15th Golden Melody Awards
The 15th Golden Melody Awards were held on 8 May 2004 outside the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Overseas guests included Korean artists, BoA, Kangta and TVXQ of SM Entertainment, Tata Young and Tsubasa Imai.


15th Golden Melody Awards, Summary
Jay Chou's fourth album Yeh Hui-mei, named after his mother, was awarded Best Mandarin Album.


15th Golden Raspberry Awards
The 15th Golden Raspberry Awards were held on March 26, 1995, at the El Rey Hotel in Los Angeles, California, to recognize the worst the movie industry had to offer in 1994. Erotic thriller Color of Night became the first (and so far only) Golden Raspberry Worst Picture "winner" to not receive a single other Razzie (out of eight other nominations). Thumbelina became the first animated film to be nominated for and win a Razzie, which it received for Worst Original Song. The Specialist, Wyatt Earp, The Flintstones and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult each took home two awards, even though the latter two weren't nominated for Worst Picture.


15th Golden Raspberry Awards, Awards and nominations
Sharon Stone, Worst Actress winner and Worst Screen Couple co-winner.


15th Golden Rooster Awards
The 15th Golden Rooster Awards, honoring the best in film, were given on 1995, Beijing.


15th Golden Rooster Awards, Winners and nominees, Best Director
Huang Jianxin/Yang Yazhou - Back to Back, Face to Face


15th Golden Rooster Awards, Winners and nominees, Best Directorial Debut
Fan Yuan - The Accused Uncle ShangangNing Haiqiang - Traceless Ballistic Trajectory


15th Goya Awards
The 15th Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain on 3 February 2001.


15th Grey Cup
The 15th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 1927, before 13,676 fans at the Varsity Stadium at Toronto.


15th Grey Cup
The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers defeated the Hamilton Tigers 9 to 6.


15th Guards Rifle Division
The 15th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 136th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The division had already distinguished itself during the Winter War with Finland in 1940 and had been decorated with the Order of Lenin; soon after its redesignation it also received its first Order of the Red Banner.


15th Guards Rifle Division
It was in Southern Front as this time but was soon moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it was assigned to 7th Reserve Army in May, then to 28th Army in Southwestern Front in June, then to 57th Army in Stalingrad Front in July. It remained in that Army for the rest of the year, with one brief exception, until it was transferred to Don Front's 64th Army in January, 1943 during the closing stages of the battle of Stalingrad.


15th Guards Rifle Division
In March this Army became 7th Guards Army and was railed to the northwest, joining Voronezh Front south of the Kursk salient. In the battle that followed the 15th Guards assisted in the defeat of Army Detachment Kempf, then took part in the summer offensive into Ukraine, winning one of the first battle honors at Kharkov. It remained in either 7th Guards or 37th Army into the spring of 1944. It saw action in the Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive and was awarded the Order of Suvorov before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border.


15th Guards Rifle Division
In June the division became part of 34th Guards Rifle Corps in 5th Guards Army and was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 15th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was further decorated with the Order of Kutuzov for forcing a crossing of the Oder River. It then saw action in the drive on Berlin in April and the Prague Offensive in May, winning a further battle honor and an unusual second Order of the Red Banner in the process.


