustained because the Germans were focussing their attention on Prokhorovka by the time they had moved up from the reserve area in the rear.
from German control. The division took part in the Kirovograd Operation in which they gained control of the town of Poltava
after extremely fierce fighting, it was liberated on 23 September 1943. This is indicated by the designation of "13th Guards Rifle Division, Poltava' (given in September 1943), which shows that the division was cited for their actions in seizing Polatava. After Poltava the 13th Rifles took part in a false crossing of the Dnieper River to confuse the Germans and allow for crossings further north and south. Elements of the division crossed the river on floats and rafts to reach the island of Peschanny. They sustained heavy loses in this operation when they were pinned down by enemy fire on the island, which is located in the middle of the river. German infantry had occupied the west side of the island and had to be dislodged in hand to hand combat.
Additionally the division fought in Kremenchug, Krivoi Rog, Kiev, Uman-Botowni, and Lvov-Sandomir.
. This force drove the Germans back through northern Ukraine and central Poland in to the northern regions of Germany itself. By the end of January 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front, including the 13th Rifles, had reached the southern outskirts. Here, they participated in the Battle of Berlin
and the Battle of the Elbe, where they distinguished themselves yet again while combating the Germans for both of their objectives: Berlin itself and the Teltov Canal. The capture of the latter objective gave the Red Army a river crossing of the Elbe River, allowing the Russians to assault the heart of the Third Reich.
, being reorganised as 13th Guards Mechanised Division. It was withdrawn from Vienna, Austria, in 1955 and subsequently restructured as a tank division. Thus 13th Guards Tank Division formed part of the Southern Group of Forces for many years before finally being withdrawn and disbanded at the end of the 1980s. American military sources reported its final deactivation site in 1989 as the Odessa Military District
.
The division's final honorifics in 1988 included 'Poltava', Transylvama Order of Lenin, Twice Red Banner, Suvorov and Kutuzov.
, Call Of Duty 2
, and Call of Duty: Finest Hour
, the 13th Guards Rifle Division is featured in the Russian Campaigns.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
that served with distinction during the Second World War.
Formation
The unit's origin lies with the 87th Rifle Division, a pre-war division, which was established in 1929. The 13th Guards Rifle Division itself was formed on 19 January 1942, when the 87th Rifle Division was officially awarded GuardsRussian Guards
Guards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...
status and re-designated as the 13th Guards Rifle Division. Other sources (Turbiville) say this formation of 13th Guards Rifle was raised from 5th Airborne Corps.
Pre-WWII service
While still designated as the 87th Rifle Division, the unit had seen action fighting against the PolesPoles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
during the Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...
in 1939. Later that year, the division was sent northwards to Finland to serve as reinforcements in the extremely costly Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
. As the division was transferred to the Finnish Front during the war's later phases, it escaped the fate of many Red Army units during the opening phases of the Conflict with Finland, which proved to be a tenacious enemy. After the war with Finland ended in early 1940, the unit was transferred again, this time southwards, to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, where they remained stationed in the Vladimir Volinsky fortified region.
Operation Barbarossa
On 22 June 1941, the GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
unleashed a furious offensive against the surprised Soviet Union. During the opening hours of the German offensive, the 87th Rifle Division, then a part of the 5th Army, engaged in heavy combat with the Germans. At least a portion of the division was encircled during the opening day of the war. Their involvement in heavy fighting seems to have continued as their recently appointed commander, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Filipp Alyabushev, was killed in action only three days after the start of the war.
Three months later, in the fighting that ended with the encirclement of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
(now known as the Battle of Kiev
Battle of Kiev (1941)
The Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II. It is considered the largest encirclement of troops in history. The operation ran from 23 August – 26 September 1941 as part of Operation...
), the 87th Rifle Division was still a portion of the 5th Army. Although the entire unit was encircled, along with hundreds of thousands of other Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
soldiers, much of the 5th Army were able to fight their way out of the encirclement after a counter-attack
Counter-Attack
Counter-Attack is a 1945 war film starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman as two Russians trapped in a collapsed building with seven enemy German soldiers during World War II...
by Belov
Belov
Belov , or Belova , is a common Russian surname which may refer to:People*Aleksandar Belov , Macedonian singer*Alexander Belov , Russian basketball player...
