21st Guards Airborne Division

The division was activated on 15 October 1948 in Valga in Estonia from the 346th Guards Airlanding Regiment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division, inheriting the Order of Alexander Nevsky from the regiment. The division was part of the 15th Guards Airborne Corps.[2] It included the 97th Guards Airborne Regiment, 104th Guards Airlanding Regiment and 1293rd Guards Artillery Regiment.[3] In 1949, the Separate Landing Security Company was disbanded. At some point the 104th Guards Airlanding Regiment became an airborne regiment, having previously been a glider-borne regiment. On 15 November 1953, the division was reorganized. The Separate Communications Company became the Separate Guards Communications Battalion. On the same day, the Separate Medical & Sanitary company became a battalion while the Separate Guards Antitank Artillery Battalion and Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company were disbanded. On 25 April 1955, the division was disbanded. Its 97th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division and its 104th Guards Airborne Regiment was transferred to the 76th Guards Airborne Division.[1][3]

• 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.