15th Guards Rifle Division
After the war the division did garrison duty in Austria, then in Ukraine, followed by a move in late 1947 to Crimea and the Kuban where its personnel assisted in rebuilding the local economy and infrastructure for nearly 20 years. It September 1965 it was renumbered as the "51st" and became the 2nd formation of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Formation
The division was officially raised to Guards status on February 16, 1942 in recognition of its role in the first liberation of Rostov-on-Don on December 2, 1941 and its subsequent attacks across the Mius River. Its sub-units would not receive their Guards redesignations until some time later. It inherited the Order of Lenin the 136th had earned in March, 1940. Its order of battle, based on the last peacetime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions, was eventually as follows:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Formation
The 136th had been under command of Col. Nikolai Porfirevich Raevsky but he was replaced on the day of redesignation by Lt. Col. Pyotr Dmitrievich Kondratev. At this time it was in the 18th Army of Southern Front. On March 27 the division was further recognized for its service in the Donbass and along the Mius with the award of its first Order of the Red Banner.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue
In April the 15th Guards was moved to the 58th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. By the start of the German summer offensive in the Caucasus in late June it had been assigned to 28th Army in Southwestern Front and was directly facing the 164 tanks fielded by 3rd Panzer Division of German 6th Army's XXXX Panzer Corps. The five rifle divisions of 28th Army were deployed in a single echelon with three tank brigades (numbering in total about 90 tanks) and the 244th Rifle Division near Valuyki on the Oskol River as Southwestern Front's reserve.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue
Under the weight of the attack which began on June 30 the division, along with the 13th Guards and 169th Rifle Divisions, backed by 13th Tank Corps, managed to hold the advance of the XXXX Panzer to less than 10 km on the first day. However the German XXIX and VIII Army Corps to the north struck more than twice that distance, tearing a yawning gap between 28th and 21st Army. Over the coming days 28th was forced to fall back towards Valuyki, exposing the flank of the 21st to its north. By July 10 the situation had drastically deteriorated and the 28th Army headquarters was forced to report:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue
We have no communications with the units of the army... By the day's end on 9 July... 15th Guards Rifle Division was fighting encircled in the Maliarov region (northeast of Rovenki)... At the present time , the exact locations of the divisions are unknown; but it is most likely that the divisions no longer exist as organized formations and their encircled remnants are fighting their way eastward toward the Don River crossings.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue
Over the next three days the Army reported that elements of the divisions made it back safely. However by this time they mustered only 40 to 400 "bayonets" (riflemen and sappers) each, with only a handful of guns and mortars. Within days the 28th and its depleted units were transferred to the new Stalingrad Front.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
Later that month the 15th Guards was transferred to the 57th Army, commanded by Maj. Gen. F. I. Tolbukhin, still in Stalingrad Front. This Army at the time was very small, consisting of the worn-down 15th, the 38th Rifle Division and the 13th Separate Destroyer (antitank) Brigade. It constituted the Front's reserve and was located in Stalingrad itself but on August 1 as 4th Panzer Army advanced from the southwest towards the city it was ordered to new defensive positions to the south with the division watching a line from Lake Sarpa to Raygorod on the Volga.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
The following day Lt. Colonel Kondratev handed the command of the division over to his chief of staff, Lt. Col. Andrei Evtikhievich Ovsienko. Under the crisis conditions on August 5 the STAVKA ordered new command arrangements including assigning 15th Guards to 64th Army in the re-created Southwestern Front. On August 9 the division took part in counterattack against XXXXVIII Panzer Corps north and south of Tinguta which struck the 14th Panzer and 29th Panzergrenadier Divisions almost simultaneously from three sides, much to their surprise. During a two-day battle the panzer troops lost heavily and were forced to retreat towards Abganerovo, bringing 4th Panzer Army's advance to a halt and a near collapse.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
Within days the 15th Guards returned to 57th Army which was now substantially reinforced with four more rifle divisions (not including the 38th which remained in 64th Army) and several other units. The Army was assigned the task of defending a 70 km-wide sector from State Farm (Sovkhoz) No. 4 (4 km east of Tinguta) and State Farm "Privolzhsky" to Raygorod to prevent the Axis forces from penetrating to Stalingrad from the south. 4th Panzer Army renewed its advance on August 20; by now the substantially rebuilt division was in the Army's first echelon with the 36th Guards Rifle Division.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
Initially the main attack was against 64th Army which was forced back but was still putting up heavy resistance. As a result, on the next day the 14th Panzer shifted to the east the next day, crossed the Malaya Tinguta River and pushed about 4 km to the north, driving a wedge between 64th Army's 38th Division and the 15th Guards. At the same time the 24th Panzer Division struck the center of the division's defenses at the "Privolzhsky" State Farm and crossed the river farther east.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
With the assistance of a rifle regiment of the Vinnitsa Infantry School the division managed to withdraw 10 km to take up new defenses stretching westward along the Dubovyi and Morozov ravines from the northwest bank of Lake Sarpa to 74 km Station. As 24th Panzer wheeled to the east towards Tundutovo Station, General Tolbukhin reinforced the division with the fresh 422nd Rifle Division. Between them they brought the German advance to a halt.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
Despite this stout defense by the evening of August 21 the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps had carved a wedge 15 km wide and 20 km deep between 64th and 57th Armies and threatened to encircle the former from the east. Therefore Southwestern Front sent six antitank artillery regiments to the two Armies, with one to be allocated to each of the front-line divisions.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
On August 23–24, 4th Panzer Army again regrouped, lunging northwards early on the 25th along the boundary of the 422nd and the 244th Rifle Divisions and advancing 8 km to the Chervlennaia River. Once there, however, concentrated artillery and mortar fire of the two divisions, joined by 15th Guards coming up from second echelon, separated the German tanks from their infantry, while heavy antitank fire and counterattacks by 6th Tank Brigade destroyed or damaged many panzers. The remainder had no choice but to fall back to their jumping-off positions by the end of August 26.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
On September 8 Lt. Colonel Ovsienko returned to his chief of staff duties and the division came under the command of Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Telegin. The German 6th and 4th Panzer Armies completed the isolation of 62nd Army in the city by September 12 at which time the 64th and 57th occupied the Beketovka "bridgehead" along the Volga directly to its south with the 57th southwest of Ivanovka - Tundutovo - the Dubovyi ravine, facing elements of Romanian VI Army Corps.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
As the battle raged within Stalingrad during late September and early October the STAVKA planned attacks to its north and south to divert German strength and possibly relieve the siege. A composite detachment made up of two detached rifle regiments (from 422nd and 75th Rifle Divisions) and the 155th Tank Brigade, supported by 1188th Antitank Artillery Regiment plus 18th and 76th Guards Mortar Regiments, was in the sector of the 15th Guards, which was also instructed to provide fire support. This detachment assaulted the positions of the Romanian 1st Infantry Division south of Lake Sarpa overnight on September 28/29.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
The attack achieved almost immediate success, penetrating the Romanian defenses, advancing roughly 5 km, and liberating the villages of Tsatsa and Semkin by 1400 hours on October 1. As a result of this attack, as well as a similar one by 51st Army, the Romanian VI Army Corps was badly damaged and forced back to even less defensible positions. 15th Guards exploited the victory by capturing the Dubovyi ravine region by the same hour and dug in.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
Through October a sergeant of the 50th Guards Regiment, Nikolai Yakovlevich Ilyin, continued to build on his already established reputation as an effective sniper. On October 16, as a reward for his skills he was given the use of the sniper rifle that had been used by the late Hero of the Soviet Union Khusen Borezhevich Andrukhaev, who had served in the 733rd Regiment of the 136th Rifle Division. From October 18 to November 1, fighting mostly in the area of the Dubovyi ravine, Ilyin was credited with 95 kills of Axis soldiers and officers.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Battle of Stalingrad
As the battle continued he increased his count to 216 by February 1943 and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and shortly thereafter was also made a Hero of the Soviet Union. Ilyin was killed by enemy machine gun fire on August 4 after accounting for a total of 494 enemy soldiers, making him the sixth-highest scoring Soviet sniper of the war.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
On October 18 Colonel Telegin was replaced by Maj. Gen. Emelyan Ivanovich Vasilenko, who had previously commanded the 136th Rifle Division in 1941. In the buildup to the Soviet counteroffensive the division was transferred to the 51st Army just to the south of the 57th. It began its attack from the Shalimovo region south of Lake Sarpa promptly at 0830 hours on November 20 with tank support and easily penetrated the defenses of Romanian 18th Infantry Division's two defending battalions, sending the survivors scurrying westward and northwestward.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
Wheeling in the latter direction the guardsmen and tanks advanced up to 11 km by 1800 hours against virtually no opposition and linked up with 57th Army's 143rd Rifle Brigade near the village of Kamensky. This left much of the Romanian 2nd Infantry and about half of 18th Infantry Division encircled and the 15th Guards reported capturing 2,500 men, 500 rifles, 50 machine guns, 15 guns, 13 mortars and other equipment by the end of the day. The encircled force surrendered overnight and left the remainder of the two divisions in a shambles with no further effective combat power.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
The division spent the morning of November 21 mopping up the encirclement area then reassembled about 12 km southwest of Lake Sarpa before wheeling westward along the route of the 4th Mechanized Corps. This Corps had a shaky start the first day, but made spectacular progress on the second and by day's end had surrounded the remnants of the two Romanian divisions in cooperation with the 15th Guards and 143rd Brigade. This advance also overran most of the Romanian logistic installations north of the Aksai River.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
On November 23 one of the main tasks for 51st Army was to move the 4th Mechanized northwestward to the Sovetskii region to link up with Southwestern Front's mobile groups. A battalion of the Corps' 59th Mechanized Brigade became involved in heavy fighting on the outskirts of Karpovka which was resolved with the arrival of the division in the evening, as recorded in its history:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
