The 3rd Guards Tank Army (
Russian: 3-я гвардейская танковая армия) was a tank
army established by the
Soviet Union's
Red Army during
World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the
Soviet Union and
Poland, then in
Germany and
Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Postwar, the army served as
occupation troops in
East Germany, went through several name changes, and was finally deactivated in 1969.
Committed to the fighting for
Kharkov in March 1943 as part of the
Voronezh Front, the 3rd Tank Army was subsequently encircled and virtually destroyed by German forces. The Army's remnants were reorganised as the
57th Army.[2]
Second Formation
The army was reformed as the 3rd Guards Tank Army in May 1943, including the
9th Mechanised Corps & 12th & 15th Tank Corps. In 1943, the army took part in the
Orel offensive and, assigned to the
Voronezh and
First Ukrainian Fronts, played a leading role in the liberation of Left Bank
Ukraine. During the Orel offensive the 12th and 15th Tank Corps became the 6th and
7th Guards Tank Corps, respectively. The army was among the first Soviet troops to reach the
Dnieper River in October 1943. In 1944, it fought in the Proskurov-Chernovits and Lvov-Sandomierz offensive operations. The army subsequently fought in southern Poland,
Silesia, and in the
Battle of Berlin. It overran the
OKH command post at
Zossen, headquarters for German
Eastern Front operations, on April 21, 1945. Finally, the army drove on
Prague, entering that city on May 9.
Cold War
Soon after the end of the war, the 6th and 7th Guards Tank Corps were converted into tank divisions with the same numbers, and the 9th Mechanized Corps into the 9th Mechanized Division. By 1946, the army had been re-designated as the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army and was headquartered in
Luckenwalde, East Germany, as part of the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The 3rd Guards Mechanized Army was one of several Soviet armies used in the suppression of the
1953 uprising in East Germany, moving the 6th Guards Tank Division into
Dessau and
Wittenberg as well as the 9th Mechanized Division into
Lübben,
Cottbus, and
Spremberg.[3] On 29 April 1957, the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army became the 18th Guards Army.[4] At the same time the 14th Guards Mechanized Division became the 14th Guards Motor Rifle Division. In 1958, the
82nd Motor Rifle Division, the former 9th Mechanized Corps, was withdrawn to
Slavuta in the
Carpathian Military District, where it disbanded. Up to 1964 it had preserved two formations which had served with it during World War II: the 6th and 7th Guards Tank Divisions (former similarly numbered Tank Corps).[5]
In August 1964, the headquarters of the 18th Guards Army was relocated to
Alma-Ata, where it became the operational group of the
Turkestan Military District. The 6th and 7th Guards Tank Divisions and the 14th Guards Motor Rifle Division were transferred to other units within the GSFG.[6] The operational group was converted back into the 18th Army (without the Guards designation) on 4 March 1969, but was used to activate the headquarters of the
Central Asian Military District on 24 June.[7][8]
Commanders
The 3rd Tank Army was commanded by the following officers:[9]
* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (
Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for
Katyusha rocket launcher units.
Following 3rd Tank Army's destruction, it was reconstructed as 3rd Guards Tank Army, and by December 31, 1943, it was organized as follows:
* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (
Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for
Katyusha rocket launcher units.
Notes
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 65.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 65.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University press of Kansas. p. 214.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 87.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 87.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. pp. 282–283.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 91.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 92.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Glantz, David M. (2005). Companion to "Colossus Reborn": Key documents and Statistics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 94.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
Bonn, Keith E. (ed.) Slaughterhouse. Bedford: Aberjona Press, 2005.
ISBN0-9717650-9-X.
Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing.
ISBN9785895035306.
Glantz, David M. Companion to Colossus Reborn. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005.
ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
Poirier, Robert G., and Conner, Albert Z. The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War. Novato: Presidio Press, 1985.
ISBN0-89141-237-9.
Zvartsev, Alexander, ed. (1982). 3-я гвардейская танковая. Боевой путь 3-й гвардейской танковой армии [3rd Guards Tank: Combat Path of the 3rd Guards Tank Army] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
OCLC9829836.