1st Infantry Division (Romania)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=1st Infantry Division
"Divizia 1 Infanterie"


caption=Official emblem of the 1st Infantry Division
nickname=
motto=
colors=
march=
ceremonial_chief=
type=
branch=Romanian Land Forces
dates=16 August 1916 - present
country=Romania
allegiance=
command_structure=
size=
specialization=
current_commander=Major General Ion Bârloiu
garrison=Bucharest
battles=Eastern Front (World War II)
Prague Offensive
Battle of Mărăşeşti
Battle of Mărăşti
notable_commanders=General Eremia Grigorescu
General Petre Dumitrescu
anniversaries=18th August

The 1st Infantry Division "Dacica" is one of the two major units of the Romanian Land Forces with its headquarters in Bucharest. Until June 15 2008, it was designated as the 1st Territorial Army Corps "General Ioan Culcer" ("Corpul 1 Armată Territorial "General Ioan Culcer").

History

In August 1944, the Red Army entered Romania after driving back Army Group South from the region. On August 23, Marshal Ion Antonescu was dismissed by King Michael I, and Romania declared war on Germany and Hungary some days later. The Soviets took control of the oilfields in the Ploieşti area, and the Romanian Army was used to fight German forces on the Eastern Front.

The First Army became one of the Romanian armies fighting for the Red Army on the Eastern Front. In its campaign from August 1944 to May 1945, the Romanian Army lost some 64,000 men killed. The First Army took part in Soviet offensives, notably at Prague in May 1945, which happened to be the last offensive it took part in World War II.

In the Prague Offensive, the First Army, together with the Romanian Fourth Army, Polish Second Army, and Soviet First, Second, and Fourth Ukrainian Fronts. Marshal Ivan Koniev, the commander of the First Ukrainian Front, was the main Soviet commander in the area. Together with Marshal Georgy Zhukov's First Byelorussian Front, Koniev had launched the great attack on April 16 that resulted in the fall of Berlin and Soviet victory on the Eastern Front.

The offensive started on May 6, a few days before the end of the war. German resistance in the east was now limited to small pockets scattered across Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. The remnants of Army Group Center held the remaining German-controlled areas in the east. In the attack on Prague, German resistance was crushed in the city, and the Soviet, Romanian, and Polish forces entered the city on May 9. Czech partisans had been fighting the Germans there for a few days.

By May 11 and 12, all remaining German pockets of resistance in the east were crushed.

Current structure

*1st Infantry Division - HQ Bucharest
** 2nd Infantry Operational Brigade "Rovine" - Craiova
*** 20th Infantry Battalion "Black Scorpions" - Craiova
*** 26th Infantry Battalion "Neagoe Basarab" (nicknamed "Red Scorpions") - Craiova
*** 32nd Infantry Battalion "Mircea" - Timişoara
*** 116th Logistics Battalion "Golden Scorpions" -Craiova
*** 205th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion "Blue Scorpions" - Craiova
** 34th Infantry Territorial Brigade "Vasile Lupu" - Bucharest
*** 2nd Infantry Battalion "Călugăreni" - Bucharest
*** 341st Infantry Battalion "White Sharks" - Topraisar
*** 168th Logistics Battalion - Constanţa
*** 495th Infantry Battalion "Ştefan Şoverth" - Clinceni (including 2 paratroopers companies)
*** 345th Mixed Artilery Battalion - Basarabi
*** 348th Air Defence Battalion - Topraisar
** 282nd Mechanized Operational Brigade "Unirea Principatelor" - Focşani
*** 280th Mechanized Infantry Battalion - Focşani
*** 281st Mechanized Infantry Battalion - Râmnicu Sărat
*** 284th Tank Battalion - Galaţi
*** 285th Mixed Artillery Battalion "Vlaicu Vodă" - Brăila
*** 288th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion - Focşani
*** 300th Mechanized Infantry Battalion - Galaţi
*** 469th Logistics Battalion - Focşani
** 2nd Mountain Troops Brigade "Sarmizegetusa" - Braşov
*** 21st Mountain Troops Battalion - Predeal
*** 30th Mountain Troops Battalion - Câmpulung
*** 33rd Mountain Troops Battalion - Curtea de Argeş
*** 206th Mixed Artillery Battalion - Braşov
*** 228th Anti-aircraft Battalion - Braşov
*** 229th Logistic Battalion - Braşov
** 10th Engineer Operational Brigade - Brăila
*** 96th Engineer Battalion - Bucharest
*** 3rd Engineer (Constructions) Battalion - Buzău
*** 72nd Engineer (Bridges) Battalion - Brăila
*** River-crossing Battalion - Brăila
** 8th Mixed Artillery Brigade "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" - Focşani
*** HQ Battery (Focşani)
*** 81st Artillery Battalion "Maior Gheorghe Şonţu" - Focşani
*** 82nd Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion "General Alexandru Tell" - Bârlad
*** 83rd Multiple Rocket Launcher Battalion "Bogdan I" - Bârlad
*** 96th Multiple Rocket Launcher Battalion "Mircea Voievod" - Ploieşti
*** 84th Data Acquisition Battalion "Mărăşti" - Focşani
*** 85th Logistics Battalion "General Mihail Cerchez" - Bârlad
** 1st Logistics Brigade "Prahova" - Ploieşti
*** 1st Transport Battalion
*** 5th Medical Support Battalion
*** 102nd Maintenance Battalion
** 53rd Mixed Anti-aircraft Missiles Regiment "Trophaeum Traiani" - Medgidia
** 528th Reconnaissance Battalion - Brăila
** 1st "CIMIC" Battalion - Bucharest
** 49th NBC Battalion - Piteşti
** 60th Paratroopers Battalion "Băneasa-Otopeni" - Buzău
** other supporting units

See also

* Battle of Romania (1944)
* Romania during World War II
* 4th Infantry Division
* Romanian Armed Forces

External links

* [http://www.corpul1a.forter.ro/index.htm Official website]