At first light on 23 November, 15th Guards Rifle Division received the mission -- to cut the Stalingrad-Sovetskii railroad line, capture Karpovskaia Station and the villages of Karpovka and Novyi Rogachik, occupy a defense along the line of these points, and prevent an enemy penetration toward the south and southwest. The division fulfilled there [sic] missions brilliantly. Not a single Hitlerite penetrated through its combat formations.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
Other Soviet sources state that the division and the mechanized battalion were forced to abandon Karpovka and Karpovskaia Station due to counterattacks by elements of 29th Panzergrenadier Division during the evening and gradually fall back to positions south of the rail line by nightfall on the 24th.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
By this time the encirclement of the German forces at Stalingrad had been completed. 51st Army was in the difficult position of conducting operations along both the inner and outer encirclement fronts. The division, on the inner front with 4th Mechanized, was fighting for the Marinovka and Voroshilov Camp regions southwest of the pocket. The 4th Mechanized was attempting to encircle and destroy Battlegroup "Willig" of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division defending the fortified strongpoint at Marinovka.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus
15th Guards entered the battle by attacking the sector between Marinovka and Voroshilov but in two days of fighting the Soviet forces were unable to pry their opponents out of their positions. On November 25 the division was transferred back to 57th Army and continued to conduct probing attacks against the German battlegroups defending the rail line and the road between the two strongpoints, with no success. In the following days the situation stabilized.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
During the first half of December the situation around Stalingrad was dominated by Army Group Don's attempted relief offensive and a proposed effort, Operation Donnerschlag, by the trapped 6th Army to break out. Among the moves made by Don Front to counter the latter the 235th Separate Tank Brigade and 234th Separate Tank Regiment were brought up to support the 15th Guards' positions south of Karpovka on December 20.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
Operation Koltso began on January 10, 1943 and on that first day the division, deployed on 57th Army's left flank, seized the first line trenches of the German 376th Infantry Division and followed this on the 13th with a general assault with the 50th and 44th Guards Regiments in the 4 km-wide sector between Staryi Rogachik and Bereslavsky Farm. Attacking eastward the two regiments punched gaping holes through the 376th's defenses and advanced up to 6 km, capturing both positions and reaching the Chervlenaia River.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
In the process one German battalion was encircled and destroyed in Staryi Rogachik and four more were forced across the river in considerable disorder. By the day's end the remnants of the German division were caught in a large pincer between the 422nd Rifle, 15th Guards and the 120th Rifle Division of the adjacent 21st Army. The attack continued on January 14 and the division, which was already over the Chervlenaia, advanced eastward, captured Peschanyi Karer and reached the railroad 2 km west-northwest of Basargino.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
By the end of the day the three Soviet divisions had trapped the 376th in the region southwest of Basargino which prompted Army Group Don to note late that evening that "376th ID seems to have been broken up." Overnight the remaining men of the division died in place, surrendered or disappeared into the darkness.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
After a pause, Operation Ring resumed on January 18. North of the railroad the 15th Guards shattered the defenses of the escaped remnants of the 376th, by now little more than a reinforced battalion, and took Hill 155.0, 2.5 km northwest of Alekseevka. On January 23 the 422nd and 38th Rifle and 15th Guards advanced east up to 6 km on both sides of the railway, further shattering the 297th Infantry Division and the Romanian 82nd Infantry Regiment. The Soviet force reached positions extending from Poliakovka on the upper Tsaritsa River southeastwards to the western outskirts of Verkhniaia Elshanka.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
Two days later the three Soviet divisions continued to cooperate in thrusting eastward along the railway into the southern part of the city and seizing Railroad Station No. 2, then wheeling north in pursuit of the withdrawing remnants of IV Army Corps. This advance cut off most of the 297th Infantry leading its commander to seek terms of surrender and by nightfall the 38th Division had him and most of his men in custody.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
From January 28–31 the 15th Guards took part in the liquidation of the remaining Axis forces in downtown Stalingrad. On the first day it attacked northward across the Tsaritsa west of the railroad bridge with 38th Division and 143rd Rifle Brigade. In the process they captured the ruins of two hospitals forcing the defending 44th and 371st Infantry Divisions to withdraw up to 1,000m. 15th Guards encircled and seized Hospital No. 1 which included the headquarters of 44th Infantry and captured its commander, Lt. Gen. H.-A. Deboi with several hundred of his men.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
Attacking abreast from positions from Novoriadskaia Street eastward along Golubinskaia Street to the railroad at Krasnoznamenskaia Street on January 29 along converging axes the 15th Guards, 38th and 422nd Divisions and 143rd Brigade advanced up to 800m and reached positions from Salskaia to the vicinity of Railroad Station No. 1. Collectively during the day the advances of 57th, 64th and 21st Armies broke the back of resistance in 6th Army's southern pocket. The STAVKA was confident enough of the outcome that it released the 57th's headquarters and attached forces to the Reserve to be redeployed to the northwest, while 15th Guards and the remaining units were reassigned to 64th Army.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
During January 30 and 31 the division was involved in what was effectively mopping-up operations in the city's center. In the immediate wake of the6th Army's surrender on February 2 the 64th Army was ordered to begin moving north to the Livny region, but this was revoked the next day when the 65th Army was substituted for this deployment. 64th Army was retained at Stalingrad as part of Maj. Gen. N. I. Trufanov's operational group of forces and later the Stalingrad Group of Forces, rebuilding and retraining but also continuing to dig out German die-hards. At 1700 hours on February 28 the STAVKA ordered as follows:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
1. Re -station the 64th Army, consisting of six rifle divisions (the 15th Gds., 36th Gds., 29th, 38th, 204th and 422nd) [ and support units], to the Valuyki region at the disposition of the commander of Voronezh Front. 2 . Carry out the re-stationing by railroad. The beginning of the dispatch will be on 1 March of this year. Complete the transfer of the army to the new stationing region by 15 March of this year. 3. Carry out the filling out of all rifle divisions with personnel, horses, weapons, and equipment in the new stationing region... bringing the strength of each rifle division, including guards, up to 8,000 men.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Operation Blue, Operation Ring
On April 16, 64th Army became the 7th Guards Army. At that time the 15th Guards' personnel were noted as being about 50 percent Russian and 50 percent Tajik and other central Asian nationalities.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
By the middle of May the division had been assigned to the new 24th Guards Rifle Corps with the 36th Guards and 72nd Guards (former 29th) Rifle Divisions. The left flank of 7th Guards Army was the boundary between Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts and 24th Guards Corps was on its Army's left (south) flank. As of July 5 the 15th Guards had a total of 8,684 personnel (832 officers, 2,462, NCOs and 5,390 enlisted) plus 996 horses.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
For small arms it was armed with 3,778 bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles, 2,408 sub-machine guns, 420 light, 140 heavy and 5 antiaircraft machine guns and 252 antitank rifles. Mortars consisted of 14 50mm, 86 82mm and 27 120mm types. Its artillery equipment was 48 45mm antitank guns, 12 76mm regimental guns, 24 76mm field guns and 12 122mm howitzers. The division was in the Army's second echelon in its second belt of defenses and was acting as the Army's reserve on a frontage of 25 km.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
In order to reinforce unit boundaries it was ordered to strongly back up the 36th Guards. In late May the 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment was transferred to 36th Guards and that division's second echelon formations were moved closer to the front line, being replaced by the 44th Guards Rifle Regiment. On June 19 there was an extended discussion between Lt. Gen. M. S. Shumilov, commander of 7th Guards Army, and the chief of staff of Voronezh Front on the merits of redeploying a regiment of 213th Rifle Division to replace 44th Guards.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
When the battle began on July 5 the main attacks by Army Detachment Kempf focused on the Army's right flank where it held a bridgehead over the Northern Donets near Belgorod facing the 81st Guards Rifle Division and in the center where it aimed at the junction between the 24th and 25th Guards Rifle Corps. As a result General Shumilov decided to hedge his bets and leave 15th Guards in its reserve positions in case the German force might still strike the boundary between the two Fronts after creating a diversion.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
Towards the end of the day  the Front commander, Army Gen. N. F. Vatutin, ordered the 111th Rifle Division to come under command of 7th Guards Army and take over the positions of 15th Guards, thus freeing it and the 213th to act as Shumilov's reserve as part of an active defense. This handover was completed by 0100 hours on July 6; as part of it the division regained control of its 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
In the afternoon Soviet reconnaissance determined that a significant amount of the armor of 7th Panzer Division had managed to cross the Donets at Solomino and threatened the 73rd and 78th Guards Rifle Divisions of 25th Guards Rifle Corps in the main defensive belt. As insurance against any breakthrough Shumilov moved up the 15th Guards to a line along the Koren River. As part of this move the division came under the command of the same Corps.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk
On the morning of July 7 the reconnaissance battalion of 7th Panzer reported to its headquarters that a strong defensive line along the Koren was being held by fresh troops, which forced that division to change its plans. Led by Tiger I tanks, during the day it gradually created a breach between "Batratskaia Dacha" State Farm and the village of Miasoedovo. Rather than commit 15th Guards piecemeal in response, Shumilov ordered General Vasilenko to complete a handover to the 270th Rifle Division from the rear, which was not fully accomplished until the evening of July 8.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Despite this, during the night of July 7/8 Lt. Col . I. A. Usikov's 44th Guards Regiment was sent forward to engage the reinforced reconnaissance battalion of 7th Panzer. Confused fighting went on all night but by the end of it the 44th Guards Regiment had advanced about 1,000m and its headquarters reported knocking out or capturing two tanks, two halftracks, a 75mm gun and four machine guns as well as finding the bodies of 100 German men and officers. A truck loaded with uniforms and a motorcycle was also taken.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Despite these apparent successes Usikov was later criticised for advancing hastily and without reconnaissance and adequate fire support. During July 8 he directed two further efforts to retake "Batratskaia Dacha" and the "Solovev" collective farm which failed due to dispersion of effort as well as the previous faults. At 1530 hours General Vasilenko wrote: "I decided to halt the attack by the 44th Guards Rifle Regiment until 1920 or the onset of darkness, in order to bring up fire support and prepare concentrated fire from all guns on [the two farms]."


