30th Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)
{{short description|Cavalry division of the Soviet Union}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=30th Cavalry Division
11th Mechanised Division
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|dates= unknown - 1938, June 1941 - 1947
|country=Soviet Union
|allegiance=
|branch=Cavalry
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|size=Division
|nickname=
|patron=
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|battles=Second World War
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours="Baranovichi", "Slonim" and "Brest"
|notable_commanders=
}}
The 30th Cavalry Division was a unit of the Soviet Red Army. The unit was disbanded in 1938 but reformed shortly after the June 1941 invasion of the USSR by Nazi Germany. It served on the Southern Front and helped push back Axis forces during the Battle of Rostov. In August 1943 the 30th Cavalry Division was commended by Joseph Stalin for their actions in the liberation of Taganrog and it later operated near Odessa. In the second half of 1944 the division was deployed in the Soviet centre, in modern-day Belarus. The unit received the honorifics "Baranovichi", "Slonim" and "Brest" but was almost destroyed at Nyíregyháza by a German counterattack during the Battle of Debrecen. After the war, the division was briefly converted into the 11th Mechanised Division, disbanded in 1947.
Pre-war
The 30th Cavalry Division was commanded by General Vladimir Romanovich Vashkevich from 1935 to 1937.{{cite book |last1=Lopukhovsky |first1=Lev |title=The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941: The Red Army's Disastrous Stand against Operation Typhoon |date=1 August 2013 |publisher=Helion and Company |isbn=978-1-908916-50-1 |page=512 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntzZAwAAQBAJ |language=en}} It was disbanded in 1938.{{cite book |last1=Pettibone |first1=Charles D. |title=The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War Ii: Volume V - Book B Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |date=18 November 2009 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=978-1-4269-7815-9 |page=657 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr4Xr1EeezQC |language=en}}
Second World War
File:Части 4-го гвардейского кавалерийского корпуса на марше.jpg
Following the June 1941 invasion of the USSR by Nazi Germany the 30th Cavalry Division was reformed in Odessa Military District on 10 July. It was formed of the 127th, 133rd and 138th Cavalry Regiments and was commanded by Major General Nikolay Andreyevich Pichugin. The 30th Cavalry Division was assigned initially to the 18th Army before being transferred to the 12th Army on the Southern Front.{{cite book |last1=Mujzer |first1=Péter |title=Hungarian Soldier Vs Soviet Soldier: Eastern Front 1941 |date=27 July 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-4728-4565-8 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0AsEAAAQBAJ |language=en}} The 30th Cavalry Division was deployed alongside the 96th Mountain Rifle Division south of Novokyivka, facing the Hungarian portion of the Axis advance.
By late November 1941 the 30th Cavalry Division was fighting in the Battle of Rostov. A Soviet attack forced German forces back from Rostov towards their bridgehead at Taganrog. The 30th Cavalry Division was successful in penetrating the German rear and harassing them during the retreat to the Mius-Front.{{cite book |last1=Harrel |first1=John S. |title=Soviet Cavalry Operations During the Second World War: & the Genesis of the Operational Manoeuvre Group |date=30 September 2019 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-5267-4303-9 |page=198 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tk8IEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
In December 1941 the 30th Cavalry Division was assigned to the 6th Cavalry Corps and on 18 January 1942 transferred to the 5th Cavalry Corps. In February it was assigned to the 9th Army, returning to the 5th Cavalry Corps within 12th Army in May and back to the 9th Army in July. In August it became part of the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps, along with the 9th and 10th Guards Cavalry Divisions{{cite book |last1=Glantz |first1=David M. |last2=House |first2=Jonathan Mallory |title=Armageddon in Stalingrad: September-November 1942 |date=2009 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-1664-0 |page=594 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1UqAQAAIAAJ |language=en}} During 1942 Major General Vasily Sergeyevich Golovskoi assumed command of the 30th Cavalry Division.
