The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards

Russian 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...

 formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

 under the command of General Aleksei Semenovich Zhadov.

The 5th Guards Army was formed on 16 April 1943 from the 66th Army. The 5th Guards Army fought under command of the Steppe, Voronezh, and 2nd and 1st Ukrainian Fronts from 1943 until the end of the war. In 1943, the army fought in the Battle of Kursk

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,...

.

Other notable battles and operations in which the 5th Guards Army participated include:

• Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive
• Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive
• Vistula–Oder Offensive
• Berlin Offensive Operation
  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....
  
  
  • Battle of Bautzen
    Battle of Bautzen (1945)
    The Battle of Bautzen was one of the last battles of the Eastern Front in World War II. It was fought on the extreme southern flank of the Spremberg–Torgau Offensive, seeing days of pitched street fighting between forces of the 2nd Polish Army and elements of the Soviet's 52nd Army and 5th Guards...
    
    
• Prague Offensive
  Prague Offensive
  The Prague Offensive was the last major Soviet operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive, and the battle for Prague, was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. This battle for the city is particularly noteworthy in that it ended after the Third Reich capitulated on 8 May...
  
  

It was elements of the 5th Guards Army that made contact with the U.S. Army's 69th Infantry Division at Torgau

Torgau

Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...

 on the Elbe River on 25 April 1945

Elbe Day

Elbe Day, April 25, 1945, was the date Soviet and American troops met at the River Elbe, near Torgau in Germany, marking an important step toward the end of the World War II in Europe. The first contact was made between patrols near Strehla, when First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue crossed the River...

, splitting the Third Reich into two separate parts. The first contact was made between patrols near Strehla

Strehla

Strehla is a place in the district of Meißen, Saxony, Germany. It is located at the Elbe north of Riesa. This place name means arrow in Sorbian.-History:...

, when U.S. First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

 Albert Kotzebue crossed the River Elbe in a boat with three men of an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon. On the east bank, they met forward elements of a Soviet Guards-rifle-regiment of the First Ukrainian Front under the command of Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Alexander Gardiev.

On April 26, the commanders of the 69th Infantry Division of the First Army

U.S. First Army

The First United States Army is a field army of the United States Army. It now serves a mobilization, readiness and training command.- Establishment and World War I :...

 and the 58th Guards Rifle Division of the 5th Guards Army met at Torgau, southwest of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

The same day, another patrol under Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 William Robertson with Frank Huff, James McDonnell and Paul Staub met Soviet Lieutenant

Lieutenant

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...

Alexander Silvashko with some soldiers on the destroyed Elbe bridge of Torgau.

At the end of the war, the 5th Guards Army commanded the 32nd and 33rd Guards Rifle Corps, as well as the 75th Rifle Corps.

External links

army history

• 1945 order of battle by Leo Niehorster