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Furthermore the Voronezh Front headquarters, and through it the STAVKA, believed the two farms were back in Soviet hands. However, as an indication of the pressure on 7th Panzer to regroup and continue its advance it had committed its 58th Panzer Pioneer Battalion into the fighting at "Batratskaia Dacha" Farm; one of its men was captured and revealed under interrogation at the 15th Guards' headquarters that "[h]is company consisting of 120 men had been operating as an infantry unit. In the words of the prisoner, the company has suffered 50% losses."


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
As of the morning of July 9 the 25th Guards Corps had no fewer than six rifle divisions under command, although the 15th Guards and 270th Division were under operational control only and could not be used without permission from General Shumilov. By the next day Gen. W. Kempf was in a hard spot; he was being prodded by Field Marshal E. von Manstein for the slow pace of his advance and was tasked with, among many other objectives, to break through at the boundary of 15th and 94th Guards Rifle Divisions and finally reach the woods east of Miasoedovo.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
At this point his three panzer divisions had a combined  109 serviceable tanks and assault guns and the panzergrenadiers had also suffered heavy losses. The boundary between the two Soviet divisions was being covered by the 31st Separate Antitank Artillery Brigade, but this was now reduced to 17 45mm and 11 76mm guns.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Overnight a serious mishap occurred along this boundary due to mistakes made by a number of officers of 94th Guards. 47th Guards Regiment was to replace that Division's 286th Guards Regiment in the northern portion of the Miasoedovo woods. Not only did reconnaissance patrols of 7th Panzer discover the handover was taking place they also discovered a gap left between the two divisions due to failure to follow procedures. Taking advantage, elements of 37th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion entered the gap and seized three hills.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Upon discovering the situation Lt. Col. P. I. Gremaiko, commander of 47th Guards, ordered counterattacks which restored the situation just before noon. Only about two platoons of German infantry were involved in this but they were supported by five medium tanks and one Tiger, all of which were destroyed or knocked out by Gremaiko's forces.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
By the afternoon the 47th and 50th Guards Regiments had fully moved into the first echelon of 25th Guards Corps' defenses, tying into the 94th Guards Division (which was now under 35th Guards Rifle Corps of 69th Army) on the right and 73rd Guards Division on the left. At about the same time 78th Guards Division began a further effort to retake the two farms which soon ran into trouble due to heavy German fire. General Vasilenko ordered Lt. Colonel Usikov to leave one battalion of his 44th Guards Regiment on defense and attack towards the farms with the other two. Usikov now deployed his fire support effectively and the attack began well, catching units of the 7th Panzer during a redeployment.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
In the course of an hour the Guardsmen pushed the German grenadiers back 300-500m into the depths of the State Farm before they began to offer strong fire resistance. To prevent the attack from bogging down it was reinforced with a regiment of 73rd Guards Division while the 25th Guards Corps commander ordered the 97th Guards Mortar Regiment to support it with rocket fire.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
At 1855 hours five launchers fired a salvo of 78 M-13 (4.9 kg of high explosive each) at a concentration of German infantry and armor in the area of the woods 1,000m west of "Batratskaia Dacha" Farm which "blanketed" the target. Following this Usikov's men returned to the attack. Almost immediately the left flank of his 2nd Battalion was counterattacked by a German company north of the State Farm. Usikov smoothly deployed the 8th and 9th Companies of the 3rd Battalion which overran the panzergrenadiers.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Vasilenko reported: "The units with a decisive charge burst into the enemy trenches and tied the Germans up in hand-to-hand combat. The Germans, unable to withstand [this], retreated..." By day's end the 44th Guards Regiment had advanced 1.5 km and reached the western outskirts of the State Farm but was unable to take it completely. Usikov reported that in the course of the attack the Regiment had lost 20 men killed and 120 wounded. Two German guns, two vehicles and four machine guns were destroyed, while two machine guns, 12 sub-machine guns, 23 rifles and 500 81mm mortar rounds were captured intact.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
While this was happening, between 1820 and 2100 hours the 47th Guards Regiment repulsed three armored attacks launched by 7th Panzer but after the fourth, under pressure of superior enemy strength, the battalion commanders began to withdraw their companies to reserve positions to the east. Although Lt. Colonel Grimailo's succeeded in tying up the panzers in the woods southeast of Miasoedovo it came at a cost. By dawn on July 11 Grimailo didn't know the location of his 2nd Battalion, which had taken 7th Panzer's main attack.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
Vasilenko was forced to move up reserve, the divisional training battalion, to the Regiment's right flank. By 0700 communications to the Battalion were restored and its commander reported a serious situation: the whereabouts of more than half the personnel was still unknown; panzers had crushed four 45mm antitank guns; and almost all the machine guns had been knocked out. During the previous day the 47th Guards Regiment had suffered about 400 casualties. Its limited retreat gave 7th Panzer just enough space to manoeuvre for a further advance against the left flank of 94th Guards Division.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
With the training battalion and what remained of 31st Antitank Brigade forming the boundary with 94th Guards Division it was clear that reinforcements were required, so General Shumilov ordered six KV tanks of the 262nd Heavy Tank Regiment to move up for this purpose. Further tank support in the form of T-34s also arrived in the early afternoon, four of which would substantially strengthen the depleted 47th Guards. However it was the 29 gun crews of 31st Antitank that mainly attracted the attention of 7th Panzer.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
They were not adequately covered by the infantry of 94th Guards and near noon came under attack by 16 German tanks, most of which were Tigers, and by 1430 hours had been crushed, at the cost of between 20-34 armored vehicles. Once this was accomplished the German division moved a company of tanks to its right flank to contain the 15th Guards while its main forces launched an attack against the left-flank regiment of 94th Guards. The objective of Kempf's III Panzer Corps now was to get into the rear of 69th Army and link up with 4th Panzer Army at Prokhorovka.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
During July 12 General Shumilov sought to distract Kempf's forces from their mission by launching counterattacks towards his forward supply base at Krutoi Log. At this time the 15th Guards was still in good shape with a total of 8,440 men as of the previous morning, but most of the counterattack force was much weaker. According to the plan the division was to launch secondary attacks with 44th and 47th Rifle Regiments and the training battalion against the left flank of the 198th Infantry Division.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Battle of Kursk, Battle for the Farms
However, mostly due to a lack of supporting artillery the attack was halted in its tracks within a few hundred metres. By noon the 44th Guards managed to renew its assault and took the "Solovev" collective farm by 1235 hours; this was especially noted at the headquarters of Army Detachment Kempf where von Manstein was located. At this point the attack stalled again  and the Regiment continued to engage in heavy fighting there until late in the evening. During the day the division lost 146 men killed and 881 wounded according to 7th Guards Army records. The same evening Hitler announced his decision to end the offensive.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
By the beginning of August the 15th Guards had moved to Steppe Front with 7th Guards Army, but was now part of 49th Rifle Corps with 111th Rifle Division. Later that month both divisions were awarded one of the first honorifics granted by the STAVKA:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
KHARKOV... 15th Guards Rifle Division (Major General Vasilenko, Emelyan Ivanovich)... The troops who participated in the liberation of Kharkov, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 23 August 1943, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
In October Steppe Front became the 2nd Ukrainian Front and the division was reassigned to the 68th Rifle Corps of 37th Army, before being moved to the 57th Rifle Corps of the same Army a month later. In January, 37th Army was shifted to 3rd Ukrainian Front and the 15th Guards joined the 82nd Rifle Corps. On January 26, 1944 General Vasilenko was wounded and hospitalized; he was replaced in command by Col. Pyotr Mikhailovich Chirkov. This officer would be promoted to the rank of major general on March 19 and held this position for the duration of the war. During the Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive the division was recognized for its role in the liberation of the latter city with the award of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree, on February 26.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
At the beginning of April as the 37th Army was approaching the Dniestr River and the Romanian border the 15th Guards was the Army's reserve formation. Overnight on April 18/19 the Army was to make a second effort to cross the river and seize German positions near Bender that included the division committed from reserve. In the event the offensive was postponed until April 20 and in heavy fighting over the next five days the Army made no progress whatsoever. Despite this failure one soldier of the 44th Guards Regiment managed to burnish his reputation.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
Sergeant Mikhail Stepanovich Sokhin had begun the sniping "movement" in his regiment the previous year and had trained many other personnel in sniping tactics. During this battle he had led a party of four across the river without being observed, set up a good position near the front line, and personally accounted for two German officers and three machine gun crewmen, supporting the crossing of the rest of the regiment. By May his score stood at 202 enemy officers and men and on September 13 Sokhin, now a sergeant-major, was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. His final official total was 261 killed, making him the 53rd-highest-scoring Soviet sniper of the war. He survived the fighting and lived until September 17, 1987.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Ukraine
In June the 15th Guards was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it joined the 34th Guards Rifle Corps of 5th Guards Army. The division would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. In July the Army was assigned to 1st Ukrainian Front, where it would also remain for the duration.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
Under 1st Ukrainian Front the division took part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive. In early August the 5th Guards Army entered the bridgehead over the Vistula that had been created by the 6th Guards Tank Corps near Baranów Sandomierski. About the beginning of November the personnel of the division were noted as being 90 percent Ukrainian, but by the new year there had been an influx of replacements, changing the mix to about 66 percent Russian and 33 percent Ukrainian.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
1st Ukrainian Front launched its part of the Vistula-Oder Offensive on January 12, 1945. Following a 2-hour artillery preparation the 15th Guards broke through the entire depth of the German defenses west of Sandomierz, overrunning the German artillery positions as well as the fortifications along the Nitsa River. Over the following days it would also force crossings of the Pilica and the Warta.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
For their roles in the victories around Sandomierz all three rifle regiments of the division as well as the 11th Guards Sapper Battalion would later be awarded the Order of the Red Banner, while the 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment received the Order of Suvorov, 3rd Degree. During the advance the 50th Guards Rifle Regiment was also awarded an honorific:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
"CHESTOCHOWA"... 50th Guards Rifle Regiment (Colonel Birin, Boris Ivanovich)... The troops who participated in the liberation of Chestochowa and several other towns, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 17 January 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
The 44th Guards Rifle Regiment would later receive the battle honor "Silesia" while the 43rd Guards Artillery was awarded "Oder".