The 30th Cavalry Division was reinforced in 1943 with a draft of men forcibly conscripted from the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, though the region met scarcely half of its 3,000-man recruitment target.{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Alex |title=The Caucasus Under Soviet Rule |date=13 September 2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-93825-2 |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yI4vCgAAQBAJ |language=en}} In January 1943 the division was augmented with a mortar-artillery regiment and in June 1943 was assigned the 151st Tank Regiment. In August 1943 the division, which was then commanded by Major General Ivan Tutarinov, was one of a number commended by Joseph Stalin for their actions in the liberation of Taganrog.{{cite book |title=Information Bulletin |date=1943 |publisher=The Embassy of the USSR in Washington DC |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pF719I49qbQC |language=en}}
The unit remained with the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps (commanded by Lieutenant General Issa Pliyev) into 1944.{{cite book |last1=Glantz |first1=David |last2=Orenstein |first2=Harold S. |title=Belorussia 1944: The Soviet General Staff Study |date=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-35116-4 |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUC6ZelkwIYC |language=en}} In early 1944 during the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive the 30th Cavalry Division, under Major General Vasily Sergeevich Golovskoi, fell upon German divisions withdrawing from Odessa, forcing their surrender.{{cite book |last1=Buttar |first1=Prit |title=The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944 |date=12 October 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-4728-3792-9 |page=234 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNI-EAAAQBAJ |language=en}} The division was moved further north and west later that year. In July 1944 it raced to seize Stowbtsy (modern Belarus) ahead of advancing German forces from the 28th Jäger Division (Wehrmacht).{{cite book |last1=Dunn |first1=Walter S. |title=Soviet Blitzkrieg: The Battle for White Russia, 1944 |date=12 February 2008 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-1-4617-5169-4 |page=217 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPG3DAAAQBAJ |language=en}} That same month it received the honorifics "Baranovichi" and "Slonim", receiving one for "Brest" in August.
The 30th Cavalry Division was part of the Soviet forces committed at Nyíregyháza in the Autumn 1944 Battle of Debrecen. The unit was effectively wiped out by a counterattack by the 23rd Panzer Division on 24 October which recaptured the town. It had by this point been equipped with vehicles of American origin through the Lend-Lease scheme.{{cite book |last1=Afiero |first1=Massimiliano |title=The European Volunteer |date=9 December 2015 |publisher=Soldiershop Publishing |isbn=978-88-9327-003-8 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsAoCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Rebentisch |first1=Ernst |title=The Combat History of the 23rd Panzer Division in World War II |date=21 March 2012 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-4641-0 |page=411 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_2qI-n03zcC |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Alexander |title=The Red Army and the Second World War |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-02079-5 |page=528 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLOSDQAAQBAJ |language=en}}
The division survived and in 1945 was commanded by Major General Grigoriy Ivanocvich Reva. The 30th Cavalry Division was one of the few pre-war regular divisions of the Red Army that was not redesignated as guards during the war. By summer 1945, the 30th Cavalry Division was transformed into the 11th Mechanised Division{{Sfn|Feskov et al|2013|p=232}} and garrisoned in Sambir, Carpathian Military District.{{Sfn|Feskov et al|2013|p=204}} In 1946, the division moved to Pukhavichy, Byelorussian Military District.{{Sfn|Feskov et al|2013|p=462}} It was disbanded on 23 March 1947.{{Sfn|Feskov et al|2013|p=204}}
References
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Sources
- {{Cite book|title=Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской|last=Feskov|first=V.I.|last2=Golikov|first2=V.I.|last3=Kalashnikov|first3=K.A.|last4=Slugin|first4=S. A.|publisher=Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing|year=2013|isbn=9785895035306|location=Tomsk|language=Russian|trans-title=The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces|ref={{SfnRef|Feskov et al|2013}}}}
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Cavalry divisions of the Soviet Union
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1938
Category:Cavalry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II
Category:Military units and formations established in 1941
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945