World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHamazasp Khachaturovich Babadzhanian was born into an Armenian family in Chardakhlu, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ganja, Azerbaijan). He joined the Red Army in 1925 and studied at the Aleksandr Myasnikyan Unified Military School in Yerevan, Russia (now in Armenia), graduating in 1929. In 1928, he joined the Soviet Communist Party. In the 1930s, he served in the Transcaucasian Military District. He saw action in the Winter War against Finland in 1939, and was a commander at the regiment level at the start of the German invasion. In Sep 1942, he was named the commanding officer of the 3rd Mechanized Brigade. In Oct 1943, for the achievements of the 3rd Mechanized Brigade in the Dniester basin region of Ukraine, his unit was granted Guard status, and in the following year he was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. In Aug 1944, he was named the commanding officer of 11th Guards Tank Corps; he would hold this position until the end of the European War. After the war, he attended the general staff college, graduating in 1948. In Nov 1956, he commanded the 8th Mechanized Army during the Hungarian Revolution. In 1959, he was named the commanding officer of the Odessa Military District. Between 1967 and 1969, he served as the commandant of the Rodion Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces. In May 1969, he was made the chief of Soviet tank forces. In 1975, he was made the Chief Marshal of the Mechanized Forces of the USSR. He passed away in 1977 and was buried with full honors at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, Russia.

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Hamazasp Babadzhanian Timeline

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