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
On January 23 units of the division reached that river in the area from Frauendorf to Zagred about 6 km north of Oppeln. Maj. Mikhail Efimovich Kolosov, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 50th Guards Regiment, ordered an assault team to cross the frozen river which it did almost without a fight, afterwards digging in at a dam. This group was hit by several German counterattacks but threw them back with little difficulty. Meanwhile, Kolosov took advantage of this distraction to get the rest of his Battalion over the river.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany
By the dawn of January 24 he had linked up with elements of 47th Guards Regiment to the south, helping to create a bridgehead 5 km wide and 3 km deep which was successfully held for the next two days. In recognition of his accomplishment Major Kolosov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on June 27, along with two of his subordinates: Sr. Sgt . P. F. Torgunakov and Sr. Sgt . V. N. Plesinov. On February 19 the division would be awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Degree, as a reward for its successes in the fighting for Oppeln, Ravich and Trachenberg. On the same date the 47th Guards Regiment received the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd Degree, for its operations in Silesia.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Lower Silesian Offensive
On the night of January 30/31 the 55th Rifle Corps of 21st Army relieved 34th Guards Corps in its bridgehead between Oppeln and Brieg. Beginning on February 8 the 5th Guards Army took part in the Front's Lower Silesian Offensive with its main objective of encircling the German garrison of Breslau. On its sector the offensive was based on the bridgehead seized by 14th Guards Rifle Division in January. The German defense was based on the 269th Infantry Division with several battlegroups, independent battalions, two panzer battalions and an NCO school.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Lower Silesian Offensive
The Army's attack was led by 32nd Guards Rifle Corps and developed slowly over the first three days. On February 11 the Front commander, Marshal I. S. Konev, shifted the 31st Tank Corps from 21st Army and committed it on the sector of 33rd Guards Rifle Corps the next day with the immediate objective of capturing the Bogenau area. Over the next two days the 34th Guards Corps was committed from second echelon and advanced steadily.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Lower Silesian Offensive
On February 13 German resistance did not abate and if anything increased as further forces entered the Breslau area but despite this the 4th Guards and 31st Tank Corps linked up with the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps of 6th Army to complete the encirclement. Konev chose to leave 6th Army and 34th Guards Corps to maintain the siege while the 32nd and 33rd Guards Corps of 5th Guards Army were ordered to make a decisive attack from the Magnitz area toward Koberwitz and then to the southwest. By the end of February 15 the cordon between the encircled forces and the main German forces had been widened to up to 13 km. By February 25 the 34th Guards Corps was taken out of the line in the Breslau area.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Upper Silesian Offensive
For this offensive the Corps was used to reinforce the 21st Army while remaining under 5th Guards Army command. The Corps would attack with 4th Guards Tank Corps in the direction of Priborn with the task of reaching a line from Strelen to Munsterberg by the end of the second day. The Corps was reinforced with the 116th Heavy Howitzer and 1st Howitzer Brigades, the 7th Mortar Brigade and the 1073rd Antitank Artillery Regiment. The 15th and 58th Guards Rifle Divisions were in first echelon with the 112th Rifle Division in second. The 15th and 58th each formed a forward detachment consisting of a reinforced rifle battalion. In addition the Corps detached a forward battalion, which went into the attack at 0600 hours on March 15.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Upper Silesian Offensive
The preliminary attack began after a 10-minute artillery preparation and the infantry assault took the defenders off guard by following very close behind the artillery. The forward battalion, attacking on the left flank, captured the grove 1,000m north of Voigtsdorf. The main Corps attack began at 1120 hours following an additional 80 minutes of artillery fire. 4th Guards Tank was committed to the attack at the same time from the western outskirts of Grottkau.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Upper Silesian Offensive
The assault broke through along a 3km front and by the end of the day had widened the gap to 5km and captured the German second line of defenses along the left flank. The advance continued overnight and into the next day, gaining just 3km but also providing flank cover for the mobile forces of 21st and 4th Tank Army which were attacking in the direction of the Neisse River.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Upper Silesian Offensive
Beginning from the latter half of March 20 the 34th Guards Rifle and 4th Guards Tank Corps continued to attack to the west, beating off numerous counterattacks and eventually reaching the east bank of the Krin River. The offensive officially ended on March 22, but from the 24th to the 27th the two Corps, joined by 32nd Guards Corps, engaged in a battle for the town of Strelen which was only partially successful before being halted on March 28.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
Prior to the start of the Berlin offensive the 112th Division was replaced by the 14th Guards Division in 34th Guards Corps. 5th Guards Army was deployed along the eastern bank of the Neisse on a 13km front and planned to launch its main attack with its right wing on the 8km sector from Gross Saerchen to Muskau. While the Corps had its divisions in a single echelon 15th and 58th Guards were in the attack sector while 14th Guards was holding along the river, which was about 50m wide and 2-3m deep at this point.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
When the offensive began on April 16 the 15th Guards was to break through the German defense on a sector from Kobeln to the farm, help to eliminate a German bridgehead on the eastern bank in the Muskau area, then cross the Neisse under the cover of massed artillery fire and capture the northern part of Berg before advancing into the German rear. For this mission the 50th Guards Regiment was supported with a company of tanks, a platoon of self-propelled guns, a sapper company and two batteries from a separate antitank battalion.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
The 47th Guards Regiment had the same supporting forces less one antitank battery while the 44th Guards Regiment was in the second echelon with orders to assault across the Neisse behind either the 50th Regiment or in the sector of the 58th Guards Division, depending on circumstances. For the crossing the division had gathered 33 boats, two 16-tonne ferries and two 3.5-tonne captured pontoons. In addition each first echelon battalion had one storming bridge and a large number of improvised crossing means had been prepared.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
The attack was covered by a powerful artillery preparation under which the Muskau bridgehead was overrun and eliminated. The 50th Guards Regiment reached the river by 0800 hours and completed its crossing to the west bank two hours later. The right flank of the 47th Guards Regiment also reached the river by 0930 while its left flank was still fighting along the northern outskirts of Muskau; despite this at 1100 the Regiment began forcing the river in the area of the farm but was met with heavy German fire and failed to cross.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
General Chirkov addressed this situation by committing the 44th Guards Regiment into the battle, using the crossings of the 50th Guards Regiment and one crossing of the 58th Guards Division. This Regiment crossed successfully and attacked to the southwest, carrying out the assignment of the 47th Guards Regiment and by noon had begun clearing the north of Berg in conjunction with the 50th Guards Regiment. The 47th Guards Regiment meanwhile detached a company to mop up the Muskau bridgehead while moving into the division's second echelon.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
During the rest of the day the 15th and 58th Guards Divisions advanced as much as 6km into the German defenses on the west bank and continued to advance through the night, reaching the Wossinka area by 0100 hours on April 17. Later that morning the division crossed over its artillery and helped clear the passage of the 14th Guards by advancing into the rear of the German forces it was facing.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Into Poland and Germany, Berlin Operation
By April 22 the 5th Guards Army was pursuing defeated German forces to the west, destroying rearguards and advancing 30km during the day. 14th Guards was left behind to help guard the south flank of the advance while the 15th and 58th Guards continued attacking towards the Elbe River. On April 25 the 58th Guards Division joined hands with the U.S. 69th Infantry Division at Torgau.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Postwar
From May 6-11 the 15th Guards took part, with the rest of 1st Ukrainian Front, in the final offensive on Prague, in recognition of which it received its second honorific:


15th Guards Rifle Division, Postwar
PRAGUE... 15th Guards Rifle Division (Major General Chirkov, Pyotr Mikhailovich)... The troops who participated in the liberation of Prague, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 9 May 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.


15th Guards Rifle Division, Postwar
On May 28 the division was further distinguished with the award of its second Order of the Red Banner for its part in the capture of Cottbus and several nearby towns in Germany. Immediately after the war the division did garrison duty in Austria, followed by a move to the northwest Ukrainian cities of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Liuboml. In late 1947 was moved to Crimea and the Kuban, being redesignated as the 15th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957. It September 1965 it was renumbered as the "51st" and became the 2nd formation of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division.


15th Guldbagge Awards
The 15th Guldbagge Awards ceremony, presented by the Swedish Film Institute, honored the best Swedish films of 1978 and 1979, and took place on 24 September 1979. A Respectable Life directed by Stefan Jarl was presented with the award for Best Film.


15th Helpmann Awards
The 15th Annual Helpmann Awards for live performance in Australia were held on 27 July 2015 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. Best Musical and Best Play were both awarded to revival productions, of Les Misérables and The Glass Menagarie respectively. Opera for young audiences The Rabbits was named Best New Australian Work and Best Original Score. Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly received the JC Williamson Award for lifetime achievement.


15th Helpmann Awards, Winners and nominees
In the following tables, winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface. The nominees are those which are listed below the winner and not in boldface.


15th Hollywood Film Awards
The 15th Hollywood Film Awards were held on October 24, 2011. The ceremony took place at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.


15th Hong Kong Film Awards
The 15th Hong Kong Awards ceremony, honored the best films of 1995 and took place on 28 April 1996 at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The ceremony was hosted by Sandra Ng, Dayo Wong and Veronica Yip, during the ceremony awards are presented in 15 categories.


15th Hong Kong Film Awards, Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().


15th IIFA Awards
The 2014 IIFA Awards, officially known as the 15th International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the International Indian Film Academy honouring the best Hindi films of 2014, took place between 23–26 April 2014. The official ceremony took place on 26 April 2014 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, in the United States for the very first time. The ceremony was televised in India and internationally on Star Plus for the tenth & last consecutive year. The ceremony was co-hosted by actors Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar, returning as hosts for the third and second time respectively.


