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308th Rifle Division (II) (1942–1943) 120th Guards Rifle Division (1943–1957) 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957–2002) 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade (2002–present)
Active	1942–present
Country	Soviet Union (1942–1992)  Belarus (1992–present)
Branch	Soviet Army (1942–1992)  Belarusian Ground Forces (1992–present)
Type	Motorized infantry
Part of	North Western Operational Command
Garrison/HQ	Uručča, Minsk
Engagements	World War II Battle of Stalingrad Operation Kutuzov Berlin Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner  Order of Kutuzov  Order of Suvorov
Battle honours	Rogachev
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Vladimir Kulazhin
Notable commanders	Leonty Gurtyev Aleksandr Petrovich Chumakov

53°56′54″N 27°43′26″E / 53.94833°N 27.72389°E / 53.94833; 27.72389

The 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade is a mechanised infantry brigade of the Belarus Ground Forces. It is the heir to the traditions of the Red Army 120th Guards Rifle Division which became the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957.

History

World War II

308th Rifle Division

The 120th Guards Rifle Division was formed by redesignation of the Red Army's 308th Rifle Division (Second Formation). The 308th Rifle Division was formed in accordance with Order Number 0044 of the Siberian Military District dated 21 March 1942. It was formed at Omsk in the Siberian Military District, using 20% Red Army men (active duty), 25% returning wounded veterans, 25% reservists from industry, and 30% new recruits from the classes of 1922-23. Most of the recruits and reservists came from Omsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. When the division left for the west it had 12,133 officers and men assigned.

The division remained in the Siberian Military District until May 1942 until it was moved to the west. In late May, the division was assigned to the 8th Reserve Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. On 1 June 1942, the division, still with the 8th Reserve Army, was at Saratov. From August 29 to September 6, 1942, the division covered at least 300 kilometers on foot. On 1 August 1942 the 308th Rifle Division was part of the 24th Army in the area of Kotluban. The division joined the active army on 29 August 1942 when it was assigned to the 24th Army on the Stalingrad Front. The first fight in the division took the 24th Army on the territory of the state farm "Kotluban." The division had to seize the hamlet of Borodkin and Heights 133.4, 143.8 and 154.2. Division troops backed 217th Tank Brigade, 136 mortars, heavy artillery regiment in 1936. The enemy forces unleashed on the division powerful artillery fire, mortars, aircraft and tanks.

By the end of September 1942 the division was assigned to the 62nd Army inside Stalingrad. In the fighting at Stalingrad the division arrived came on the night of October 2, 1942, under Colonel Leontii Gurtev. As part of General V.I. Chuikov's 62nd Army, the division seized positions in the area of the "Barricades" plant. The division was finally pulled out of the city and the 62nd Army in December with only 500 men still assigned to the division. For its actions at Stalingrad September to December 1942 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by an order dated 19 June 1943.

Reassigned to the Volga Military District to be rebuilt, the division spent the next several months reconstituting its strength. By 1 March 1943, the division was shipped back to the front and assigned to the Kalinin Front reserves and then to the 11th Army in the STAVKA reserves.

The division went back to the front in the 3rd Army of the Bryansk Front in Operation Kutuzov. Distinguishing itself in combat, the division was awarded Guards status and redesignated the 120th Guards Rifle Division. During the remainder of 1943 the division participated in the Orel, Bryansk, and Gomel - Rechitsa operations.

As the 308th Rifle Division, the unit had two commanders. Colonel Leontii Nikolaevich Gurt'ev took over the division on 1 March 1942, was promoted to Major General on 7 December 1942, and was killed in action at Pamanlovo on 3 August 1943. For his actions in taking that town, he became a Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously on 27 August 1943. His successor as division commander was Colonel Nikolai Kuz'mich Maslennikov, who took over officially on 4 August 1943 and was promoted to Major General on 22 September 1943. Maslennikov was commander until the 308th became the 120th Guards Rifle Division in September 1943 in accordance with NKO Order Number 285.

Subordinate units

• 339th Rifle Regiment
• 347th Rifle Regiment
• 351st Rifle Regiment
• 1011th Artillery Regiment
• 430th Antitank Battalion
• 699th Sapper Battalion
• 899th Signal Battalion
• Training Battalion

120th Guards Rifle Division

In mid-July 1944 the divisional commander, Major General Ia. Ia. Fogel, was killed in action. The 120th Guards was frequently assigned to the 41st Rifle Corps, 3rd Army, during the war.

