15th Guards Bomber Aviation Division

• 4th Guards Long-Range Aviation Division ;
• 5th Guards Long-Range Aviation Division ;
• 5th Guards Aviation Gomel Long-Range Division ;
• 15th Guards Bomber Aviation Gomel Division;
• 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Gomel Division ^[1] .

On December 26, 1944, the 15th Guards Bomber Aviation Division of Bryansk was reorganized from the 5th Guards Aviation Division of Gomel Long-Range Directive by General Staff Directive No. org.10 / 315706 of December 26, 1944, and the 4th Guards Aviation Corps of Long-Range , which included On December 29, 1944, the division was transformed into the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps ^[2] .

The division spent its entire combat path as part of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of the 18th Air Army . Since the end of 1944, the division conducted military operations from the airfields of Yugoslavia, and then Hungary. The regiments of the division supported the advance of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in the area of ​​Lake Balaton , participated in operations and battles:

• Budapest offensive operation ^[2] - from December 26, 1944 to February 13, 1945.
• Lower Silesian offensive operation ^[3] - from February 8, 1945 to February 24, 1945.
• East Pomeranian offensive operation ^[3] - from February 20, 1945 to April 4, 1945.
• The Balaton Defensive Operation ^[2] - from March 6, 1945 to March 15, 1945.
• Vienna offensive operation ^[3] - from March 16, 1945 to April 15, 1945.
• Berlin offensive operation ^[3] - from April 16, 1945 to May 8, 1945.

In the army

The division was in the army from December 26, 1944 to May 9, 1945 ^[4] .

Division Commander

As part of associations

Postwar Division History

After the war ended, the division was part of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of the 18th Air Army. From the airfields in Hungary, the division was relocated to the airfields of Ozernoye, Zhytomyr region, and Borispol, Kiev region. Since April 1946, the division was part of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Bryansk-Berlin Corps of the 2nd Air Army of Long-Range Aviation , created on the basis of the 8th Air Army ^[1] .

In connection with the post-war reduction of the Air Force, the 201st Guards Bomber Aviation Smolensky Red Banner Regiment was disbanded in 1947 as part of a division at the Ozernoye airfield in the Zhytomyr Region ^[1] .

In 1949, the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Bryansk-Berlin Corps was renamed the 81st Guards Bomber Aviation Bryansk-Berlin Corps, and the 2nd Long-Range Aviation Army into the 43rd Long-Range Aviation Army. In 1950, the division’s regiments began to receive new aviation equipment - Tu-4 aircraft equipped with a system of refueling in the air and capable of delivering retaliatory strikes against US advanced bases in Western Europe, including in England. The division and its regiments to their name received the additional name "heavy". Since 1950, after the rearmament of regiments on the Tu-4, the division is referred to as the 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division ^[1] .

Since 1956, all regiments of the division were retrained for new aircraft - the Tu-16 , a heavy twin-engine multi-purpose jet aircraft with the possibility of delivering nuclear weapons. In August 1956, the 81st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Bryansk-Budapest Corps was disbanded and the division became directly subordinate to the 43rd Long-Range Aviation Army ^[1] .

In 1959, from the disbanded 204th heavy bomber aviation division, the 260th heavy bomber aviation order of the Suvorov and Kutuzov regiments on Tu-4 aircraft was included in the composition ^[1] .

In connection with a significant reduction in the Armed Forces of the USSR in June 1960, in accordance with the Law of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On a New Significant Reduction of the USSR Armed Forces” of 01/15/1960, the 238th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Sevastopol Regiment was disbanded as part of a division at the Ozernoye airfield Zhytomyr region ^[1] .

In 1968, new Tu-16K aircraft began to enter the division. In 1964, the 341st heavy bomber aviation regiment was rearmed with Tu-22 and Tu-22K aircraft (since 1968) ^[1] .

In August 1980, after the reorganization of the 2nd separate heavy bomber aviation corps into the 24th Air Force of the All-Russian High Command, the division became part of the 46th Air Army of the All-Russian High Command ^[1] .

From October 1988 to February 1989, four Tu-22PD jamming aircraft from the 341st heavy bomber regiment with crews were relocated to the Mary airfield to participate in the hostilities in Afghanistan . Single aircraft performed missions together with Tu-16 and Tu-22M bombers to interfere with Pakistani F-16 fighters.

