Airborne Corps (Soviet Union)


The Soviet Airborne Troops formed a number of Airborne Corps during World War II.

Airborne corps 22 June 1941

Order of Battle

Each airborne corps was to have 8020 soldiers in total, armed with:
There were five airborne corps in total.
Source soldat.ru forums.
From March to July 1942 5th Airborne Corps was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, training personnel, but at the beginning of August, due to the sharp deterioration of the situation in the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, the corps was immediately reformed as the 39th Guards Rifle Division.
In the second half of 1942 under the Moscow the 5th Airborne Corps was formed again, but it did not see action, because in December 1942 it became the 7th Guards Airborne Division. This formation of the corps was commanded by Colonel Fedor Afanasev and Major General of Shore Duty Terenty Parafilo.

Airborne corps formed after 22 June 1941

On September 4, 1941 the formation of five new airborne corps was ordered, numbered 6 to 10. Also, the establishment strength of the corps was increased to 10328 soldiers.
In Summer 1942 the Stavka converted all ten airborne corps into guards rifle divisions to bolster Soviet forces in the south. Among them was the 6th Airborne Corps, which became the 40th Guards Rifle Division.
Yet:
'..he Stavka still foresaw the necessity of conducting actual airborne operations later during the war. To have the Stavka created eight new airborne corps in the fall of 1942. Beginning in December 1942, these corps became ten guards airborne divisions.'

The reformed 9th Airborne Corps was commanded by Colonel Mamontov Aleksey Georgievich and Major General Travnikov Nikolai Grigorevich. The reformed 10th Airborne Corps was commanded by Major General Alexander Kapitokhin.
These divisions were numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, formed from 9th Airborne Corps, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Guards Airborne Division.
'After the defeat of German forces at Kursk, the bulk of the airborne divisions joined
in the pursuit of German forces to the Dnepr River. Even as ten guards airborne
divisions fought at the front, new airborne brigades formed in the rear areas. In April and May 1943, twenty brigades formed and trained for future airborne operations. Most of these brigades had become six new guards airborne divisions by September 1943. The Stavka however, earmarked three of these airborne brigades use in an airborne operation to cross the Dnepr River.'
However, by January 1944, some of these formations were becoming Guards Rifle Divisions.

Guards Airborne Corps from 1944

David Glantz wrote in 1984:
In August , the Stavka formed the 37th, 38th, and 39th Guards Airborne corps. By October, the newly formed corps had combined into a separate airborne army under Maj. Gen. I. I. Zatevakhin. However, because of the growing need for well-trained ground units, the new army did not endure long as an airborne unit. In December, separate airborne army the Stavka reorganized the separate airborne army into the 9th Guards Army of Col. Gen. V. V. Glagolev, and all divisions were renumbered as guards rifle divisions. As testimony to the elite nature of airborne-trained units, the Stavka held the 9th Guards Army out of defensive actions, using it only for exploitation during offensives.

From December 1944, the original VDV divisions were reconstituted as Guards Rifle formations.
There were significant reorganisations after the end of the war, and two new airborne corps were established. At the end of 1955 and the beginning of 1956 the 11th, 21st, 100th and 114th Airborne Divisions were disbanded as well as all the airborne corps headquarters.