In 1944 and 1945 the division participated in the Rogachev-Zhlobin, Belarusian, East Prussian and the Berlin offensive operations. For services in battle the division was awarded the honorary title "Rogachev" (February 1944), was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, Suvorov 2nd Class and Kutuzov 2nd class, over 18 thousand of its soldiers awarded orders and medals, eight were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war

Postwar, the 120th Guards Rifle Division was relocated to Uruchcha in Minsk, and was converted into the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division on 20 May 1957.

In 1963 the 336th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the division was reorganized as the 336th Separate Guards Bialystok Naval Infantry Regiment in the Baltic Fleet, and relocated to the city Baltiysk, becoming the first regiment of Naval Infantry in the resurgent Soviet Navy. It is now in Baltiysk, the 336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade.

The division was the first formation in the Soviet Union to test prototypes of the new BMP-1 ("objekt 765") infantry fighting vehicle in January–November 1965, under the command of Guards Major Vasiliy Samodelov.

On 31 October 1967, the division received the honorific "named for the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR".

On 1 June 1982 the division was reorganised as the 5th Guards Independent Army Corps with a 2:2 mix of tank and motor rifle brigades and regiments. Major General Alexsandr Chumakov took command. On 1 June 1989 the corps was disbanded and the division reformed, with three motor rifle regiments and one tank regiment.

The division had its headquarters at Uruchche, and included the 335th Guards Tank Regiment, the 334th Guards and 339th Guards MRRs, the 356th MRR, the 310th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, and the 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it became part of the Belarus Ground Forces. It is now stationed at Uruchcha, one of the microraions of Minsk. The 334th Regiment was reassigned to the Internal Troops of Belarus.

On 1 February 2002, at the end of the reform of the Belarusian Ground Forces, the division was reorganized into the 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade.

Commanders

• Major General Nikolay Kuzmich Maslennikov (29 September–15 November 1943)
• Colonel Yan Yanovich Fogel (16 November 1943–died of wounds 14 July 1944; major general from 3 June 1944)
• Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Telkov (15 July–21 September 1944)
• Major General Nikolay Aleksandrovich Nikitin (22 September–25 December 1944)
• Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Telkov (26 December 1944–October 1947; major general 20 April 1945)
• Major General Pavel Grigoryevich Arabey (October 1947–January 1951)
• Colonel Lev Illarionovich Puzanov (12 October 1954–5 November 1956)
• Major General Mikhail Zaitsev (January 1967–12 November 1968)
• Major General Aleksandr Petrovich Chumakov (August 1980–June 1986)

Notes

1. "Armchair general". Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
2. ^ Sharp, Charles (1996). Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol X. George F. Nafziger.
3. ^ Keith Bonn (ed), Slaughterhouse, 2005, 376
4. ^ Michael Holm, 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 2015, and V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin, The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces). (В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)) Томск, 2013, 125-126 Improved version of 2004 work with many inaccuracies corrected.
5. "Семь десяткой сто двадцатой | Армия Беларуси". Archived from the original on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
6. ^ "120-Я ГВАРДЕЙСКАЯ РОГАЧЕВСКАЯ КРАСНОЗНАМЕННАЯ, ОРДЕНОВ СУВОРОВА И КУТУЗОВА ОТДЕЛЬНАЯ МЕХАНИЗИРОВАННАЯ БРИГАДА ИМЕНИ ВЕРХОВНОГО СОВЕТА БЕЛОРУССКОЙ ССР" [120th Guards Rogachev Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Mechanised Brigade named for the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR]. Vo slavu Rodiny (in Russian). 15 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
7. Holm
8. "120th Guards Mechanised Brigade". ryadovoy.ru. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012.

References

• Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005
• V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin, The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces). (В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)) Томск, 2013

