39th Guards Rifle Division
Encyclopedia
The 39th Guards Rifle Division
of the Workers and Peasant's Red Army
was formed during the German-Soviet War as part of the 62nd Army
and assigned to the defense of Stalingrad, officially arriving in the theater in August 1942. In September the division fought thru German forces which were attempting to encircle the city, and was assigned to defend the 'Volga Corridor,' the last supply line remaining for Soviet units in the city.
. For five months the 39th Guards maintained their tenuous hold on the Red October factory, holding an area only 3000 yards wide and 1000 yards in depth. Along with similar pockets at the Dzerzhinsky
tractor factory and the Barrikady gun factory, Red October represented one of the last viable defensive positions on the west bank of the Volga River. Soviet troops fought major battles from building to building and room to room, with success often measured in mere yards. As the Germans desperately tried to eliminate these pockets they poured more and more troops into the city, weakening their flanks and wasting men and materiel in what was becoming a meat-grinder for the Wehrmacht
. These factors contributed directly the successes of the Soviet counter-offensives of November and December (see Operation Uranus
and Operation Saturn
), and the subsequent encirclement and eventual surrender of Gen. Friedrich Paulus
's 6th Army.
, including the 39th Guards, was placed in reserve and became the basis for the newly-formed 8th Guards Army, receiving the honorific 'Guards' in honor of their heroic defense of Stalingrad. The army was placed under the command of Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov
. Through 1943 the 8th Guards Army fought across Ukraine
, crossing the North Donets River, establishing a bridgehead south of Isyum, and in cooperation with adjacent armies, advanced on the Don Basin and ultimately liberated it. They fought across the Don, through Dnepropetrovsk, continuing to Zaporozhe, and participated in the fighting on the Zaporozhe bridgehead across the Dnepr on October 10–14.
the division liberated Kovel before participating in the Lovov-Sandomir Operation, which began on July 13 and lasted until August 29. On July 20, they crossed the Bug River
and crossed into Poland
. On July 24 the 39th Guards liberated Lublin and continued to advance on Warsaw
, establishing a major bridgehead on the Vistula River which was the key for the Soviet advance towards Silesia, central Poland and the German border. They encountered furious counterattacks by German units, with the 8th Army losing 17,000 men in the process.
, which lasted 23 days and saw the division advance 500 km through Poland. They crushed the German defenders (including the elite " Großdeutschland Division
") as they liberated the towns of Lodz and Posnan, finally arriving at the Oder River just north of Frankfurt on February 3. They stormed the Kustrin Fortress and established a bridgehead over the Oder, within 60 km of Berlin. They attacked the city from the east, pushing through the area of Karlshorst, across Templehof Airport and Landwehr Canal, destroying the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
and then the 17th Panzer Division just south of the Reichstag.
The 39th Guards Rifle Division pushed north and fought through the Tiergarten, ending their war along Charlottenburger Chaussee at the Brandenburg Gate
, meeting units from the 207th and 150th Rifle Divisions just 250 yards from the Reichstag. The final banner of the division, which had served from the center of Stalingrad to the center of Berlin
, read: "39th Barvenkovskikh Guards Order of Lenin, Twice Order of the Red Banner
, Order of Suvorov
Second Class and Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Second Class Rifle Division."
, GDR (East Germany) at the strategically vital Fulda Gap
, opposite the NATO Central Army Group (V and VII US Corps, and II and III German Corps).
The division had the Military mail
Feldpost number
38865.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany, the division was disbanded after a temporary relocation to Bila Tserkva
in Ukraine
in 1992.
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...
of the Workers and Peasant's 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...
was formed during the German-Soviet War as part of the 62nd Army
62nd Army (Soviet Union)
The 62nd Order of Lenin Army was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. Formed as the 7th Reserve Army as part of the Stavka Reserve in May 1942, the formation was designated as the 62nd Rifle Army the following month...
and assigned to the defense of Stalingrad, officially arriving in the theater in August 1942. In September the division fought thru German forces which were attempting to encircle the city, and was assigned to defend the 'Volga Corridor,' the last supply line remaining for Soviet units in the city.
Defense of the Red October Steel Works
From September 30, 1942 the division, which could muster only roughly half its original strength, was assigned to defend the Red October steel works. From that date until February 2, 1943, the division was involved in almost constant combat with numerically superior German forces. On October 14, 1942 the 39th repulsed a major German counterattack involving three Infantry divisions, two Panzer divisions, and 3,000 combat sorties by the LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. For five months the 39th Guards maintained their tenuous hold on the Red October factory, holding an area only 3000 yards wide and 1000 yards in depth. Along with similar pockets at the Dzerzhinsky
Dzerzhinsky
Dzerzhinsky , Dzerzhinskaya , or Dzerzhinskoye may refer to:*Felix Dzerzhinsky , Communist revolutionary, founder of the Cheka*Ivan Dzerzhinsky , Russian composer...
tractor factory and the Barrikady gun factory, Red October represented one of the last viable defensive positions on the west bank of the Volga River. Soviet troops fought major battles from building to building and room to room, with success often measured in mere yards. As the Germans desperately tried to eliminate these pockets they poured more and more troops into the city, weakening their flanks and wasting men and materiel in what was becoming a meat-grinder for the 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:...
. These factors contributed directly the successes of the Soviet counter-offensives of November and December (see Operation Uranus
Operation Uranus
Operation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and was...
and Operation Saturn
Operation Saturn
Operation Saturn, revised as Operation Little Saturn, was a Red Army operation on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in the northern Caucasus and Donets Basin regions of the Soviet Union from December 1942 to February 1943....
), and the subsequent encirclement and eventual surrender of Gen. Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
's 6th Army.
