The corps was formed in late May 1941 in the
Western Special Military District from the personnel of the
214th Airborne Brigade. The corps was commanded by
Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. On 22 June 1941, the corps was stationed in the
Western Front's second echelon in
Pukhavichy in
Minsk Region. On June 26th, the corps was ordered to conduct an air-assault and ground attack with the
20th Mechanized Corps to stop advancing German troops at
Slutsk. The corps did not have transport aircraft and instead attacked on foot. The counterattack failed and both corps were broken through. In late June, the 214th Airborne Brigade was redeployed by truck to the area Glusha,
Staryya Darohi, and
Hlusk to operate in the rear of the German group advancing on
Babruysk. The main forces of the corps, the 7th and 8th Airborne Brigades, went into action in early July 1941 at the bend of the
Berezina River in the area of the Berezina and the
Svisloch River, and then retreated to the east in the area of
Mahilyow. On and after 8 July, the transports of the 409th Rifle Regiment and the remainder of the 624th Rifle Regiment, part of the
137th Rifle Division, were separated from the forward elements of the division. They were still approaching
Krichev and later joined the 7th Airborne Brigade. The brigades were taken out of line for refitting in the rear on 10 July. The
Battle of Smolensk forced the 4th Airborne Corps (7th and 8th Airborne Brigades) to re-enter combat in the
Krychaw area on 16 July 1941. On 18 July, the German army captured Krychaw, then crossed the
Sozh and captured a bridgehead. From 19 July, the 4th Airborne Corps attempted to recapture the town. Its combined detachment broke into the town on 29 July but was destroyed on the next day by a German force that reoccupied the town. In August, in a renewed German offensive, the corps was surrounded and broke out of encirclement in the region of
Unecha,
Pogar, and
Starodub; some units broke out in the area of
Trubchevsk. In September 1941, the corps was sent to be reformed beyond the
Volga River in Povolzhye. In December, after training, the corps was transferred to
Kaluga, now composed of the 8th, 9th and 214th Airborne Brigades. On 15 December, one battalion of the 214th Airborne Brigade (415 men) was airdropped to the west of
Klin to secure the only road to Teryaevo Sloboda and prevent a German retreat to
Volokolamsk. On 15 January 1942, the corps was airdropped to the area (35km southwest of
Vyazma). The 8th Airborne Brigade was airdropped, but due to changes in the situation, it was deemed inappropriate to airdrop the entire corps, and the remainder of the corps was withdrawn to
Lyubertsy. In the
Vyazma airborne operation, as part of the , the corps was airdropped behind German lines in the
Yukhnov direction (25 kilometers south of Vyazma) from 18 to 23 February. 7,373 paratroopers and 1,524 bales of ammunition and equipment were dropped. In March, the corps occupied the area of Klyuchi, Tynovka, Yurkino, Petrishchevo, Novaya, and Verterhovo station. From 18 March, the corps was forced on the defensive and suffered heavy losses. On 11 April, it was subordinated to the
1st Guards Cavalry Corps. The corps operated behind enemy lines in complete isolation from the main forces until June, when it was ordered leave its position and managed to break out of the encirclement on 28 June. In August 1942, the corps was re-formed as the
38th Guards Rifle Division. In the second half of 1942, the corps was formed again, but was not involved in the fighting, and in December 1942 was used to form the
1st Guards Airborne Division. == Subordination ==