v t e Divisions of the Soviet Union 1957–1989
Airborne	7 31 44 Training 76 98 103 104 105 106 107
Artillery	2 15 20 Training 26 34 51 55 81 110 149
Aviation	1 6 12 16 22 36 55 95 Mixed 95 Fighter 119 326
Motor Rifle	Guards 1st – 18th 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 14 15 16 17 18 20th – 39th 20 21 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 42nd – 66th 42 45 47 48 50 51 (I) 51 (II) 53 55 57 59 62 63 64 66 70th – 97th 70 72 77 81 83 86 87 90 92 93 94 97 109th – 144th 109 112 113 114 115 120 122 123 128 144 Training 2 16 34 37 42 53 62 63 66 80 92 100 112 4th – 27th 4 9 12 13 15 18 19 21 22 24 27 32nd – 49th 32 33 35 40 41 43 44 46 47 48 49 52nd – 69th 52 54 56 58 60 61 62 65 67 68 69 71st – 99th 71 73 74 75 78 79 80 82 84 85 88 89 91 92 93 95 96 99 100th – 119th 100 101 102 108 110 111 114 116 117 118 119 121st – 135th 121 124 125 126 127 129 130 131 134 135 145th – 199th 145 146 147 148 149 150 152 155 157 164 180 192 197 198 199 201st – 295th 201 203 207 213 242 245 254 265 266 270 272 295 Training 43 56 61 67 78 121 129 150
Rocket	4 7 8 10 13 14 18 19 23 24 27 28 29 35 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 49 54 62
Tank	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 Training 25 28 29 30 31 32 34 36 37 40 41 42 44 Training 45 Training 47 48 Training 51 60 75 78 79 90 117 Training 193
Other	OMSDON
Guards units marked in bold unless they are in a Guards section.

v t e Belarusian Ground Forces
Operational Commands	North Western Operational Command Western Operational Command
Mechanised Brigades	6th Guards 11th Guards 19th Guards 120th Guards
Artillery Brigades	51st Guards 111th 231st Mixed 336th Rocket
Missile Brigades	22nd 62nd Anti-Aircraft Missile 465th 740th Anti-Aircraft Missile
Other	86th Communications Brigade 188th Engineering Brigade

v t e Battle of Stalingrad
Airfields Axis order of battle Red Army order of battle Bombing of Stalingrad in World War II German commanders German units
Operations  Nazi Germany Donnerschlag Winter Storm  Soviet Union Uranus Little Saturn Koltso
Formations Army groups and fronts B Centre Don Don Southwestern Stalingrad Voronezh Armies Axis German 4th Panzer German 6th Hungarian 2nd Italian 8th Romanian 3rd and 4th 1st Guards 2nd Guards 3rd Guards 21st 51st 62nd 64th 65th Corps XIV Panzer XXXX Panzer XXXXVIII Panzer IV VIII XI LI 8th Air Tank 1st 4th 13th 16th 24th 26th others 4th Mechanised 3rd Guards Cavalry 4th Cavalry 8th Cavalry Divisions Panzer 6th 14th 16th 17th 22nd 24th Infantry 3rd Motorised 29th Motorised 60th Motorised 5th 44th 71st 76th 79th 94th 100th 113th 295th 297th 305th 371st 376th 384th 389th others 9th Flak Guards Rifle 13th 15th 33rd 35th 36th 37th 39th Rifle 38th 45th 62nd 64th 91st 93rd 95th 112th 138th 157th 169th 173rd 181st 193rd 196th 204th 214th 221st 248th 284th 302nd 308th 422nd others 60th Cavalry 81st Cavalry
Notable participants Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler Alexander Edler von Daniels Hermann Göring Hermann Hoth Hans-Valentin Hube Erich von Manstein Friedrich Paulus Wolfram von Richthofen Arthur Schmidt Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach Karl Strecker Romania Constantin Constantinescu-Claps Petre Dumitrescu Mihail Lascăr Other Axis members Viktor Pavičić (Croatia) Italo Gariboldi (Italy) Gusztáv Jány (Hungary) Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Hazi Aslanov Vasily Badanov Vasily Chuikov Nikolay Dyatlenko Sasha Filippov Filipp Golikov Vasily Gordov Vasily Grossman Nikita Khrushchev Nikolay Krylov Dmitry Lelyushenko Rodion Malinovsky Kirill Moskalenko Yakov Pavlov Alexander Rodimtsev Konstantin Rokossovsky Alexander Shcherbakov Semyon Timoshenko Aleksandr Vasilevsky Nikolay Voronov Erich Weinert Andrei Yeremenko Vasily Zaitsev Aleksey Zhadov Georgy Zhukov
Significant locations Barmaley Fountain Barrikady Factory Grain Elevator Gumrak Kalach Mamayev Kurgan Pavlov's House Pitomnik Airfield Red October Steel Factory River Don River Volga Tatsinskaya Airfield Tsaritsa Gorge Tractor Plant
In memoriam The Motherland Calls Stalingrad Madonna Sword of Stalingrad Battle of Stalingrad in popular culture
See also Battle of the Caucasus Battle of Kursk Case Blue Operation Barbarossa Second Battle of Kharkov Third Battle of Kharkov Volgograd

• Brigades of Belarus
• Mechanised brigades
• Military units and formations established in 2002
• Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner