8th Guards Army | |
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Active | October 1941-July 1942 7th Reserve Army July 1942 - May 1943 62nd Army May 1943 - 1992 8th Guards Army |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army, Soviet Army |
Part of | Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1945-1990) |
Engagements |
Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Poznań (1945) Battle of Berlin others |
Decorations | Order of Lenin |
Disbanded | July 7, 1992 |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
Vasily Chuikov |
The Soviet 8th Guards Army was an army of the Soviet Union's Red Army/Soviet Army that was formed during World War II and was disbanded in 1998 after being downsized into a corps. The army was formed from the 62nd Army in May 1943 in recognition of its actions in the Battle of Stalingrad. It defended the right bank of the Donets and fought in the Donbass Strategic Offensive in August and September. It then fought in the Lower Dnepr Offensive, where it captured helped capture Zaporizhia. During winter and spring 1944 the army fought in the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive. After the capture of Odessa, the army was transferred to the Kovel area and fought in the Lublin–Brest Offensive during the summer, capturing Lublin, crossing the Vistula and seizing the Magnuszew bridgehead. The army defended the bridgehead until January 1945, when it helped launch the Vistula–Oder Offensive. The army helped capture Łódź, Poznań and Kostrzyn nad Odrą. The army then fought in the Battle of Berlin. During the war it was led by its commander during the Battle of Stalingrad, Vasily Chuikov. After the war the army was stationed at Nohra, covering the strategic Fulda Gap during the Cold War. In 1993 the army was withdrawn from Germany to Volgograd (the former Stalingrad) and there downsized to a corps, before being disbanded in 1998.