Eighth Guards Army (Soviet Union)
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The Soviet 8th Guards Army was an army of the Soviet Army, disbanded finally in the early 1990s.
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[edit] History
Activated in October 1941 as the 7th Army, the Army was redesignated the 62nd Army at Stalingrad in July 1942. It was among the victors of Stalingrad and thus redesignated the 8th Guards Army. In 1945 the Soviet 8th Guards Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov. It was part of Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front. The 8th Guards Army spearheaded the Red Army drive to Berlin in the spring of 1945, and later became part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
During the Cold War, 8th Guards Army stood opposed to NATO forces (specifically the US V Corps) along the strategically vital Fulda Gap in West Germany.
In the last years of its existence, in the late 1980s, 8th Guards Army consisted of:
- Headquarters at Weimar-Nohra
- 79th Guards Tank Division - Jena, GDR: - disbanded, 1992
- 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division - Halle, GDR: - to Totskoye, Volga Military District
- 39th Guards Motorized Rifle Division - Ohrdruf, GDR: - disbanded, 1992
- 57th Guards Motorized Rifle Division - Naumburg, GDR – disbanded, 1992
- 47th Tank Brigade - Plauen, GDR: 156 T-80, 18 2S1, 4 2S6, 4 SA-13
[edit] Trivia
The 8th Guards Army was featured in the game Panzer Commander.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Beevor, Antony; Cooper, Artemis (2002). The Fall of Berlin 1945 (1st ed.). New York: Viking.
- Powell, Colin L.; Persico, Joseph (1996). My American Journey (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books.
- Andy Johnson, Warsaw Pact Order of Battle June 1989, last updated 27 May 2000
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