15th IIFA Awards
IIFA Rocks, otherwise known as the IIFA Music and Fashion Extravaganza took place on 25 April 2014. During the event, the technical awards were presented by actor Saif Ali Khan.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment
The 15th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry was a volunteer cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
The 15th Illinois Cavalry was organized at Aurora, Kane Co., Illinois on 2 Aug 1861 by Captain Albert Jenkins and was mustered in 23 September 1861 as Cavalry, attached to the Thirty-Sixth Illinois Volunteers.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
On 24 September 1861, moved from camp, and reported to the Regiment, at Rolla, Missouri. On 31 December 1861, reported to Colonel Carr, commanding Third Illinois Cavalry, and moved to Bennett's Mills.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
On 10 February 1862, moved to Osage Springs, Missouri., arriving on 20th. On 2 March 1862, moved, with Siegel's Division, to near Bentonville, losing 4 men taken prisoners. Was engaged, 7 and 8 March, at Pea Ridge. Moved, with the army, to Salem. On 1 May 1862, ordered to White River. Returned to Batesville, on the 9th. Was engaged in the movements of Asboth's Division, and arrived at Cape Girardeau, Missouri., 24 May 1862. Moved to Hamburg Landing, Tennessee. Was escort for General Rosecrans, at Battle of Corinth, 3 and 4 October. 25 December 1862, was assigned to the Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
On 9 June 1863, moved to Memphis. 20 May 1863, landed at Chickasaw Bayou, and was engaged in the operations against Vicksburg, with the Regiment. On 17 August 1862, moved to Carrollton, Louisiana. On 5 September 1862, moved, with Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, to Morganza, Louisiana and was engaged in the campaign, General Herron commanding. On 10 October 1863, returned to Carrollton. 15th, moved to Brashear, Louisiana., and, on 17th, to New Iberia, Louisiana.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
Was engaged in scouting, and various expeditions, reporting to Brigadier General A. L. Lee, as escort, 5 January 1864. On 11 February 1864, the company moved for Illinois, for veteran furlough, and, on 26th, the men were furloughed at Chicago, Illinois.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, History of service
The non-veteran members of the regiment mustered out on 31 July 1865 and the recruits and veterans were transferred to the 10th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, Battles and campaigns
During their three years of service, the 15th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment saw action in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. A list of battle and campaigns they were engaged in include: Sherman's March to the Sea, Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of Corinth, Siege of Belmont, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of Shiloh, Battle of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Battle of Resaca, Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, Battle of Perryville, Battle of Stones River, Tullahoma Campaign, Atlanta Campaign, Campaign of the Carolinas, Central Mississippi Campaign, New Madrid and Island #10 Campaign, and the Chattanooga Campaign.


15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, Total strength and casualties
The regiment suffered 2 officers and 12 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds  and 1 officer and 122 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 137 fatalities.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment
The 15th Illinois Infantry Regimenty was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
The 15th Illinois Infantry Volunteer Regiment was raised under the 10 Regiment Act. The 15th Illinois Infantry was mustered at Freeport, Illinois, on May 24, 1861.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
Companies A, D, and F were made from volunteers from McHenry County, Company B was made by volunteers from Boone County, Company C was from Winnebago County, Company E hailed from Jo Daviess County, Company G came from Stephenson County, Company H was from Ogle County, Company I was from Lake County, and Company K was from Carroll County.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
The 15 and 14th Illinois participated together in movements around Rolla Mo. ahead of the Fort Donelson Campaign. By the completion of the Donelson Campaign, with General US Grant in command, the 14th and 15th Illinois were part of General Steven A. Hurlbut's 4th 'Fighting Fourth' Division and assigned a camp near the Union left wing at Pittsburgh Landing. Both regiments were brigaded under the command of  Colonel James C. Veatch, and ordered to decamp and move out to support the heavily pressed General Sherman on the right wing. Anecdotal memoir by Sgt. Moses Gleason Montgomery describe heavy fighting at the Hornet's Nest before proceeding on to their defensive position supporting the retreat of the right wing.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
Sgt Montgomery was shot in the chest during this engagement, and describes his survival that night by a 'Blessed rain'. On the second Day of battle at Shiloh, General Grant took direct command of the 14th and 15th Illinois in the counter attack against P.G.T. Beauregard.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
After the engagement, General Grant directed that the 14th and 15th Illinois volunteer regiments would remain together for the duration of the Civil War.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Service
As a result of combined losses to both regiments, and since both units refused to receive new recruits, the regiment was consolidated with the 14th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry to form the 14th and 15th Illinois Battalion Infantry on July 1, 1864, and was finally  mustered out of service on September 16, 1865, at Fort Leavenworth.


15th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Total strength and casualties
The regiment suffered 6 officers and 81 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 5 officers and 135 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 227 fatalities.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery
15th Indiana Battery Light Artillery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Service
The battery was organized in Indianapolis, Indiana March 11, 1862 and mustered in July 5, 1862 for three years service under the command of Captain John C. H. Von Sehlen.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Service
The battery was attached to D'Utassy's Brigade, White's Division, Army of Virginia, to September 1862. Miles' Command, Harpers Ferry, September 1862. Camp Douglas, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, to April 1863. District of Central Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to June 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, Army of the Ohio, to July 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, to August 1863. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, to November 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Department of the Ohio, to December 1863. Artillery, 2nd Division, IX Corps, Department of the Ohio, to April 1864. Artillery, 3rd Division, XXIII Corps, to December 1864. Artillery, 2nd Division, XXIII Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to February 1865, and Department of North Carolina to June 1865.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Service
The 15th Indiana Battery Light Artillery mustered out June 30, 1865, in Indianapolis.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Detailed service
Left Indiana for Harpers Ferry, Virginia, July 5. Duty at Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, until September 1862. Defense of Harpers Ferry September 13–15. Bolivar Heights September 14. Surrendered September 15. Paroled September 16 and sent to Annapolis, Maryland, then to Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois. Duty at Camp Douglas and Indianapolis until March 1863. Ordered to Louisville, Kentucky. Pursuit of Morgan in Kentucky April 1863. Action at Paris, Kentucky, April 16. Pursuit of Morgan through Indiana and Ohio July 1–26. New Lisbon, Ohio, July 26. Paris, Kentucky, July 29. Burnside's Campaign in eastern Tennessee August 16-October 17. Winter's Gap August 31.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Detailed service
Actions at Athens, Calhoun, and Charleston September 25. Philadelphia September 27 and October 24. Knoxville Campaign November 4-December 23. Loudon November 14. Lenoir November 14–15. Campbell's Station November 16. Siege of Knoxville November 17-December 5. Kingston November 24. Bean's Station December 10. Blain's Cross Roads December 16–19. Duty at Knoxville until January 19, 1864. March to Red Clay, Georgia. Atlanta Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8–11. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Cartersville May 20. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Detailed service
Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Cheyney's Farm June 22. Olley's Farm June 26–27. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2–5. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5–7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Pursuit of Hood into Alabama October 1–26. Nashville Campaign November–December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24–27. Columbia Ford November 28–29. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15–16.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Detailed service
Pursuit of Hood, to the Tennessee River, December 17–28. At Clifton, Tennessee, until January 16, 1865. Movement to Washington, D.C., then to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, January 16-February 9. Operations against Hoke February 11–14. Fort Anderson February 18–19. Town Creek February 19–20. Capture of Wilmington February 22. Campaign of the Carolinas March 1-April 26. Advance on Goldsboro March 6–21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 21. Advance on Raleigh April 10–14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. Duty at Greensboro, North Carolina, until June. Ordered to Indianapolis.


