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2024-02-02 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Association, glorified in the battles against fascism
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Yuri Zavizion
Chairman of the Council of Veterans of the 6th Guards Red Banner Tank Army, Lieutenant General of the Reserve
[RedStar] It has been 80 years since the formation of the 6th Guards Red Banner Tank Army of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
The year 1944 was marked by new victories for the Red Army, which wrested the strategic initiative from the enemy and conducted active offensive operations on all fronts. It was necessary to strengthen the armored fist of our armored and mechanized troops. For this purpose, in January 1944, it was decided to form another tank army, the sixth. Subsequently, more than once its military personnel demonstrated courage and bravery on the battlefields with Germany and Japan, certainly achieving success in carrying out combat missions.
The core of the newly formed association was the 5th Guards Stalingrad Tank Corps. In addition, the army included the 5th Mechanized Corps and a number of formations and units of army subordination. Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Andrei Grigorievich Kravchenko was appointed its commander.
The newly formed 6th Tank Army of General Kravchenko in January 1944 had yet to make itself known. She deservedly received her baptism of fire as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front, showing herself brilliantly in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation, during which the army defeated up to two enemy tank and one infantry divisions, destroyed and captured 379 tanks and self-propelled guns, 62 armored personnel carriers, 207 artillery guns.
On February 22, 1944, the 6th Tank Army was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front and in March–April took part in the Uman-Botoshan operation, in which it, in cooperation with the 2nd and 5th Tank Armies, acted as part of strike group to develop the success of the front. The task was completed.
The 6th Tank Army played an important role in the Iasi-Kishinev offensive operation of 1944 and subsequent military operations in the central part of Romania. The tank army introduced into the breakthrough in the 27th Army zone in the Iasi area successfully developed an offensive in the general direction of Bucharest. The operation was carried out at a record high pace, which required rapid unification of efforts in decisive areas and flexibility in command and control. On August 1, 1944, army troops victoriously entered Bucharest.
At the beginning of September, the 6th Tank Army changed the direction of its offensive: it was sharply turned to the west. And now, having overcome the Transylvanian Alps, the army developed an offensive against the city of Cluj.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions, heroism, bravery and courage shown by personnel in battles with the Nazi invaders, on September 12, 1944, the 6th Tank Army was transformed into the 6th Guards Tank Army, and its 5th Mechanized Corps - to the 9th Guards Mechanized Corps. This raised the morale of the tank crews.
For military exploits during the war, 39,344 soldiers of the 6th Guards Tank Army were awarded orders and medals. 12 people became full holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees, 78 were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union
In October 1944, the 6th Guards Tank Army took part in the Debrecen offensive operation. In December 1944 - January 1945 - in the Budapest strategic offensive operation. The results were, as always, the highest.
The battle lasted ten days and went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War as the Balaton defensive operation. The enemy's counter-offensive was met by a well-prepared, strong defense. It is symbolic that the 6th Guards Tank Army under the command of Guard Colonel General of Tank Forces A.G. Kravchenko acted against the 6th German Panzer Army under the command of Colonel General of the SS Panzer Forces Sepp Dietrich.
The 6th Guards Tank Army played a very important role in the implementation of the operational-strategic plans of the commanders of the fronts, in which it carried out tasks, being under operational subordination. Thus, in mid-March 1945, the army was transferred to the 3rd Ukrainian Front under operational subordination and, as part of it, took part in the Vienna strategic offensive operation, where it finally defeated the SS tank army under the command of Dietrich.
At the final stage of the Vienna strategic offensive operation, Sepp Dietrich uttered words of bitter recognition of his defeat: “My tank army is called the 6th because there are six tanks left in it...”
In mid-April 1945, the 6th Guards Tank Army was again reassigned to the 2nd mu Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky. As part of it, she actively participated in the battles for the cities of Brno, Olomouc and in the final defeat of enemy troops during the Prague strategic offensive operation.
The Khingan-Mukden frontal offensive operation, which ended in the complete defeat of the Kwantung Army and the withdrawal of Japan from the war, was a victorious triumph for the 6th Tank Army. The rapid actions of the 6th Guards Tank Army literally stunned and paralyzed the enemy, which forced him to stop military operations on the Chinese mainland and forced him to complete and unconditional surrender.
In a word, the 6th Guards Tank Army was born and tempered in battles with the enemies of our Motherland - Hitler's Germany and imperialist Japan. Its combat route is 5,050 kilometers, covered under its own power, excluding transportation by rail. Of these, the army fought 2,655 kilometers. The results are impressive: during the fighting, the tank army captured and destroyed 2,543 tanks and a large number of other military equipment. 34 infantry, 11 tank, and four cavalry divisions were defeated. 750 settlements in Ukraine and almost 1,500 in the countries of South-Eastern Europe and Manchuria were liberated.
The soldiers of the army covered themselves with unfading glory. During the fighting, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief announced 24 thanks to the tank crews of the 6th Guards Tank Army. For military exploits during the war, 39,344 army soldiers were awarded orders and medals. 12 people became full holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees, 78 were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Most units and formations of the army were awarded orders twice, and some three times. Almost all of them became guardsmen. The combat banners of these units and formations are decorated with 52 orders, 20 of them were given 27 honorary titles of Kiev, Smolensk, Uman, Dniester, Rymnik, Foksha, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Khingan, Mukden, Port Arthur and others.
From September 1945 to April 1957, the 6th Guards Tank Army was part of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Military District, and then was redeployed to the troops of the Red Banner Kyiv Military District in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
From the ranks of the famous tank army came a whole galaxy of wonderful military leaders, famous generals. Many unit and unit commanders subsequently graduated from military academies and held high command and responsible leadership positions.
In January 1974, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the army was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its services in battles against the Nazi invaders and high performance in combat training. In 1993, the 6th Guards Tank Army was reorganized into the 6th Guards Red Banner Army Corps.
In Moscow, a museum of military glory of the famous 6th Guards Red Banner Tank Army was created and now operates, which is located in secondary school No. 433 named after Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain I. Yakushkin.
The winners of that war will forever remain in the memory of grateful descendants. And let the guideline for this be the sacred commandment of the great front-line poet Konstantin Simonov, left for the edification of the younger generation: “To take care and remember those who ensured our Victory is the sacred duty of all living!”
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Posted by badanov 2024-02-02 00:00||
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