's 20th Cavalry Corps broke through the German ring around Kiev. Incidentally, the Belov that commanded the Corps that bought hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers their lives is unknown, but the possibilities are as follows: Alexander Belov, Alexei Belov
Alexei Belov
Alexei Belov is a Russian ice hockey goalie who is currently playing for Kristall Saratov team in Russia.- Career :Belov began his career with Lada-2 Togliatti and joined than in 2004 to Samara CSK VVS in the Vysshaya Liga on loan...
, Grigori Belov, Ivan Belov
Ivan Belov
Ivan Mikhailovich Belov was a Soviet officer and naval captain. He was a victim of the Helsinki Lauttasaari event on November 3, 1944. He is the subject of a Finnish play, Matkalla Porkkalaan....
, Nikolai Belov
Nikolai Belov
Nikolay Vasilyevich Belov was a Soviet crystallographer, geochemist, academician , and Hero of Socialist Labor ....
, Pavel Belov, Vladimir Belov, and Yetvtikhihy Belov, as all of these men were Red Army officers who participated in the Battle of Kiev). Amongst the survivors of the encirclement of Kiev was Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Alexander Rodimtsev
Alexander Rodimtsev
Aleksandr Ilich Rodimtsev was a Colonel-General in the Soviet Red Army during World War II and twice won the Hero of the Soviet Union award .Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s...
, the commander of the 5th Army Brigade and the 3rd Airborne Corps. On 6 November, the 87th Rifle Division was re-formed around the survivors of the 3rd Airborne corps and placed under the command of Col. Rodimtsev.
On 19 January 1942, the 87th Rifle was officially awarded Red Guards status and was re-designated as the 13th Guards.
Battle of Kharkov
In May 1942, the 13th Division was involved in the Soviet counter-offensive at Kharkov, where they fought on its northern axis, thus escaping the encirclement and destruction of a substantial portion of the Soviet forces engaged, followed by the Russian defeat. During this offensive, the division suffered more than fifty-percent casualties, most of which were sustained in the repelling of fierce German counter-attacks. It was during one of these attacks that an ArtilleryArtillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
Captain of the 13th earned the first Order of the Great Patriotic War 1st Class to be awarded. Following his unit's success during this offensive, Colonel Rodimtsev was subsequently promoted to Major General.
After the Kharkov operation, the 13th Guards were pulled from the line to be refitted, resupplied, and reinforced.
Opening blows
On 13 September of that year, German infantryInfantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
divisions made their first advance into Stalingrad, marking the opening salvos of the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, one of the most costly and largest struggles of the war. By the end of the day the German 71st Infantry Division had reached the city center, north of the Tsaritsa Gorge. A Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
(Soviet Supreme General Staff) directive ordered the 13th Guards Division (in the midst of its refit, resupply, and reinforcement) to the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
and Stalingrad as reinforcements for the men fighting the Germans on the other bank of the river. After receiving approximately 10,000 men as reinforcements the 13th Guards were rushed to the front and arrived piecemeal, its men exhausted from a grueling forced march across large tracts of territory. Due to being in the midst of re-fit and resupply, one thousand of the division's men were unarmed, and nearly all of the rest were short of ammunition. After being briefed by Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union , who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.-Early life and career:Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, he joined the Red Army during...
, the commander of the 62nd Army (which consists of all of the troops fighting within and around Stalingrad), on his assignment, Rodimtsev famously and determinedly declared,
- "I am a Communist! I have no intention of abandoning the city [Stalingrad]!"
Immediately, Chuikov decided to send this poorly-armed yet determined unit straight into the midst of the battle. Because of the recent influx of new recruits, the division was now largely inexperienced and untrained, and lacked both maps and knowledge of Stalingrad's rubble-strewn streets, which would prove enormously difficult to overcome in the struggle ahead. However, Major General Rodimtsev thanks to his experience fighting in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
was well versed in urban warfare
Urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...
. At 17.00, 14 September, the forward elements of the 13th Guards swiftly crossed the river to reinforce a line that was being held by a mere 15 tanks and few hastily assembled combat groups. It is estimated that more than half of the first wave perished during the river crossing, more than 3,000 being killed in just the first 24 hours of brutal hand-to-hand combat. Ultimately, after extremely heavy losses on both sides, the German advance was repelled. Rodimtsev's soldiers recaptured the Mill and secured the central river crossing for other regiments of the 13th Guards.
The Railroad Station
The following morning one of Rodimtsev's junior officers, LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Anton Kuzmich Dragan was personally ordered by Chuikov to hold a key railroad station in downtown Stalingrad against an impending German assault. Dragan proceeded to gather a platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
of less than fifty men and moved them over to the railroad station. Here, the small but determined force prepared itself for the German attack.
Soon after digging in, a substantial force of German infantrymen arrived to seize control of the station. The Russians proceeded to repeatedly frustrate the Germans in an epic room-by-room struggle for control of the depot for nearly three weeks. Breaking through walls, crawling over rafters, and burrowing under the floorboards, the Russians would yield but a portion of the structure to the Germans, only to emerge elsewhere and start the struggle all over again.
Exchanging gunfire down hallways, hurling grenades back and forth between rooms, Dragan's men inflicted significant casualties on the Germans. In spite of this heroic resistance, Dragan's platoon was eventually reduced to a handful of men. After running out of ammunition, and with their rations gone, one of the Soviet Guardsmen took out his bayonet and carved on a wall,
- Rodimtsev's Guardsmen fought and died for their country here.
Under cover of darkness, Dragan and the five remaining soldiers under his command eventually slipped out of the building, made their way through the German lines, and were reunited with the 13th Guards.
Battle at the Mamaev Kurgan Park
The Battle at the Mamaev Kurgan Park began approximately two months after the brutal fighting between the German and Russian infantrymen had begun in the outskirts of Stalingrad, on 15 September. This portion of the Battle of Stalingrad consisted of the 13th Rifles combating several Wehrmacht divisions for control of the park's central hilltop summit, which changed hands multiple times during this fierce fighting. Meanwhile, other contingents of the 13th Rifles fought in different sectors of Stalingrad. The division was in the midst of the combat throughout the city in the remins of the bombed-out buildings and factories, on the slopes of the Mamaev Kurgan hills, in the Red October Tractor PlantKrasny Oktyabr Closed Joint-Stock Company
Volgogradskiy Metallurgicheskiy Zavod Krasny Oktyabr Closed Joint-Stock Company is a Russian closed joint-stock company which maintains the Krasny Oktyabr factory, one of the largest Russian metallurgy facilities.-Krasny Oktyabr factory:...
and in the key strategic building known as "Pavlov's House
Pavlov's House
Pavlov's House became the name of a fortified apartment building during the Battle of Stalingrad from 27 September, 1942 to February 2, 1943...
" (Yakov Pavlov
Yakov Pavlov
Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov was a Soviet Red Army soldier awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his role in defending "Pavlov's House" during the Battle of Stalingrad.-Biography:...
was the commanding officer of the platoon which defended the building). Most accounts state that of the 10,000 men of the 13th Rifles that crossed the Volga into the Battle of Stalingrad, only between 280 and 320 of them survived the struggle. This profligacy with life seems incredible to Western eyes, but was not unremarkable during the conflict on the Eastern front.
Battle of Kursk
Following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad and the destruction of the German 6th Army, the 13th Guards are again pulled from the lines for re-fit and re-supply. Alongside the 5th Guards Tank Army as a portion of the Voronezh FrontVoronezh Front
The Voronezh Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the town of Voronezh on the Don River....
, the 13th Rifles were held in reserve south of Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
, in order to counter the forthcoming German offensive there - Operation "Citadel"
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
. The original intention was for these two formations to counter-attack
Counter-Attack
Counter-Attack is a 1945 war film starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman as two Russians trapped in a collapsed building with seven enemy German soldiers during World War II...
the Germans after the German assault had been ground down by the front line Soviet units, but both formations were committed to prevent a possible breakthrough. After several days of continuous fierce fighting (including the tank battle at Prokhorovka
Battle of Prokhorovka
The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War as part of the Battle of Kursk in the Soviet Union . Principally, the German Wehrmachts Fourth Panzer Army clashed with the Soviet Red Army's 5th Guards Tank Army...
