40th Guards Rifle Division
| 40th Guards Rifle Division (6 August 1942 - ca. 1946) 17th Guards Mechanised Division (ca. 1946 - April 1957) 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957 - 1990s) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1942 - 1991 |
| Country |
 Soviet Union
|
| Branch |
 Red Army
|
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Engagements |
Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Little Saturn Battle of Rostov (1943) Lower Dniepr Offensive Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive First Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Budapest Offensive Vienna Offensive |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Mjr. Gen. A.I. Pastrevich Mjr. Gen. G.F. Panchenko Col. L.Sh. Bransburg Mjr. Gen. N.F. Sukharev |
The 40th Guards Rifle Division was one of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions (32nd - 41st) of the Red Army formed from airborne troops in the spring and summer of 1942 in preparation for, or in response to, the German summer offensive. It fought in the Stalingrad area during that battle, eventually in the operations that encircled German 6th Army, and then continued to serve in the several campaigns in the south sector of the front, helping to liberate Ukraine and the Balkans, and ending the war at Vienna.
The 40th Guards was formed on Aug. 6, 1942, in the Moscow Military District from the 6th Airborne Corps. Its main order of battle was as follows:
The division, along with several other of these airborne conversions, was rushed to the Stalingrad region, to begin with as part of 1st Guards Army. It departed for the front on Aug. 15, and spent most of September fighting along the Don River in 21st Army. Stalingrad Front was renamed Don Front on Sept. 30. In October, 40th Guards was transferred, this time to 65th Army, still in Don Front. In this army it was one of the assault divisions that cleared the way for 5th Tank Army in Operation Uranus as part of the northern pincer that broke through Romanian Third Army and helped encircle the German forces at Stalingrad. From early in 1943 the division was reassigned to 5th Shock Army in South Front and would remain in that army until the end of 1943. By Feb. 21, 40th Guards was in first echelon of its army as it moved up to the Mius River line. On Mar. 3, 5th Shock was fortifying the scant bridgeheads it had taken on the west bank of the river, and the advance halted for the coming months. In April, the division became part of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps, and it would remain in that formation for the duration of the war.
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