Refit and Ukraine, 1943
Following the victory at Stalingrad the remnants of the 62nd Army62nd Army (Soviet Union)
The 62nd Order of Lenin Army was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. Formed as the 7th Reserve Army as part of the Stavka Reserve in May 1942, the formation was designated as the 62nd Rifle Army the following month...
, including the 39th Guards, was placed in reserve and became the basis for the newly-formed 8th Guards Army, receiving the honorific 'Guards' in honor of their heroic defense of Stalingrad. The army was placed under the command of Lieutenant 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...
. Through 1943 the 8th Guards Army fought across 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...
, crossing the North Donets River, establishing a bridgehead south of Isyum, and in cooperation with adjacent armies, advanced on the Don Basin and ultimately liberated it. They fought across the Don, through Dnepropetrovsk, continuing to Zaporozhe, and participated in the fighting on the Zaporozhe bridgehead across the Dnepr on October 10–14.
1944
The division turned south and fought for the liberation of Nikolayev in March 1944, and liberated Odessa in April. Turning north into MoldaviaMoldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
the division liberated Kovel before participating in the Lovov-Sandomir Operation, which began on July 13 and lasted until August 29. On July 20, they crossed the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
and crossed into Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. On July 24 the 39th Guards liberated Lublin and continued to advance on Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, establishing a major bridgehead on the Vistula River which was the key for the Soviet advance towards Silesia, central Poland and the German border. They encountered furious counterattacks by German units, with the 8th Army losing 17,000 men in the process.
1945 and the Battle of Berlin
On January 12 the 39th Guards participated in the Vistula-Oder OffensiveVistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...
, which lasted 23 days and saw the division advance 500 km through Poland. They crushed the German defenders (including the elite " Großdeutschland Division
Großdeutschland Division
The Großdeutschland Division was an elite Heer combat unit of the Wehrmacht. The Großdeutschland was considered to be the premier unit of the German Army and as such it was one of best-equipped unit of the German Armed Forces, receiving equipment before all other units.- Early history -...
") as they liberated the towns of Lodz and Posnan, finally arriving at the Oder River just north of Frankfurt on February 3. They stormed the Kustrin Fortress and established a bridgehead over the Oder, within 60 km of Berlin. They attacked the city from the east, pushing through the area of Karlshorst, across Templehof Airport and Landwehr Canal, destroying the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, also known as Kampfverband Waräger, Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 or 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, was a Waffen SS, Panzergrenadier division recruited from foreign volunteers...
and then the 17th Panzer Division just south of the Reichstag.
The 39th Guards Rifle Division pushed north and fought through the Tiergarten, ending their war along Charlottenburger Chaussee at the Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
, meeting units from the 207th and 150th Rifle Divisions just 250 yards from the Reichstag. The final banner of the division, which had served from the center of Stalingrad to the center 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...
, read: "39th Barvenkovskikh Guards Order of Lenin, Twice Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
, Order of Suvorov
Order of Suvorov
The Order of Suvorov is a Soviet award, named after Aleksandr Suvorov , that was established on July 29, 1942 by a decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This decoration was created to award senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations...
Second Class and Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)
The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky was a Soviet award named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate The award was first established on October 10, 1943, by the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR during World War II....
Second Class Rifle Division."
Cold War Service
Following the Second World War, the 39th Guards was refitted as a Motorized Rifle Division and, along with the rest of the 8th Guards Army, was stationed in OhrdrufOhrdruf
Ohrdruf is a small town in the German federal state of Thuringia. It lies some 30 km southwest of Erfurt.-Medieval settling:Ohrdruf was founded in 724–726 by Saint Boniface, as the site of the first monastery in Thuringia, dedicated to Saint Michael. It was the first of several religious...
, GDR (East Germany) at the strategically vital Fulda Gap
Fulda Gap
The Fulda Gap is a region of lower elevation between the former East German border and Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Named for the town of Fulda, the Fulda Gap was strategically important during the Cold War...
, opposite the NATO Central Army Group (V and VII US Corps, and II and III German Corps).
The division had the Military mail
Military mail
A primary feature of military mail systems is that normally they are subsidized to ensure that military mail posted between duty stations abroad and the home country does not cost the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic...
Feldpost number
Feldpost number
Feldpost number was an identification number for a German military unit during World War II used for military mail service which means when family members and friends wanted to send mail to the corresponding unit. It wasn't unusual for the same feldpost number to be used for different units...
38865.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany, the division was disbanded after a temporary relocation to Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva is a city located on the Ros' River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine, approximately south of the capital, Kiev. Population 203,300 Area 34 km².-Administrative status:...
in 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...
in 1992.
Further reading
- Ионов В. М. «Неприступный бастион». Волгоград, 1977 г.;
- Морозов А. А. «39-я Барвенковская». Москва, 1981 г.;
- Исаев, Алексей Валерьевич "Сражения в логове зверя". Москва, Яуза, Эксмо, 2007 г.;
- Шеваров, Дмитрий Геннадьевич "Виноград. Фронтовая элегия в монологах и письмах", Журнал «Дружба Народов», 2010 г., №5.
- Adrian Ermel "Nachbarschaft zwischen Übung und Ernstfall" Оhrdruf und Truppenübungsplatz 1906 - 2009./"Соседство между учениями и чрезвычайным положением." Ордруф и полигон 1906 - 2009. Германия, Издательство "Rockstuhl", 2010 г.
- Бурлаков М.П. и др. "Советские войска в Германии 1945-1994". "Молодая гвардия", 1994 г.
- Ленский А.Г., Цыбин М.М. "Советские сухопутные войска в последний год Союза ССР. Справочник". С.-Пб., 2001 г.
External links
- 39thguards.com Home page of the re-enacted 117th Guards Rifle Regiment, 39th Guards Rifle Division, a World War II reenactment unit based in Ohio.