| 1st Rifle Division (1918 - 1920)? 1st Moscow Rifle Division (c.1926-27 - 1940) 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division (1940 - 1941) 1st Guards Moscow Motor Rifle Division (1941 - 1943) 1st Guards Moscow Rifle Division (1943 - 1957) 1st Guards Moscow Motor Rifle Division (1957 - 2002) |
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|---|---|
| Active | 1918 - 1920, 1926 - 2002 |
| Country | Soviet Union (1918 - 1920, 1926 - 1991) Russia (1991 - 2002) |
| Branch | Red Army (1918 - 1920, 1926 - 1991) Russian Ground Forces (1991 - 2002) |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | 11th Guards Army (1945 - 1998) |
| Engagements | World War II |
The 1st Guards Prolitariat Moscow-Minsk Order of Lenin, twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov (II) and Kutuzov (II) Motor Rifle Division (Russian: 1-я гвардейская мотострелковая Пролетарская Московско-Минская ордена Ленина, дважды Краснознаменная, орденов Суворова и Кутузова дивизия (2-е формирование)) was a division of the Red Army and Russian Ground Forces active from c.1918 to 2002.
The Division was first formed at Petrograd, November 1918. Fought around Olonets with the 6th and 7th Armies from November 1918 into 1920. Defended the Aleksandrovsk-Melitopol railroad line on the Southern Front in August 1920. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner in October 1920. Reorganized as a brigade of the 15th Rifle Division in November 1920.
It was then re-formed either in December 1924 or at the beginning of 1927 in the Moscow Military District,[1] gaining the title of the 1st Moscow Proletariat Red Banner Rifle Division. Pavel Batov was a battalion and then regiment commander in the Division in the late 1920s. In August 1939 it raised cadres for 115th and 126th Rifle Divisions. It was re-raised from its single remaining regiment in Sept 1939 (2nd formation), but in January 1940 formed the 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division. On 22 June 1941 it was part of 7th Mechanised Corps, alongside 14th and 18th Tank Divisions in the Moscow Military District, assigned to 20th Army.[2] It was the first Soviet formation to use T-34 tanks at Borisov on June 30, 1941. Fought at Orsha, between Minsk and Moscow, and at Yartsevo in Sep 1941.
On September 21, 1941 it was renamed the 1st Guards Moscow Motor Rifle Division.[3] Fought at Vyazma, Bryansk, and Rzhev. On Novwember 1, 1942 it was part of 20th Army, Western Front.[4] After the Rzhev-Sychevka offensive operation in 1942 it was renamed (again) as the 1st Guards Rifle Division in January 1943.[5] 1943 saw the Orel, Bryansk and Gorodok offensives for the division. Later it fought in Belorussia, Gumbinnen, East Prussia, and Kurland. Awarded 'Minsk' honourific in July 1944. With 11th Guards Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front in May 1945.
The Division was for all the post-war period stationed in Kaliningrad. It formed part of the 11th Guards Army. It became the 1st Guards Moscow MRD (again) in 1957. Of the regiments of the war period, the 171st Guards was eliminated, but instead came the 609th of the 107th MRD. Virtually all of the time the division was truncated.[6]
For much of the 1990s the 1st Guards MRD was reduced to a strength of only 4,400 men, but in 2002 was reduced in size again to the 7th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, and, circa 2008-09, to a Separate Motor Rifle Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (Russian: отдельный гвардейский Пролетарский Московско-Минский ордена Ленина дважды Краснознаменный орденов Суворова и Кутузова мотостерлковый полк БФ).