4th Guards Army

The Fourth Guards Army was an elite army headquarters of the Soviet Union during World War II and the postwar era.

On April 16, 1943, the Supreme Command ordered the army to be established. On May 5, 1943, the army was formed on the basis of the 24th Army in the Steppe Military District.. It included the 20th and 21st Guards Rifle and 3rd Guards Tank Corps. On July 3 the Army was placed in Stavka reserve, on July 18 included in the Steppe Front, and on July 23 once again put in Stavka reserve.^[1]

The Army fought in decisive actions such as the Battle of Kursk, the Iassy-Kishinev Offensive, the struggle for central Hungary, and the Vienna Offensive. At the end of the war, the Fourth Guards Army was part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

Disbanded in March 1947.^[2]

Part of fronts

• Steppe Front
• Voronezh Front
• 2nd Ukrainian Front
• 3rd Ukrainian Front

Army commanders

Commanders

• General-Leutnant Kozlov D.T (ru: генерал-майор Козлов Д. Т.) (30 August — 1 October 1942 г.)
• General-Leutnant Galanin I.V. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Галанин И. В.) (1 October 1942г -)
• General-Leutnant Kulik G.I. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Кулик Г. И.) (7 April — 22 September 1943 г.)
• General-Leutnant Zygin A.I. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Зыгин А. И.) (22–27 September 1943 г.)
• General-Leutnant Galanin I.V. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Галанин И. В.) (September 1943 г. — January 1944 г., February — November 1944 г.)
• General-major Ryzhov A.I. (ru: генерал-майор Рыжов А. И.) (January — February 1944 г.)
• General-Leutnant Smirnov I.K. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Смирнов И. К.) (3–22 February 1944 г.)
• Army General Zaharov G.F. (ru: генерал армии Захаров Г. Ф.) (November 1944 г. — March 1945 г.)
• General-Leutnant Zahvataev N.D. (ru: генерал-лейтенант Захватаев Н. Д.) (1 March 1945 г. — till end of the War).

Military Soviet members

• colonel, General-major Gavrilov I.A. (ru: полковник, генерал-майор Гаврилов И. А.)
• colonel Shepilov D.T. (ru: полковник Шепилов Д.Т)
• colonel comissar Stahursky M.M. (ru: полковой комиссар Стахурский М. М.)
• General-major Semenov V.N. (ru: генерал-майор Семенов В. Н.)
• General-major Bocharov L.P. (ru: генерал-майор Бочаров Л. П.)^[3]

Order of battle

The order of battle for the Fourth Guards Army on May 1, 1945 was:

Fourth Guards Army

20th Guards Rifle Corps

5th Guards Airborne Division

7th Guards Airborne Division

80th Guards Rifle Division

21st Guards Rifle Corps

41st Guards Rifle Division

62nd Guards Rifle Division

66th Guards Rifle Division

69th Guards Rifle Division

31st Guards Rifle Corps

4th Guards Rifle Division

34th Guards Rifle Division

40th Guards Rifle Division

123rd Gun-Artillery Brigade

438th Antitank Regiment

466th Mortar Regiment

257th Anti-aircraft Regiment

56th Engineer-Sapper Brigade

After the war for a period the 4th Guards Army joined the Central Group of Forces in Austria until its withdrawal.

References

1. bdsa.ru
2. 4th Guard Army on official site of Russia Ministry of Defense. (in Russian)
3. French version

Article Sources

• The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. ISBN 0-89141-237-9.
• Order of Battle of the Soviet Army 1941 - 1945 (official Soviet order of battle from General Staff archives), Moscow: Ministry of Defense, 1990.