The 8th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division RGK was formed at
Moscow in November 1942. It was later relocated to
Noginsk, and included three light AA gun-equipped regiments: the 797th, 848th, and the 991st. On 30 November, Lieutenant Colonel
Savely Chapovsky was assigned as division commander. He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel (promoted to colonel on 18 December)
Ivan Kamensky, who led the division for the rest of the war, on 14 December. In February 1943, when anti-aircraft divisions were reorganized to include heavier guns, the 1063rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment joined the division. On 1 March, the 991st Regiment was renumbered as the
978th Regiment. At the end of April, the entire division was relocated to
Oboyan, where it became part of the
Voronezh Front. It was operationally subordinated to the
1st Tank Army, but its 797th Regiment was left behind to cover airfields of the
2nd Air Army in
Oboyansky and
Solntsevsky Districts. The division was part of the 1st Tank Army (redesignated the 1st Guards Tank Army on 25 April 1944) for the rest of the war, except for a brief period with the
38th Army in September and October. During the
Battle of Kursk, the 8th Division provided air defense for the 1st Tank Army in the area north and west of
Belgorod, while the 797th Regiment covered the 2nd Air Army's airfields in the area of
Solntsevo and
Trubezh. The division's anti-aircraft gunners claimed 80 enemy aircraft in the battle. During the
Battle of the Dnieper, the division provided air defense for the 38th Army in the capture of
left-bank Ukraine. It then fought in the
Battle of Kiev, and for its "courage and valor", the 8th was awarded the honorific
Kiev on 6 November. During January and February 1944, the division provided anti-aircraft cover to the 1st Tank Army during the
Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, attacking towards
Vinnytsia, and in battles to destroy encircled German troops in the
Belaya Tserkov area. On 9 February, the division received the
Order of the Red Banner for "successful completion of combat missions" and "displaying courage and valor". It then fought in the
Proskurov–Chernovitsy Offensive, conducted during the spring
rasputitsa, which made the roads impassable. The division participated in the capture of
Chernovitsy, and was awarded the
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class on 8 April for its actions. For its "courage, valor, determination, and organization and skillful completion of combat tasks", the 8th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division was converted into the 4th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division on 12 May. Its regiments became the 256th, 257th, 263rd, and 273rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments. Four days later Kamensky was promoted to
major general. In May and June it provided air defense for the 38th Army during the crossing of the
Prut in the
Kolomyia area. During the
Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive in July and August, the division fought in the area of
Stanislav, and defended the 1st Guards Tank Army from German air attack during the capture of
Yaroslav and
Peremyshl, the crossing of the
Vistula, and the capture and expansion of the
Sandomierz bridgehead. In the
Warsaw–Poznań Offensive of the larger
Vistula–Oder Offensive, as part of the
1st Belorussian Front, the 4th Guards provided air cover for the attack of the 1st Guards Tank Army towards
Łódź,
Poznań, and
Frankfurt an der Oder after breaking out of the Sandomierz bridgehead. For its "courage and valor", the division received the honorific Łódź on 12 February. On 5 April, the division was awarded the
Order of Kutuzov 2nd class for "exemplary completion of combat assignments" during the advance into
Brandenburg. During the month it provided anti-aircraft defense on the
Oder near
Göritz, and for the army in the
Battle of Berlin. During
street fighting in
Berlin, 256th Guards Anti-Aircraft Regiment gun commander Sergeant
Daniil Guba received the title
Hero of the Soviet Union for downing multiple German aircraft with his AA gun and killing numerous German soldiers in ground combat. The division claimed 37 German aircraft in the latter, and the division's combat operations ended on 2 May in Berlin when the German garrison surrendered. During the war, the division claimed 338 enemy aircraft; it was thanked by
Stavka eight times, and 3,500 soldiers of the division were decorated. == Postwar ==