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
Active	October 1943–c. 1950s
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army (later Soviet Army)
Type	Anti-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

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

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

Citations

1. Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964, p. 393.
2. Gurkin et al. 1972, p. 294.
3. Tsapayev, Vvedensky & Hayrapetyan 2014, p. 182.
4. Gurkin et al. 1988, p. 180.
5. Tsapayev, Vvedensky & Hayrapetyan 2014, p. 256.
6. Gurkin et al. 1990, p. 179.
7. Mikheyev & Dezhkov 1945, p. 1.
8. Feskov et al 2013, p. 287.

Bibliography

• 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• 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). 2. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Military documents

• Mikheyev, Lieutenant Colonel; Dezhkov, Lieutenant (1945). "Доношу о численном и боевом составе 1 эшелона 70 зенад РГК" [Report on the numerical and combat composition of the 1st echelon of the 70th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division RGK]. Pamyat Naroda (in Russian). Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence, fond 371, opus 6367, file 894)