The 7th Guards Cavalry Corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a cavalry corps active during the Second World War. It was formed from the 8th Cavalry Corps in February 1943.
Second World War
8th Cavalry Corps
The 8th Cavalry Corps was created on 18 January 1942 at Tula. Lieutenant General Pavel Korzun took command. It was initially composed of the 21st Mountain Cavalry Division, 52nd Cavalry Division, 55th Cavalry Division.
Immediately upon forming the 8th Cavalry Corps was assigned to the Bryansk Front. During the winter fighting in February - March 1942 the Corps controlled the 36th and 37th Ski Battalions. By the end of March 1942, the ski battalions and the 52nd Cavalry Division were gone. In April the corps was rebuilt: 21st Mountain Cavalry Division 55th Cavalry Division 112th Cavalry Division 148th Artillery-Mortar Regiment 263rd Horse Artillery Battalion (76mm guns and mortars)
The Corps completed its reorganization in June 1942. In July it went into battle with the Bryansk Front against the northern flank of the German summer offensive. After a month of hard fighting the corps went back into reserve. In October it moved south and was assigned to the 5th Tank Army in November for Operation Uranus. 13th Separate Signals Battalion, and 23rd signals air-flight. The Corps was assigned to the Southwestern Front’s in the area of the 5th Tank Army (2nd formation) (Serafimovich) north of Stalingrad where it cooperated with the 1st Tank Corps (General V. V. Butkov) during Operation Uranus. in which they had the task of cutting the railroad in the region of the stations Bolshaya Osipovka, Surovikino, and Oblivskaya. Attached to the Corps was: 174th Antitank Regiment 179th Antitank Regiment 35th Guards Mortar Regiment (BM-13) 586th Antiaircraft Regiment (37mm guns) 511th Flamethrower Tank Battalion In 1943, on January 30 from the area of the Seversky Donets river, the Corps went over to the offensive in the direction of Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk) as part of the 3rd Guards Army under the command of lieutenant general Dmitry Lelyushenko, where it was engaged in furious fighting on the approaches to the city. At dawn on February 14 began the assault, as a result of which the first provincial city in central Ukraine was liberated. Although the main role in this operation was played by the 59th, 243rd, 279th Guard rifle divisions, 2nd Guard and 2nd Tank Corps, active assistance in the liberation of Lugansk was rendered by the 8th Cavalry Corps now under the command of General Major M.D. Borisov.
The Corps was assigned by the Soviet Southwestern Front to break through German lines at Debaltsevo near the city and cut German communications. On the night of February 8, 1943, the Corps accomplished this and by February 14 the raid had been so successful that the whole corps was raised to Guards status. The Corps became the 7th Guards Cavalry Corps, and its three divisions, the 21, 35, and 112 became the 14th, 15th and 16th Guards Cavalry Divisions. During the raid the corps also included the 148th Mortar Regiment, the 263d Separate Cavalry Artillery Battalion, and the 8th Separate Antitank Artillery Battalion. It completed this most difficult raid on the rear areas of enemy, distracting significant forces of enemy from reinforcing the frontline units. The Corps sustained very heavy losses breaking out of the encirclement, but the enemy also sustained losses in manpower and material which were essential for reinforcement of the forward units.
Commanders
15.01.1942 — 11.05.1942 Pavel Korzun
12.05.1942 — 27.05.1942 Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov
28.05.1942 — 09.09.1942 Ivan Fedotovich Lunev
10.09.1942 — 16.10.1942 Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov
17.10.1942 — 26.10.1942 Stepan Ivanovich Dudko, KIA
17.10.1942 — 14.02.1943 Mikhail Dmitrievich Borisov, POW
7th Guards Cavalry Corps
Order No. 78 of the Commissariat of the Defense of the USSR dated 14 February 1943 the corps was redesignated the 7th Guards Cavalry Corps.
14th Guards Cavalry Division (former 21st Cavalry Division) 15th Guards Cavalry Division (former 55th Cavalry Division) 16th Guards Cavalry Division (former 112th Cavalry Division)
After receiving its Guards designations the corps withdrew from behind German lines through snowstorms. After a week of dodging German patrols, the Corps slipped back through Soviet lines, having disrupted the rear areas and movement of most of the Panzer Corps. After returning to Soviet lines and due to the heavy losses from the Stalingrad offensive and the cavalry raid the Corps was sent into the reserves to rebuild.