70th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (Soviet Union)

The 70th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (Russian: 70-я зенитная артиллерийская дивизия) was an anti-aircraft artillery division of the Soviet Union's Red Army (later the Soviet Army) during World War II and the early postwar period.

70th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
ActiveOctober 1943–c. 1950s
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army (later Soviet Army)
TypeAnti-Aircraft Artillery

Formed in the Volga Military District in late 1943, the division was moved forward to the Kiev Military District in March 1944. It did not see combat and was disbanded by the end of the 1950s.

World War II edit

 
A 37 mm AA gun of the type used by the division during World War II

The division began forming around 3 October 1943, when Colonel Ivan Kurenkov was appointed commander.[1] It was part of the Volga Military District, and included the 1997th, 2001st, 2005th, and 2009th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments.[2] In May 1944, the division was relocated to Zhitomir in the Kiev Military District.[3][4] From 2 September, Colonel Konstantin Popov served as division commander, leading it for the rest of the war.[1] The division remained at Zhitomir for the rest of the war.[5][6]

Postwar edit

In late 1945, the division relocated to Transcaucasia. The 2005th Regiment, the first echelon of the division, arrived at Kutaisi in late November.[7] Popov commanded it until March 1948, when he was transferred to command a brigade.[5] The division was among those anti-aircraft artillery divisions disbanded without being converted into another unit by the end of the 1950s.[8]

References edit

Citations edit

Bibliography edit

  • 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.
  • Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1972). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть III (Январь — декабрь 1943 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part III (January–December 1943)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
  • Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1988). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть IV (Январь — декабрь 1944 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part IV (January–December 1944)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
  • Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1990). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть V (Январь—сентябрь 1945 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part V (January–September 1945)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
  • Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy.
  • Tsapayev, D.A.; et al. (2014). Goremykin, Viktor (ed.). Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь [The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0.

Military documents edit