Formed in the
Volga Military District in late 1943, the division was moved forward to the
Kiev Military District in May 1944. It was not sent to the front until February 1945, fighting in the
Siege of Breslau and the
Berlin Offensive in the last weeks of the war. The division was disbanded by the end of the 1950s.
World War II
A
37 mm AA gun of the type used by the division during World War II
The division began forming at the
Penza Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Camp around 23 October 1943, when Colonel
Grigory Novikov was appointed commander.[1] It was part of the
Volga Military District, and included the 1998th, 2002nd, 2006th, and 2010th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments.[2] In March 1944, the camp was relocated to
Zhitomir.[3] The division remained in the Volga Military District until May, when it transferred to the
Kiev Military District.[4] From 25 August, Colonel
Grigory Svet served as division commander, leading it for the rest of the war.[1]
Postwar, the 71st became part of the
Central Group of Forces. Svet continued to command until September, when he transferred to command the
69th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division.[9] The division was among those anti-aircraft artillery divisions disbanded without being converted into another unit by the end of the 1950s.[12]
Tkachev, V.I. (May 2004).
"ПВО фронтов в Берлинской наступательной операции" [Air defense forces of the front during the Berlin operation] (PDF). Voyenno-Istorichesky Zhurnal [Military History Journal] (in Russian) (5): 8–16.
Tsapayev, D.A.; et al. (2014). Goremykin, Viktor (ed.). Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь [The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole.
ISBN978-5-9950-0341-0.