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60th Guards Rifle Division

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60th Guards Rifle Division (January 3, 1943 – June 1948)
Active 1943–1948
Country Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
Branch Red Army flag Red Army
Type Division
Role Infantry
Engagements Operation Little Saturn
Operation Gallop
Donbass Strategic Offensive (August 1943)
Battle of the Dniepr
Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive
Uman–Botoșani Offensive
First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive
Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive
Vistula-Oder Offensive
Battle of Berlin
Decorations Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov 2nd Class Order of Suvorov
Battle honours Pavlograd
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Maj. Gen. Dmitrii Petrovich Monakhov
Maj. Gen. Vasilii Pavlovich Sokolov Hero of the Soviet Union medal

The 60th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 278th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. 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 1st Guards Army, fighting into the Donbass and towards the Dniepr River, winning a battle honor in the process. From late October into late November the 60th Guards helped helped force several crossings of that river in the Zaporozhe area and several dozen personnel were awarded the gold star as Heroes of the Soviet Union. During the winter it took part in the fighting around Krivoi Rog in the Dniepr bend, now as part of the 6th Army in the redesignated 3rd Ukrainian Front. In May, 1944 as it reached the Romanian border the division was assigned to the 32nd Rifle Corps of 5th Shock Army and it would remain under those commands for the duration of the war. In August the 60th Guards took part in the offensive that drove Romania out of the Axis and then was moved with its Army northward to join the 1st Belorussian Front. In its third winter offensive it advanced across Poland and eastern Germany to the Oder River, and then continued the assault into the northern sector of Berlin in April, 1945. Following the German surrender the division formed part of the Allied occupation force in the city, including guarding Spandau Prison after the Nuremberg trials. In June, 1948 the 60th Guards was mostly disbanded although the 185th Guards Regiment was reorganized to continue to serve as part of the occupation force.

Formation[]

The 60th Guards officially received its Guards title on January 3. Once the division completed its reorganization its order of battle was as follows:

  • 177th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 851st Rifle Regiment)
  • 180th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 853rd Rifle Regiment)
  • 185th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 855th Rifle Regiment)
  • 132nd Guards Artillery Regiment (from 847th Artillery Regiment)[1]
  • 65th Guards Antitank Battalion (later 65th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion)
  • 75th Guards Antiaircraft Battery (until May 10, 1943)
  • 63rd Guards Reconnaissance Company
  • 72nd Guards Sapper Battalion
  • 91st Guards Signal Battalion
  • 69th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 64th Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
  • 67th Guards Motor Transport Company
  • 58th Guards Field Bakery
  • 57th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 1688th Field Postal Station
  • 1114th Field Office of the State Bank

The 177th Guards Rifle Regiment was originally designated as the 178th, but this number had already been allocated to the 58th Guards Rifle Division a few days earlier.[2] Col. Dmitrii Petrovich Monakhov remained in command of the division and was promoted to the rank of major general two days later. The division did not complete its reorganization as a Guards division and receive its banner until February 13.[3]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ↑ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 69
  2. ↑ Perechen No. 5; see Bibliography
  3. ↑ Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 69

Bibliography[]

External links[]



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