ORSHA MILITARY FORMATIONS AND UNITS

ˈOrsha ˈMilitary Forˈmations and ˈUnits

For the liberation of the city of Orsha (June 27, 1944) in the course of the Viciebsk-Orsha offensive of 1944 during the Great Patriotic War, 41 formations and the unit of the 11th Guards and 31st armies, 1st Air Force Army of the 3rd Belarusian Front were awarded the Orsha honorary title by the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief from July 6, 1944.

Units and formations that were awarded the Orsha honorary title, i.e. the 2nd Fighter Aviation Corps (lieutenant general of aviation A. S. Blagavieshchanski); the 173rd (colonel S. E. Klimakhin), 192nd (colonel A. M. Kavaliewski), 220th (colonel V. A. Polevik), and 352nd (major general N. M. Strizhenko) Rifle divisions; the 20th Breakthrough Artillery Division (major general M. P. Beliakov); the 48th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (colonel P.M. Barskij); the 4th Guards Fighter (colonel V. A. Kitaev) and 5th Guards Bomber (major general of aviation V. A. Sandalov) Aviation divisions; the 120th Independent (colonel N. I. Bukov) and 213th (colonel A. V. Tsinchanka) Tank brigades; the 14th Guards Cannon (colonel M. N. Khasin) and 43rd Anti-Tank Fighter (colonel I. I. Kij) Artillery brigades; the 31st Engineer-Sapper Brigade (colonel M. E. Pronevich); the 63rd Independent Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment (colonel I. M. Dagilis); the 926th (Lt.Col. A. N. Khukhrin), 1435th (Lt.Col. K. V. Khachev), and 1445th (Lt.Col. I. D. Fedotov) Self-Propelled Artillery regiments; the 83rd Guards Howitzer (Lt.Col. M. A. Uvarov) and 570th Corps (colonel G. G. Bazhutov) Artillery regiments; the 2nd (major A. P. Sobolev), 64th (major A. A. Surkov), 65th (Lt.Col. M. N. Zvorygin), 89th (major V. V. Vlasov), 115th (major P. A. Dranko), and 133rd (major A. V. Osipov) Guards Fighter Aviation regiments; the 154th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment (major G. K. Starodumov); the 15th (Lt.Col. N. V. Isakov), 274th (major I. I. Zapriagaev), 523rd (Lt.Col. K. A. Pilshchikov), and 900th (Lt.Col. A. F. Khatsinski) Fighter Aviation regiments; the 17th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (Lt.Col. N. A. Borovkov); the 621st (major V. V. Povarkov), 948th (Lt.Col. S. I. Grigorev), and 952nd (major I. M. Solovev) Assault Aviation regiments; the 1st Independent Guards Signal Regiment (colonel D. V. Letkov); the 36th (Lt.Col. I. M. Lagunov), and 92nd (Lt.Col. A. V. Markov) Independent Signal regiments; the 375th Independent Radio Artillery Battalion (engineer-major V. I. Tiushev); the 412nd (major P. M. Kataev) and 433rd (major I. I. Mukans) Independent Line Signal battalions.

By the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dd. June 27, 1944, a commendation was given to the troops which participated in the liberation of Orsha. Moscow saw 20 artillery guns saluting with 224 salvoes.