1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment

1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment
The 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Russian: 1077-й зенитный артиллерийский полк, 1077-y zenith artillerymen Polk) was a unit of the Stalingrad Corps Region of the Soviet Air Defense Forces that participated in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Under the leadership of Colonel Raiynin, the regiment operated within the Stalingrad Military District and later came under the command of the Stalingrad Front during the battle for the city. Comprising mostly young female volunteers who had recently completed high school, the regiment demonstrated great bravery in defending the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). One notable act of valor was when they engaged an approaching Panzer unit by adjusting their guns to the lowest elevation and directly firing at the advancing tanks.
Training and materials
English-language sources of information concerning the 1077th unit provide limited and conflicting details. However, it is believed that similar to other anti-aircraft units, they received inadequate training and had insufficient ammunition supplies. Instead of armor-piercing rounds, they were equipped with fragmentation 'flak' rounds, which raises doubts regarding their effectiveness against armored targets. The unit utilized M1939 guns, which were 37-mm replicas of the Bofors guns.
The Defense of Stalingrad
On August 23, 1942, the German 6th Army initiated an offensive on Stalingrad, preceded by extensive bombing that caused significant damage to the city. The 16th Panzer Division advanced towards Gumrak Airport, located 15 kilometers northwest of the city, and encountered resistance from Soviet anti-aircraft guns.
According to the records of the 16th Panzer Division, they encountered determined opposition from tenacious female fighters manning 37 anti-aircraft positions, engaging in a fierce exchange of fire until those positions were destroyed.
The official Soviet historical account of the war acknowledges this event, stating that the anti-aircraft troops of the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, led by Colonel W. S. German, engaged the enemy's tanks and motorized infantry without immediate support from rifle units. The regiment fought alone for two days, successfully repelling the assaults of German submachine gunners. While engaged in combat, they managed to damage or destroy 83 tanks as well as 15 other vehicles carrying infantry. Additionally, the regiment neutralized over three battalions of assault infantry and shot down 14 enemy aircraft.
The 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment continued to serve in the Soviet forces until the end of the war. In May 1945, the regiment became part of the 86th Air Defense Forces Division, operating on the Southwestern Front. In 1945, the 86th Division was responsible for providing air defense support to the Kharkiv and Odessa Military Regions, as well as the Independent Coastal Army.
Notes
References
Beevor, Antony (1999). Stalingrad (in English). Viking Press, Penguin Books. (Pbk).
Gretschko, A. A., et al. (1975). Geschichte des Zweiten Welt Krieges 1939-1945 (German translation of the official Soviet history of the Second World War), Volume 5, page 216. Berlin: Militärverlag der DDR.
Stalingrad 1942
External links
1077th AA Regiment: The Women Who Defended The Stalingrad Tractor Factory Against German Panzers
Regiments of the Soviet Union
All-female military units and formations
Artillery units and formations of the Soviet Union
Air defence units and formations of the Soviet Union