1st Tank Division (Soviet Union)


The 1st Tank Division was a Division sized unit of the Red Army that existed from 1940–42. It was later reformed, from a separate formation, with a different lineage. Within the Soviet Ground Forces it existed as a second line ready division from 1945–2008, at Kaliningrad in the Baltic Military District.

First formation

The division was first formed in July 1940 and had the following structure:
When under the control of the Leningrad Military District the division was assigned to the 1st Mechanized Corps where it remained until its disbandment. When the division was disbanded the division was broken up and used to create the new 122nd and 124th Tank Brigades. Before disbandment the division contained the following units:
The Division was re-formed for its second time on 18 August 1941 from the 1st Motor Rifle Division. The division had the following formation upon creation:
The division was established 4 July 1945 in Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, from the 1st Tank Corps.
After the end of the war the division was stationed in Kaliningrad and had the following structure:
After force reductions in early 1953, Soviet divisions were re-organized and most were drawn down to just cadre brigades, including the 1st Tank Division. The reforms mostly were because of the draw-down after the end of the Second World War and the changes were mostly organized by Nikita Khrushchev and his cabinet. The "division" had the following structure after the re-forms:
Later in June of 1957 the division was re-organized yet again including:
Just three years later in 1960, the 72nd Independent Tank Training Battalion was disbanded.

Structure in 1990

After many years the Soviet Ground Forces had a major re-fit under Dmitry Yazov including the 1st Tank Division. In 1990 the division consisted of the following just before its major re-organization:
In 1993 the 1st Tank Division was reduced in status to the 2nd Independent Tank Brigade. Finally, in 1998 the brigade was re-organized and became the 385th Weapons and Equipment Storage Base. The base was finally disbanded in 2008 as a result of the 2008 Russian military reform.