34th Guards Rifle Division

By a resolution of the State Defense Committee of September 10, 1941, the Komsomol Central Committee was obliged to select 50,000 Komsomol volunteers from 18 to 26 years old for airborne troops by October 5, 1941. The best of the best were selected. In addition to good physical data, candidates for paratroopers had to have skills in parachute and shooting training, successfully pass the standards of the TRP and Osoaviahima . Young recruiting was distinguished by high morale. These were mainly natives of the northern regions born in 1922 and 1923. Replenished by veteran paratroopers, airborne units underwent combat training throughout the winter and spring of 1942.

The 34th Guards Rifle Division was formed on the basis of the 7th Airborne Corps ^[2] in Moscow on August 2, 1942 according to the Decree of the State Defense Committee of July 29, 1942, among ten reorganized into the Guards Rifle Divisions of the airborne corps. They immediately received the guard ranks and numbers from the 32nd to the 41st. By the directives of the General Military Command on August 2 and 5, 1942, they were all directed to the southern sector of the front. Of these, 7 divisions were deployed to the Stalingrad region, and one (34th Guards Rifle Division) was placed at the disposal of the Stalingrad Military District with the goal of plugging a hole formed between the Southeast Front and the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front on the territory of the Kalmyk ASSR . The 14th, 15th and 16th airborne brigades of the corps became the 103rd, 105th and 107th Guards Rifle Regiments, respectively, as part of the 34th Guards Rifle Division.

The personnel of the Guards Rifle Divisions, reorganized in 1942 from the airborne corps, for a long time continued to wear the form of the Airborne Forces (due to interruptions in supply), but gradually changed into a combined arms uniform. Special landing uniforms from the units were withdrawn and sent to warehouses - until better times, however, many commanders tried not to take it, continuing to wear jackets with fur collars instead of overcoats and high boots instead of felt boots. Many retained aviation caps with a cockade and wings. The entire personnel of the guards rifle divisions, including officers, continued to wear finks intended for use as a “sling cutter” for trimming parachute slings, although they did not have protrusions on the blade.

The 34th Guards Rifle Division was sent to the Utta area in early August with the task of preventing the enemy from breaking into the city of Astrakhan and ensuring the formation of the 28th Army . The paratrooper soldiers successfully completed this task.

On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops launched an offensive against the encirclement and defeat of fascist troops near Stalingrad . The 34th Guards Rifle Division launched an offensive from the area west of Astrakhan.

After the enemy was defeated in the Khulkhut region and the city was liberated on November 22, the division units reached the Yashkul region on November 24, circumvented it from the north and attacked the south and captured the important settlement of Oling . The division did not take timely measures to consolidate the achieved lines, and there was a serious disruption in communications, its absence led to the loss of control over the actions of the troops ^[3] , the enemy at 8 a.m. on November 26 counterattacked Oling from the north-west and cut off the division from the remaining forces 28 army. On the events of November 26, in the absence of communication, the chief of staff of the army, Samuil Rogachevsky, noted: “Often the troops acted independently and separately, and the commanders of formations and units were deprived of the opportunity to parry the enemy’s counterattacks in the difficult battlefield. The actions of the infantry and artillery were practically not coordinated in time, boundaries and objects, the infantry came without artillery support, causing heavy losses ” ^[4] . Throughout the day, the paratroopers fought hard battles in the environment. At night, the division, having regrouped, broke through the encirclement ring and left north of Oling. However, the division suffered heavy losses and was forced to go on the defensive. Only a month later, on December 28, 1942, units of the division were able to resume the offensive and drove the Germans out of Oling, and on the night of the new year, 1943, they stormed and liberated the city of Elista from German invaders.

In early January 1943, the division reached the Manych River and immediately liberated the settlement of Red Skotovod and the city of Zernograd . In a fierce battle on February 4, the division liberated the Cossack station and opened the way to Bataysk .

Subsequently, the 34th Guards Division participated in breaking through the enemy’s defensive lines on the Mius and Molochnaya rivers, forced these water lines, and fought fierce battles to eliminate the enemy’s Nikopol bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper.

