13th Guards Airborne Division

13th Guards Airborne Division
Active	1943–1944; 1948–1955
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Soviet airborne
Type	airborne
Size	division
Battle honours	Order of Kutuzov (3rd formation)
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Konstantin Vindushev

The 13th Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.

Its first formation was formed in December 1943 from airborne brigades and was quickly redesignated the 98th Guards Rifle Division without seeing combat in World War II. The division was reformed in 1944 as part of the 37th Guards Airborne Corps, and was reorganized as the 103rd Guards Rifle Division within a year, again without seeing combat. The division was reformed for the third and last time in 1948. The division served in Amur Oblast in the Soviet Far East until its disbandment in 1955.

History

First formation

The 13th Guards Airborne Division was first formed on 20 December 1943 from the 18th, 19th and 20th Guards Airborne Brigades, part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command.[1] The division included the 18, 19th, and 20th Guards Airborne Brigades, and was commanded by Colonel Konstantin Nikolaevich Vindushev.[2] The division was redesignated as the 98th Guards Rifle Division on 19 January 1944,[3][4] and became part of the 37th Guards Rifle Corps.[5]

Second formation

The division was reformed between February and March 1944 in the Moscow Military District[6] from the 3rd, 8th, and 21st Guards Airborne Brigades.[7] In October, the division became part of the Separate Airborne Army's 37th Guards Airborne Corps[8] at Teykovo, with the 3rd, 6th, and 8th Guards Airborne Brigades. The 13th Division was redesignated as the 103rd Guards Rifle Division on 18 December 1944.[9][10] The division became the 103rd Guards Airborne Division on 7 June 1946 in Seltsy, Ryazan Oblast.[11]

Third formation

The division was reformed on 15 October 1948 at Galyonki from the 296th Guards Airlanding Regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division, under the 37th Guards Airborne Corps. The division inherited the 296th's Order of Kutuzov.[12] The Independent Landing Security Company was disbanded in 1949. The 116th Guards Airlanding Regiment was converted to an airborne unit at some point. On 1 June 1951, the division and its corps were relocated to Kuybyshevka-Vostochnaya.[12] On 15 November 1953, the Separate Communications Company became the Separate Guards Communications Battalion. The Separate Medical & Sanitary Company became the Separate Medical & Sanitary Battalion on the same day. The Separate Guards Antitank Artillery Battalion and the Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company were disbanded on the same day. The division was disbanded on 25 April 1955.[13] Its 116th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 99th Guards Airborne Division and the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 98th Guards Airborne Division.[14]

Composition

The division was composed of the following units in 1948.[14]

116th Guards Airlanding Regiment
217th Guards Airborne Regiment
1183rd Guards Artillery Regiment
Separate Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion
100th Separate Guards Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
Separate Guards Antitank Artillery Battalion
Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company
Separate Communications Company
Separate Guards Engineering Battalion
Separate Supply Truck Battalion
Separate Medical and Sanitary Company
Separate Training Battalion

Bibliography

Citations

Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 January 1944, p. 28
NKO Order 00145, 23 December 1943
"Виртуальный музей" [Virtual Museum of the 98th Guards Airborne Division]. old.co1601.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
"98-я гвардейская воздушно-десантная Свирская Краснознамённая ордена Кутузова 2-й степени дивизия : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации" [98th Guards Airborne Division Russian Ministry of Defence]. structure.mil.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2015-11-25.
Alyohin 2009, p. 141.
Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 March 1944
Alyohin 2009, p. 142.
Glantz 1994, p. 68.
"Все о ВДВ, клубы десантников, фильмы о ВДВ, десантура, воздушно-десантные войска" [103rd Guards Airborne Division History]. sdrvdv.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2015-11-25.
Alyohin 2009, pp. 144, 146.
Holm, Michael. "103rd Guards Airborne Division". ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
Feskov et al 2013, p. 236.
Feskov et al 2013, p. 237.
Michael Holm, 13th Guards Airborne Division, accessed 25 November 2015.

References

Alyohin, Roman (2009). Воздушно-десантные войска: история российского десанта [Airborne Troops: History of the Russian Paratroopers] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Eksmo. ISBN 9785699332137.
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.
Glantz, David M. (1994). The History of Soviet Airborne Forces. Ilford, Essex: Frank Cass. ISBN 0714634832.