, in which the 13th Rifles' small number of armored units participated in), they successfully ground the elite German SS formations to a standstill. Meanwhile the rifle battalions on the 13th held the line around Oboyan, repelling attacks from trenches. Relatively few casualties were sustained because the Germans were focussing their attention on Prokhorovka by the time they had moved up from the reserve area in the rear.
Liberation of Ukraine
Shortly thereafter, the 13th Rifles advanced south-westwards, where they participated in the Red Army's assault to liberate UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
from German control. The division took part in the Kirovograd Operation in which they gained control of the town of Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
after extremely fierce fighting, it was liberated on 23 September 1943. This is indicated by the designation of "13th Guards Rifle Division, Poltava' (given in September 1943), which shows that the division was cited for their actions in seizing Polatava. After Poltava the 13th Rifles took part in a false crossing of the Dnieper River to confuse the Germans and allow for crossings further north and south. Elements of the division crossed the river on floats and rafts to reach the island of Peschanny. They sustained heavy loses in this operation when they were pinned down by enemy fire on the island, which is located in the middle of the river. German infantry had occupied the west side of the island and had to be dislodged in hand to hand combat.
Additionally the division fought in Kremenchug, Krivoi Rog, Kiev, Uman-Botowni, and Lvov-Sandomir.
Drive into Germany
During the Red Army's final drive into Germany, starting with Operation Bagration beginning on 22 June 1944, the 13th Rifles Division was a portion of the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps, which was a portion of the 5th Guards Tank Army, which itself was a portion of the 1st Ukrainian Front1st Ukrainian Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front was a front—a force the size of a Western Army group—of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War.-Wartime:...
. This force drove the Germans back through northern Ukraine and central Poland in to the northern regions of Germany itself. By the end of January 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front, including the 13th Rifles, had reached the southern outskirts. Here, they participated in the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
and the Battle of the Elbe, where they distinguished themselves yet again while combating the Germans for both of their objectives: Berlin itself and the Teltov Canal. The capture of the latter objective gave the Red Army a river crossing of the Elbe River, allowing the Russians to assault the heart of the Third Reich.
Post-World War II history
After the end of the war the division became a part of the Southern Group of ForcesSouthern Group of Forces
The Southern Group of Forces was a Soviet Armed Forces formation formed twice following the Second World War, most notably around the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956....
, being reorganised as 13th Guards Mechanised Division. It was withdrawn from Vienna, Austria, in 1955 and subsequently restructured as a tank division. Thus 13th Guards Tank Division formed part of the Southern Group of Forces for many years before finally being withdrawn and disbanded at the end of the 1980s. American military sources reported its final deactivation site in 1989 as the Odessa Military District
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District was a military administrative division of the Imperial Russian military, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was known under such name from around 1862 to 1998. It was reorganized as part of the Military of Ukraine and the Military of Moldova in...
.
The division's final honorifics in 1988 included 'Poltava', Transylvama Order of Lenin, Twice Red Banner, Suvorov and Kutuzov.
Subordinate units during World War II
- 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment
- 39th Guards Rifle Regiment
- 34th Guards Rifle Regiment
- 32nd Guards Artillery Regiment
- 4th Guards Anti-Tank Battalion
- 8th Guards Sapper Battalion
- 14th Reconnaissance Company
- 139th Signal Battalion
- 12th Chemical Warfare Company
- 11th Transportation Company
- 17th Field Bakery
- 15th Medical Battalion
- 2nd Veterinary Hospital
In popular culture
In the World War II video games Call of DutyCall of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
, Call Of Duty 2
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 2 is a first-person shooter video game and the second installment in the critically acclaimed Call of Duty series. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It was released on October 25, 2005 for Microsoft Windows and on November 22, 2005 as a launch game for the...
, and Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a first-person shooter developed for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was released on 16 November 2004. It was the first console installment of Call of Duty, developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Activision. It was followed up by a sequel, Call of Duty...
, the 13th Guards Rifle Division is featured in the Russian Campaigns.
Further reading
- Keith E. Bonn (ed), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.361