page_title: 41st Guards Rifle Division
section_title: Budapest Offensive
hierarchical_section_title: 41st Guards Rifle Division / Budapest Offensive
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: A székesfehérvári szovjet hősi emlékmű katonasírokkal
context_page_description: The 41st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in August, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 10th Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the last of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front, then to the 24th Army in Don Front, and suffered heavy casualties north of Stalingrad before being withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding. Returning to 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front in November it took part in Operation Little Saturn as part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps and then advanced into the Donbass where it was caught up in the German counteroffensive in the spring of 1943. During the summer and fall the division fought its way through eastern Ukraine as part of the 6th, and later the 57th Army under several corps commands. It would remain in the southern part of the front for the duration of the war.
context_section_description: Later in September the 41st Guards was withdrawn into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it joined the 21st Guards Corps, still in 4th Guards Army. The Army remained in the Reserve into November when it was reassigned to 3rd Ukrainian Front, where it would remain for the duration. By November 24 the Corps reached the east bank of the Danube from Nagyvadasz to Mohács. Overnight the division forced the river by improvised means southeast of the latter and by 1800 hours on the 26th, having captured Mohács, linked up with forces of 57th Army attacking southward. Part of the success of the division in this operation was attributed to getting all of its light artillery and mortars into its bridgehead in the first 24 hours. By the end of December 8 all of 4th Guards Army had reached a line between Lakes Velence and Balaton where it went over to the defensive. On January 6, 1945 the division was awarded the honorific "Danube" for its successes in this crossing; on the same date the 126th Guards Rifle Regiment was awarded the same distinction, while the 124th Guards Rifle received the Order of Suvorov, 3rd Degree and the 89th Guards Artillery won the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky for their victories in fighting for Szekszárd, Kaposvár, Paks, Bonyhád and Dombóvár.
  As of December 20 the division was deployed along the Budapest direction and the 21st Guards Corps consisted of the 41st, 62nd and 69th Guards Rifle Divisions. The same day the 46th Army launched an attack along the Baracska front in an effort to break through the "Margarita Line" and soon penetrated the Axis defenses. The 4th Guards Army soon joined the offensive. 41st Guards gave fire support to the 252nd Rifle Division before attacking itself at 1330 hours and after repelling counterattacks occupied Tác by the end of the day. Overnight the Army advanced up to 3 km and captured several strongpoints on the approaches to Székesfehérvár and Kisfalud. By the end of December it had the former place surrounded on three sides before coming to a halt. The 41st Guards turned over its combat sector to the 252nd Division and took over the positions of the 93rd Rifle Division on the northern outskirts of Székesfehérvár, while the division was reassigned to the 135th Rifle Corps.
  During December the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts had been able to encircle and besiege Budapest but on January 2 German forces began a series of counterattacks from the area southeast of Komárom in an effort to relieve the pocket. This assault struck the 31st Guards Rifle Corps and forced it back. The Army was forced to regroup and the 41st was one of four rifle divisions, plus elements of 5th Guards Cavalry Corps, deployed to cover the breakthrough sector from the southeast and south. Over the first three days the counteroffensive gained up to 30 km and reached the approaches to Bicske, but slowed to a halt shortly thereafter.
  The same day the Front was ordered to counterstrike with its 4th Guards Army, 5th Guards Cavalry, 18th Tank and 1st Guards Mechanized Corps from northwest of Bicske towards Komárom. This plan was put aside when the German forces renewed their attacks on January 7, now from the area northwest of Székesfehérvár, but made only slight progress. By January 13 they were forced to halt offensive operations along the entire front. The offensive began again on January 18 with up to 130 tanks and assault guns and up to 60 armored halftracks, and managed to break through the 135th Corps' defenses along a 20 km front. The Army committed the 7th Mechanized Corps into the fighting but before it could arrive the German tanks had reached the Sarviz Canal and inflicted heavy losses on the units of 135th Corps. The 21st Guards Corps was moved to strengthen the defenses near Székesfehérvár; at this time that the 41st Guards was deployed 12–14 km north of this place and soon returned to that command for the duration. The defensive fighting in this area continued until January 27, when 4th Guards Army went over to the attack at 1000 hours to eliminate the German penetration. This was largely comp
caption: Soviet memorial today in Székesfehérvár
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