5th Guards Tank Division

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The 5th Guards Tank Corps was originally part of the USSR 6th Guards Tank Army and was transferred as part of 6th Guards Tank Army to the Transbaikal Military District in preparation for the Soviet offensive against Manchuria in August 1945. The 5th Guards Tank Corps took part in this offensive and afterwards, soon after the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945, was reorganised as the 5th Guards Tank Division. (It is not clear what 5 GTD's origin's were; other sources indicate that 5 Guards Cavalry Corps was reorganised as 5 Guards Cavalry Division in July 1946, later becoming 5 Guards Hy Tank Div, then 18 Guards Heavy Tank Division.^[1])

With the beginning of the Khrushchev era, the Strategic Rocket Forces were increasingly emphasised at the expense of the Ground Forces, and the Ground Forces were reduced and reorganized. In 1957 (or 1960; sources differ), the 5th Guards Tank Division was reorganised as the 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Division.

The Division was reformed by renumbering the 18th Guards Tank Division in 1965 after its transfer to the Transbaikal District from the North Caucasus MD to reinforce the Transbaikal Military District in the light of deteriorating relations wit the PRC. The Division was located in Mongolia under the 39th Army and then the 57th Army Corps for many years before being withdrawn in 1991–92. One source (Tomsk) reports that it was disbanded from 1984–89 and was incorporated into the 48 Guards Independent Army Corps during that time.

The Division has been located at Kyakhta on the Mongolian–Russian border since its withdrawal and is now under the command of the 29th Army, as the 57th Army Corps was upgraded in status to Army level in 2003.

Adam Geibel wrote ^[2] that 5th "Don" Guards Tank Division, stationed in Buryatia, had received ‘a few’ T-90s.

Division's honorifics seem to include "Don" and "Budapest".

[edit] Subordinated units and fighting strength

• 108th Tank Regiment;
• 140th Guards Tank Regiment;
• 160th Guards Tank Regiment;
• 311th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
• 861st SP Artillery Regiment;
• 940th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment;

[edit] References and Sources

• V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004