In 1989, the 260th Heavy Bomber Order of the Suvorov and Kutuzov Aviation Regiment received the new Tu-22M3 and was transferred to the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division , and the 251st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment from the division was transferred to the 43rd Center for combat use and retraining of flight personnel YES. Instead of these regiments, the division included the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Sevastopol Red Banner Regiment ( Machulishi Minsk Region) on Tu-22K aircraft and the 203rd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Orel Regiment ( Baranovichi , Brest Region) on Tu-22 aircraft.

After the collapse of the USSR, the division became part of the Ukrainian Air Force. The 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Sevastopol Red Banner Regiment and the 203rd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Oryol Regiment were transferred to the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Donbass Red Banner Division . Together with the division, only the 341st heavy bomber aviation regiment was transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force ^[1] .

Over the entire period of its existence, the combat structure of the division underwent changes:

May 9, 1945

Thanks to the Supreme Commander:

• For the difference in the battles during the capture of the cities of Szekesfehervar , Mor, Zirez, Veszprem , Anying, as well as during the occupation of more than 350 other settlements ^[7] .
• In contrast to the battles during the breakthrough of the enemy’s defense south of Lake Balaton and in the capture of the cities of Zalaegerszeg and Kestel, Nagybayom, Begen, Marzali and Nagyatad - strong German defense strongholds covering the oil region of Nagykanizhi ^[8] .
• In contrast to the battles during the capture of Vashvar , Kermend , Szentgotkhard - important strongholds of the German defense on the river Rab and south of Lake Balaton, the city of Churgo ^[9] .
• In contrast to the battles during the capture of the city of Sopron - a large railway junction and an important stronghold of the German defense on the outskirts of Vienna ^[10] .
• In contrast to the battles in the territory of Austria during the capture of the industrial city and the large railway junction Wiener Neustadt and the cities of Eisenstadt , Neunkirchen, Gloggnitz , they were important strongholds of the German defense on the outskirts of Vienna ^[11] .
• In contrast to the battles during the capture of the large industrial center of Czechoslovakia, the city of Brno (Brun) - an important road junction and a powerful stronghold of the German defense ^[12] .

Thanks to the Supreme Commander:

• For the difference in the battles during the mastery of the cities of Katowice , Siemianowicz, Krulevsk Guta ( Koenigshütte ), Mikolow (Nikolai) and the town of Beuten in Silesia ^[13] .
• In contrast to the battles during the defeat of the encircled enemy group in Budapest and the capture of the capital of Hungary, the city of Budapest , a strategically important German defense hub on the routes to Vienna ^[14] .
• In contrast to the battles in the capture of the city and the fortress of Gdansk - the most important port and first-class naval base of the Germans on the Baltic Sea ^[15] .
• In contrast to the battles in the capture of the fortress and the main city of East Prussia, Koenigsberg is a strategically important German defense hub on the Baltic Sea ^[16] .
• For the difference in the battles during the capture of the cities of Frankfurt an der Oder , Wandlitz, Oranienburg , Birkenwerder , Gennigsdorf, Pankov , Friedrichsfelde, Karlshorst , Kepenik and the entry into the capital of Germany, the city of Berlin ^[17] .
• For the difference in the battles during the defeat of the Berlin group of German troops and the seizure of the German capital by the city of Berlin - the center of German imperialism and the center of German aggression ^[18] .
• In contrast to the battles during the seizure of the port and naval base of Svinemunde - a large port and naval base of the Germans on the Baltic Sea ^[19] .

•   Gorelik Evgeny Illarionovich , Guard Senior Lieutenant, navigator of the squadron of the 251st Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 15th Guards Bomber Aviation Division of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of the 18th Air Army By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Union of Heroes udaniya June 29, 1945 . Golden Star No. 7709 /

• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / V.P. Goremykin. - M .: Kuchkovo field, 2014 .-- T. 2 .-- 992 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0 .
• Kozhevnikov M.N. Command and headquarters of the Air Force of the Soviet Army in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 .. - Moscow: Nauka, 1977. - 288 p. - 70,000 copies.
• M. L. Dudarenko , Yu. G. Pereshnov , V. T. Eliseev et al. Liberation of cities: A guide to the liberation of cities during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 / under the general. ed. Army General S.P. Ivanov. - Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. - M: Military Publishing House, 1985 .-- 598 p. - (Reference). - 50,000 copies.

• List of operations of the armed forces of the USSR in World War II

• 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Gomel Division
• Soviet aviation in World War II (inaccessible link)
• Heroes of World War II
• Air force