- 97th Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 343rd Rifle Division (1941-43)
97th Guards Rifle Division(1943-57)
97th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957-1992)
97th Mechanized Brigade (1992-2004)
caption= Brigade Insignia
dates= August 1941 - November 2004
country=Ukraine
allegiance=
branch= Ukrainian Army
type= Mechanized Brigade
role=
size=
command_structure= 13th Army Corps
current_commander=
garrison= А-1766 [ [http://www.tuo.org.ua/publications/army/2004/03/30/vidpovid_ministerstv_32.html Ukrainskiy Ofitsery] "(Ukrainian)"]Slavuta ,Khmelnytskyi Oblast
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
equipment=T-64 [http://www.vu.mil.gov.ua/index.php?part=article&id=43 97-ма Полтавська окрема механізована] Article in Ukrainian, website of Ministry of Defense of Ukraine]BMP ZSU-23-4 2S3 Akatsiya 2S1
battles=World War II
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=
decorations=Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky The 97th Mechanized Brigade was a rifle, then a motor-rifle division of the
Red Army of theUSSR . Later it became a mechanizedbrigade of theUkrainian Ground Forces , based atSlavuta in the west ofUkraine .The full name of the division was 97th Guards Poltava Motor-Rifle Red Banner, Suvorov's, Bogdan Khmelnitsky division. After the Division became part of Ukrainian Armed Forces it was known as 97th Separate Mechanized Brigade. [ [http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=ua&part=news&sub=read&id=1022 News Article of the Press of Ukraine] - Ministry of Defense of Ukraine]
History
The Division was formed in August-September 1941 as the 343rd Rifle Division near the city of
Stavropol . It was assigned during the war to the 56th, 6th, 9th, 21st, and 24th Armies. In 1941-42 the Division took part in defensive operations atRostov , then in the Rostov and Barvenko-Lozovaia offensive operations. Later it fought in theSecond Battle of Kharkov and took part in defensive operations nearStalingrad . On July 17, 1942, when 21st Army joined theStalingrad Front , the division had 2,795 men and under 20 artillery pieces. [http://stalingrad.ic.ru/s21arm.html] After October 1942 it was assigned to the 66th Army, which later became 5th Guards Army.In May 1943 the Division became 97th Guards Rifle Division. [Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.374-5.] It then took part in the
Battle of Kursk , along with the rest of 5th Guards Army, part ofSteppe Front , initially in reserve. Later it fought in the liberation of left-bank Ukraine. In September 1943 the Division was awarded the 'Poltava ' placename honorific, along with its sister divisions the 13th and 95th Guards Rifle Divisions. In 1944-45 the Division took part in the Kirovograd, Uman-Botoshany, Lvov-Sandomir, Sandomir-Silesia, Upper and Lower Silesia, Berlin, and Prague offensive operations. [Bonn, Slaughterhouse, ibid.]After the end of
World War II for two years the Division was stationed inAustria , which it left in 1947. During that time the Division belonged to 5th Guards Army. After its relocation toSlavuta the Division belonged to 13th Army. [V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 pg89]The Division was reorganized from a Rifle into a Motor-Rifle Division around 1957.V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 pg72]
After 1991 the Division was reorganized into a Brigade. In November 2004 the Brigade was disbanded. [ [http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/sng/ukraine/ukraine_grand_force-dislokazia.htm force _sng ] ]
Divisional Order of Battle
Late Soviet Period ~1988
*110th Tank RegimentV.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 pg54]
*289th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment
*292nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment
*294th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment
*232th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
*1094th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket RegimentAwards
*September 1943 received the honorable name «Poltava» [Bonn, 2005, p.374-5]
*19?? receivedOrder of Bogdan Khmelnitsky
*19?? receivedOrder of Suvorov
*19?? received theOrder of the Red Banner References
Further reading
For combat history see, for example:
*“World War II". Soviet Encyclopaedia, 1985, p.573 "(Russian)"
*I.A.Samchuk “Guards from Poltava " (Military Publishing, 1965) "(Russian)"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.