9th Guards Army

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9th Guards Army
Active1945–1946
Country Soviet Union
BranchRed Army
TypeCombined arms
Size3 rifle corps
Part of2nd Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Vasily Glagolev

The 9th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, which fought in the Vienna Offensive and the Prague Offensive at the end of the war. The army was formed in January 1945 and included airborne divisions converted into infantry. Postwar, the army headquarters became Soviet airborne headquarters.

History

Formation

The 9th Guards Army was formed on 5 January 1945 under the command of Vasily Glagolev as directed by the Stavka directive of 18 December 1944.[1] It was formed from the headquarters of the 7th Army and the Separate Airborne Army.[2] It was composed of the 37th, 38th and 39th Guards Rifle Corps. In February, the army was transferred to southeastern Hungary, near Budapest. It became part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on 27 February to participate in the Vienna Offensive.[1][3]

Vienna and Prague Offensives

Soviet troops during the Vienna Offensive

It was transferred to the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 9 March. Between 8 and 14 March the army was moved from the Kecslemet area across the Danube into the Zámoly sector, replacing the 4th Guards Army.[4] Between 16 March and 15 April, the army fought in the Vienna Offensive. Units of the army broke through German defences north of Székesfehérvár in conjunction with the 4th Guards Army. Advancing in the left flank and rear of the 6th Panzer Army, the 9th Guards Army broke through other German units between Lake Balaton and Velence. For the assault on Vienna, the army's 39th Guards Rifle Corps would follow the attack of the 6th Guards Tank Army in the southwestern sector. The 38th Guards Rifle Corps was to cut the Vienna-Linz road and use two divisions to protect the attack from the west. The 37th Guards Rifle Corps protected the assault force's left flank. The 9th Guards Army attacked the northwestern road out of Vienna in conjunction with the 6th Guards Tank Army and broke German resistance in early April. On 13 April, the army helped capture Vienna.[5] The army then fought in the Prague Offensive, where it captured Znojmo on 8 May in conjunction with the 7th Guards Army. It also captured Retz and Písek, ending the war on the Elbe.[1][6]

Postwar

The army had its headquarters in Szolnok from July 1945 to June 1946 and was part of the Central Group of Forces.[7] In 1946, its headquarters became the Soviet airborne headquarters and its corps were converted into airborne corps, while rifle divisions became airborne divisions.[8]

Composition

The army was composed of the following units in February 1945.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c "9-я ГВАРДЕЙСКАЯ АРМИЯ" [9th Guards Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ^ Feskov et al 2003, p. 21.
  3. ^ Erickson 1999, p. 510.
  4. ^ Glantz 2012, pp. 517–520.
  5. ^ Erickson 1999, p. 549.
  6. ^ "9-я гвардейская армия" [9th Guards Army]. samsv.narod.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  7. ^ Holm, Michael. "9th Guards Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  8. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 234.
  9. ^ Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 February 1945
  • Erickson, John (1999) [1983]. Stalin's War with Germany: The road to Berlin. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300078138.
  • Feskov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Golikov, V.I. (2003). Красная Армия в победах и поражениях 1941–1945 гг [The Red Army in the victories and defeats 1941–1945] (PDF) (in Russian). Tomsk: Tomsk University Press. ISBN 5751116240.
  • 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. ISBN 9785895035306.
  • Glantz, David M. (2012) [1989]. Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 9781136287657.

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