42nd Guards Tank Division
The 42nd Guards Tank Division was a Soviet armoured formation that existed from 1957 until its conversion into a weapons-and-equipment storage base in 1990.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The 42nd Guards Tank Division was an armoured formation of the Soviet Ground Forces, active from 1957 to 1990. Its institutional history was rooted in the Second World War formation that became the 42nd Guards Red Banner Rifle Division in September 1942. That wartime division had itself been formed in July 1942 from the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Brigade on the Western Front. During the process of formation it was temporarily designated the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Division, a title used from 6 July to 13 September 1942. Its initial structure included the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Guards Rifle Regiments. After receiving the 42nd Guards designation, the rifle division served in several major Soviet formations and operations. It was held in the Western Front reserve in October 1942 and had joined the 20th Army by November, apparently in the context of the fighting around Rzhev. During the remainder of the war it participated in campaigns associated with Stalingrad, Kursk, Kiev, Iasi, and Budapest. It received the honorific Priluki designation on 13 February 1944 after the liberation of Pryluky. At the end of the war, in May 1945, it was serving with the 1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanized Group of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Its wartime service also connected it with the 5th Army, 31st Army, 5th Guards Army, 40th Army, and 53rd Army at different stages. The postwar tank division was created on 4 June 1957 at Hvardiiske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast through the reorganization of the 42nd Guards Rifle Division. The settlement developed around the division's base during the same period, and its name reflected the unit's Guards status. The tank division remained subordinate to the 6th Guards Tank Army throughout its existence, placing it within the Soviet armoured-force structure rather than the commercial or corporate sphere. The formation's extended ceremonial title preserved distinctions inherited from its wartime history, including the Priluki honorific, the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner, and the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. On 1 September 1990 the division was reorganized as the 6299th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, commonly identified as the 6299th Guards VKhVT. This conversion ended the division's existence as an active armoured formation. The subject is therefore best understood as a military unit and historical institutional lineage, not as a consumer brand, company, or commercial organization.
History
The formation's documented lineage begins in July 1942, when the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Brigade was expanded and reorganized on the Western Front as the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Division. During its formation the unit used that provisional designation from 6 July to 13 September 1942. On 13 September it became the 42nd Guards Red Banner Rifle Division, with three Guards rifle regiments forming the core of its organization. The division entered the later stages of the Second World War as part of the Soviet force structure on the Eastern Front. In October 1942 it was listed among the reserves of the Western Front, and by November it had transferred to the 20th Army, apparently in connection with operations around Rzhev. It subsequently fought in major campaigns and operational areas including Stalingrad, Kursk, Kiev, Iasi, and Budapest. These engagements placed the formation within the Red Army's successive offensives from the defensive and attritional fighting of 1942 through the Soviet advances across Ukraine and into Central Europe. The unit's principal wartime honorific was awarded after the liberation of Pryluky. On 13 February 1944 it received the Priluki designation, which remained part of the formation's later ceremonial identity. By May 1945 it was attached to the 1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanized Group of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Over the course of the war it also served at different times with the 5th Army, 31st Army, 5th Guards Army, 40th Army, and 53rd Army. The precise sequence of all of these transfers is not established in the supplied material, but they illustrate the division's movement among major Soviet field-army commands. The postwar reorganization reflected the Soviet military's continuing conversion of selected rifle formations into armoured units. On 4 June 1957, at Hvardiiske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the 42nd Guards Rifle Division became the 42nd Guards Tank Division. The base was important to the local development of Hvardiiske, a settlement established around the military installation in 1957 and named in reference to the Guards designation. Throughout its postwar existence the tank division belonged to the 6th Guards Tank Army. The division retained a long honorific and award title associated with its wartime record: the 42nd Guards Priluki Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Tank Division. Its military unit number was 29410. The available reference material does not identify a distinct combat deployment or major public operation for the tank division after its 1957 formation. Its known institutional role was that of a Soviet armoured division within the standing force structure. On 1 September 1990 the formation was converted into the 6299th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment. The base is also described as the 6299th Guards VKhVT. This administrative change ended the division's active existence and marks the final documented transition in its lineage. Because the subject is a military organization rather than a commercial entity, conventional brand fields such as products, campaigns, executives, financials, and market positioning are not applicable.
- 1990
Conversion into a storage base
[1]On 1 September 1990, the division became the 6299th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, also described as the 6299th Guards VKhVT.
- 1957
Conversion into a tank division
[1]On 4 June 1957, the 42nd Guards Rifle Division was reorganized as the 42nd Guards Tank Division at Hvardiiske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- 1945
End-of-war service with the 2nd Ukrainian Front
[1]In May 1945, the formation was serving with the 1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanized Group of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
- 1944
Award of the Priluki honorific
[1]The division received the Priluki honorific on 13 February 1944 following the liberation of Pryluky.
- 1942
Formation from the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Brigade
[1]In July 1942, the 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Brigade was reorganized on the Western Front into a rifle division. The formation temporarily used the designation 1st Guards Red Banner Rifle Division.
- 1942
Adoption of the 42nd Guards Red Banner Rifle Division designation
[1]On 13 September 1942, the formation received the designation 42nd Guards Red Banner Rifle Division.
- 1942
Assignment to Western Front reserves and the 20th Army
[1]The division was listed in Western Front reserve in October 1942 and had moved to the 20th Army by November, apparently in the context of the Battles of Rzhev.
Products and positioning
A Soviet Guards armoured formation and wartime military lineage unit; not a commercial brand.
Sources1 sources
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