118th Guards Rifle Division

118th Guards Rifle Division
Active	1945–1946; 1950–1956
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army (1945-46) Soviet Army (1950-56)
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Garrison/HQ	Pärnu
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner
Battle honours	Tallinn
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj. Gen. Karl Adamovich Allikas Maj. Gen. Johan Yakovlevich Lombak

Military unit

The 118th Estonian Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army. It was formed following the German surrender in June 1945 from the 2nd wartime formation of the 7th Estonian Rifle Division. The division became a brigade in 1946 and became a division again in 1950. It was disbanded in 1956.

History

The division was formed on June 28, 1945 from the re-designated 7th Estonian Rifle Division. On the same date the entire 8th Estonian Rifle Corps was raised to Guards status as the 41st Guards Rifle Corps. On its formation the 118th Guards inherited the honorific title and decoration of the 7th, with its full title being 118th Guards Rifle Estonian, Tallinn,^[1] Order of the Red Banner^[2] Division.^[3]^[4] The division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Karl Adamovich Allikas, who had commanded the 7th Estonian Rifle Division since January 6, 1943.

This re-designation took place nearly two months after V-E Day, but before the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, so technically the 118th Guards can be considered a wartime formation, although it did not see combat in Manchuria. In February 1946 General Allikas was replaced in command by Maj. Gen. Johan Yakovlevich Lombak, who had previously commanded the 249th Estonian Rifle Division (later 122nd Guards Rifle Division).

The division was downsized into the 22nd Guards Separate Rifle Brigade in 1946. It was based at Pärnu.^[5]

The division was reformed from the 22nd Guards Separate Rifle Brigade in 1950, and served until 1956 with 4th Guards Rifle Corps (the 10th Guards Army previously), before being disbanded again on July 7, 1956 at Tallinn.^[6]

References

Citations

^ https://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-6.html. In Russian. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 21.
^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units Divisions 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 88
^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 147
^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 149
^ Holm, Michael. "10th Guards Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-09. and Feskov et al 2013, p. 152

Bibliography

Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967b). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945 – 1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (in Russian). Moscow.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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.