Since the beginning of August 1943, the division participated in the Donbass operation and crossing the Dnieper . For the exemplary fulfillment of the command tasks and the courage and heroism shown by the personnel in the battles to liberate the city of Enakievo, the division was awarded the honorary name Enakievskaya.

After crossing the Dnieper, the division fought a defensive battle to hold the bridgehead east of Dneprodzerzhinsk . With the transition of our troops to action, she participated in the liberation of Dnepropetrovsk .

In subsequent battles in Right-Bank Ukraine, parts of the 34th Guards Division, together with other formations of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps , overcoming stubborn resistance of the enemy, forcing spilled rivers, on roads and fields swollen from dirt, stubbornly moving forward, covered more than 400 km and consistently participated in the Nikopol-Kryvyi Rih , Bereznegovato-Snigirev and Odessa offensive operations. In early April 1944, the division reached the Prut River , and from August to September participated in the Iasi-Chisinau operation.

On November 22, 1944, the 31st Guards Rifle Corps, which included the 34th Guards Division, was transferred from the 46th Army to the 4th Guards Army .

In early January and in the first half of February 1945, the division, together with other formations of the 31st Guards Corps, repelled the counter-attacks of the enemy forces at Zamol and between the lakes of Velenz and Balaton .

In March, the 34th Guards Division was in the second echelon of the 4th Guards Army in readiness to build on the success of the first echelon in the direction of Jena , Balatonfekayar . Here the fighting ended on March 22 with the capture of the main resistance node of the Nazi defense of the city of Szekesfehervar by our troops. By this time, units of the division, pursuing the enemy, reached the line of Jena, Polgard . At the same time, other formations of the corps reached this line: the 5th and 7th airborne assault forces and the 40th rifle guards divisions .

Subsequently, the 34th Guards Division, continuing to operate as part of the 31st Guards Corps, conducted military operations in the Vienna offensive operation . On April 7, the division, together with other corps units, began the assault on Vienna . By April 24, she reached the border of the Traisen River and went on the defensive on the right bank of the Danube . On May 8, units of the division went on the offensive.

The 34th Guards Rifle Division completed the battle route on the Itta River on the night of May 9, 1945. During the war years, more than 9 thousand division soldiers were awarded orders and medals, and 16 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union .

• 103rd Guards Rifle Dniester Regiment
• 105th Guards Rifle Szeged Order of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky Regiment
• 107th Guards Rifle Budapest Order of the Suvorov Regiment
• 84th Guards Artillery Galatsky Red Banner Regiment
• 38th Separate Guard Anti-Tank Fighter Division
• 35th Guards Reconnaissance Company
• 37th Guards Engineer Battalion
• 37th Separate Guards Chemical Defense Company
• 142nd Separate Guards Communication Battalion (until 1.12.44 - 46th Guards Separate Communications Company)
• 500th Health Battalion
• 591st Motor Company
• 624th field bakery
• 612th Division Veterinary Hospital
• 2142th Field Post Station
• The 295th box office of the State Bank ^{[5] [1]}

• Gubarevich, Joseph Ivanovich (08/06/1942 - 02/07/1943), major general, died of wounds 02/28/1943
• Dryakhlov, Ivan Dmitrievich (02.10.1943 - 02.20.1943), Colonel
• Bralyan, Philip Vasilievich (02.21.1943 - 04.06.1943), Colonel
• Velmozhin, Alexey Sergeevich (04/07/1943 - 06/12/1943), lieutenant colonel
• Bralyan, Filipp Vasilievich (06/13/1943 - 11/08/1943), Colonel, from September 15, 1943, Major General
• Panchenko, Grigory Filippovich (11/09/1943 - 12/04/1943), Major General
• Parfyonov, Kuzma Dmitrievich (12/05/1943 - 01/05/1944), Colonel
• Brylyan, Philip Vasilievich (01/06/1944 - 05/28/1944), Major General
• Maksimovich, Joseph Antonovich (05/29/1944 - 10/13/1944), Colonel, from September 13, 1944, Major General
• Kuks, Gerasim Stepanovich (10.14.1944 - ??. 06.1945), Colonel
• Govorov, Ivan Pavlovich (??. 06.1945 - ??. ??. 1946), Major General ^[6]

•   Avdeev, Ivan Pavlovich , Red Army Guard, machine gunner of the 107th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Balabaev, Alexander Vasilievich , Red Army Guard, submachine gunner of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Biryukov, Alexander Ivanovich , guard sergeant, commander of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Vasiliev-Kytin, Boris Sergeevich , Guard Lieutenant, platoon commander of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Glazunov, Vladimir Ivanovich , Red Army Guards, marksman of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Gnuchy, Panteleimon Afanasevich , Red Army guard, shooter of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   She lived, Fyodor Nikitovich , guard sergeant, commander of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Kachuevskaya, Natalya Aleksandrovna , Red Army Guards, medical officer of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Korobov, Grigory Efimovich , Red Army Guard, machine gunner of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Lomakin, Vasily Ivanovich , Private Guards, machine gunner of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Nurkaev, Talip Latypovich , Red Army Guards, submachine gunner of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Onopa, Nikolai Savelievich , guard foreman, assistant platoon commander of the 107th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Ryzhov, Georgy Timofeevich , Guard Senior Sergeant, Division Commander of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Soroka, Vasily Illarionovich , guard of the Red Army, commander of the 107th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Starikov, Mikhail Semenovich , guards senior sergeant, assistant platoon commander of the 107th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Stolbov, Philip Agafonovich , guard senior sergeant, assistant platoon commander of the 107th Guards Rifle Regiment.
•   Chechulin, Nikolai Vasilievich , guard sergeant, commander of the 105th Guards Rifle Regiment ^{[7] [8]} .

• Monument "Fighters of the 34th GVSD" , Russia, Republic of Kalmykia, Yashkul region. [3]
• Monument "To the Soldiers of the 34th Guards Rifle Division Eternal Glory from the Komsomol members of the S. Kirov Shipyard", Russia, Astrakhan. [four]
• Monument "They died so that we can live. Guardsmen of the 34th division, students of school number 5 in Astrakhan"
• Burials in the memorial complex of the 28th Army , Russia, Republic of Kalmykia, Yashkul region [5]
• Burials as part of the Memorial "Mourning Mother", Russia, Republic of Kalmykia, Yashkul village [6]
• Burials as part of a mass grave (5 km from the village of Krasny Skotovod), Russia, Rostov Region, Proletarsky District [7]
• Burials as part of the Offensive Memorial complex, Russia, Rostov Region, Zelenograd [8]

• Feskov V.I., Kalashnikov K.A., Golikov V.I. Chapter 2. Rifle and airborne troops, fortified areas of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War // Red Army in victories and defeats 1941-1945 .. - Tomsk: Publishing house of Tomsk University, 2003. - S. 79. - 619 p. - ISBN 5-7511-1624-0 .

• Feskov V.I., Golikov V.I., Kalashnikov K.A., Slugin S.A. Ground Forces // Armed Forces of the USSR after the Second World War from the Red Army to the Soviet. - 1st. - Tomsk: NTL, 2013 .-- 640 p. - ISBN 978-5-89503-530-6 .
• Shein O. V. Unknown Front of the Great Patriotic War. Bloody bath in the Kalmyk steppes. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo , 2009 .-- 288 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-33176-5 .
• Shein O. V. On the Astrakhan direction. - 2007. - 56 p.
• Stamp M.I. From Astrakhan to Vienna. A brief history of the military route of the 34th Guards Enakiev Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Rifle Division during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. - M .: Nauka, 1983 .-- 191 p.
• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1987.- T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN comp., Reg. RCP No. 87-95382.
• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Love - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .

• 34th Guards Rifle Division (Neopr.) . rkkawwii.ru. Date of treatment December 13, 2018.
• 34 GUARDS SHOOT DIVISION (neopr.) . bdsa.ru. Date of treatment December 13, 2018.
• The 34th Guards Enakiev Rifle Division is a page of the Pamyat club of Voronezh State University (neopr.) . samsv.narod.ru. Date of treatment December 13, 2018.