15th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Casualties
The battery lost a total of 14 men during service; 1 enlisted men killed, 1 officer and 12 enlisted men died of disease.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade
The 15th Independent Special Forces Brigade (Russian: 15-я отдельная бригада специального назначения) is an elite unit of the Uzbek Ground Forces, being the successor to its counterpart in the Soviet Army's GRU.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, Early existence
On the basis of the directive of the War Minister Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky October 24, 1950, "separate special-purpose companies" began to form in the military districts. On August 9, 1957, by the directive of the Chief of the General Staff, on the basis of the 91st company redeployed from the Far Eastern Military District to the Turkestan Military District, on October 1, 1957, the 61st Independent Special Forces Brigade was formed in Samarkand. In February 1962, on the basis of the 61st battalion, the formation of the 15th brigade in the village of Azadbash near the town of Chirchiq. The birthday of the military unit is January 1, 1963, by which the formation ended. Most of the officer corps came from the 105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, Early existence
In the first years, the personnel of the brigade made parachute jumps at the base of the 105th in Fergana, later jumps began to be performed at the training ground in the vicinity of Chirchiq.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, Initial usage
Due to the absence at that historical stage of special units as part of the Internal Troops, special purpose units of the GRU were involved in cases of suppression of riots or acts of mass civil disobedience.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, Initial usage
Examples of the involvement of the 15th Brigade military personnel for such purposes in the 1960s and 1970s are: ensuring the quarantine area during the epidemic of cholera in the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the late summer of 1965, blocking the streets of Tashkent affected by the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, suppression of riots in the city of Shymkent in 1967, providing a quarantine zone during a smallpox epidemic in the city of Aralsk in the fall of 1971.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, Initial usage
For performing its duties, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the central committees of the Communist Parties of the Kazakh, Uzbek and Kyrgyz SSR awarded the unit with Honorary Red Banners.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, War in Afghanistan
In connection with the start of the Soviet–Afghan War, the General Staff adopted directive No. 314/02/0061 of April 26, 1979 on the formation of 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment on the basis of the 15th brigade. The detachment was assigned a combat mission to support a special unit of the KGB of the USSR during an operation on the territory of Afghanistan. Only servicemen of three nationalities (Turkmens, Tajiks, and Uzbeks), which earned it the nickname of "Muslim Battalion". 520 men from the unit guarded the residence of Afghan General Secretary Hafizullah Amin as he could not rely on Afghan troops. During Operation Storm-333, during which the battalion stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan, 7 troops from the "Muslim Battalion" were killed.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, War in Afghanistan
In December 1979, on the basis of the 15th brigade, the 459th Separate Special Forces Company was formed and was sent to Afghanistan on February 9, 1980. The company was stationed near the headquarters of the 40th Army in Kabul. It received air support from the 40th Army air assets in the form of the 239th Helicopter Squadron.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, War in Afghanistan
On August 15, 1988, the 459th company was withdrawn to the USSR and redeployed to Samarkand.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, 1988–1991
On May 15 (at the beginning of the withdrawal of troops), the personnel of the brigade numbered 2,482 people, of which 302 were officers and 147 were warrant officers. On May 18, 1988, the brigade department, the 154th detachment and the 334th detachment were withdrawn to the city of Termez.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Soviet history, 1988–1991
On the night of January 19, 1990, the brigade was alerted and, as part of two detachments, flew to the city of Baku, being assigned 10 units of the BTR-80. For three months, the detachments carried out operational tasks together with the Alpha Group both in Baku itself and in the western and southern regions of the Azerbaijan SSR.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Independence, Early months under Uzbek control
On July 1, 1992, the 15th brigade became part of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan. In August 1992, the brigade took part in the liberation of the Uzbek island of Aral-Paygambar on the Amu Darya, captured by the Mujahideen.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Independence, Tajikistan
From September 1992 to the end of 1994, the 15th Brigade was actively involved in the Tajikistani Civil War on the orders of defence minister Rustam Akhmedov.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Independence, Tajikistan
Together with the units of the Russian 201st Military Base, they participated in hostilities against the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition. The 15th brigade trained the fighters of the Popular Front of Tajikistan. In addition to direct participation in hostilities, the officers of the brigade participated in the formation of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Independence, Later activities
In February 1996, the 15th brigade was reorganized into the 15th Independent Special Forces Brigade (military unit 64411). After the brigade became part of the 2nd Army Corps of the Mobile Forces of the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan.


15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, Independence, Later activities
The 15th brigade remained in the 2nd corps until February 1999. The main tactical task was to cover the Tajikistan–Uzbekistan border in the Angren-Olmaliq. In February 1999, the brigade was framed and transferred from the village of Azadbash to the city of Chirchik.


15th Independent Spirit Awards
The 15th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1999, were announced on March 25, 2000. It was hosted by Jennifer Tilly.


15th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 15th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in September 1940, at Secunderabad in India and assigned to the 9th Indian Infantry Division. Between February and March 1941, it was attached to the 10th Indian Infantry Division, before returning to the 9th in March 1941 and sailing for Malaya. Once in Malaya the brigade was assigned to the 11th Indian Infantry Division. During the Malayan Campaign after the Battle of Jitra and the Battle of Kampar it absorbed the remnants of the 6th Indian Infantry Brigade in December 1941. The brigade eventually surrendered with the rest of the III Indian Corps after the Battle of Singapore 15 February 1942.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment
The 15th Indiana Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Service
The 15th Indiana Infantry was organized at Lafayette, Indiana for a one-year enlistment in May 1861. It was subsequently reorganized and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on June 14, 1861, under the command of Colonel George Day Wagner.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Service
The regiment was attached to 1st Brigade, Army of Occupation, Western Virginia, July to September 1861. Reynolds' Cheat Mountain District, Western Virginia, to November 1861. 15th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December 1861. 15th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to March 1862. 15th Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Ohio, March 1862. 21st Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. 21st Brigade, 6th Division, IV Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Left Wing, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to February 1864. Garrison, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1864.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Service
The 15th Indiana Infantry mustered out of service at Chattanooga, Tennessee on June 16, 1864. Veterans and recruits were transferred to the 17th Indiana Infantry.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Detailed service
Moved to Indianapolis, Indiana then to Clarksburg, Virginia, July 1–6. Western Virginia Campaign July 6–17, including the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11. Duty in Elkwater Valley, Virginia, July to November 1861. Operations on Cheat Mountain September 11–17. Elkwater September 11. Battle of Cheat Mountain September 12. Battle of Greenbrier River October 3–4. Ordered to Louisville November 19. Duty at Bardstown and Lebanon, Kentucky, until February 1862. Marched to Nashville, Tennessee, February 17-March 13, and to Savannah, Tennessee, March 21-April 6. Battle of Shiloh April 6–7. Advance on and Siege of Corinth, April 29-May 30.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Detailed service
Pursuit to Booneville May 30-June 12. Buell's Campaign in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee June to August. March to Louisville, Kentucky, in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–22. Battle of Perryville, October 8 (reserve). March to Nashville, Tennessee, October 22-November 7, and duty there until December 26. Lavergne December 11. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Battle of Stones River December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro until June. Reconnaissance to Nolensville and Versailles January 13–15. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Camp at Pelham until August 17.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Detailed service
Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 17-September 22. Occupation of Chattanooga September 9, and assigned to duty there as garrison. Siege of Chattanooga, September 24-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27. Orchard Knob November 23–24. Battle of Missionary Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26–27. March to relief of Knoxville, November 28-December 8. Duty at Knoxville and vicinity until February 1864. Ordered to Chattanooga, and garrison duty there until June.


15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Casualties
The regiment lost a total of 183 men during service; 4 officers and 103 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 76 enlisted men died of disease.


15th Infantry Brigade (Hungary)
The 15th Infantry Brigade was a formation of the Royal Hungarian Army that participated in the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 15th Infantry Brigade, later 15 (North East) Brigade, was an infantry brigade of the British Army. It was part of the regular 5th Infantry Division during the First World War and Second World War, and was subsequently part of the 2nd Infantry Division in the north of the United Kingdom, with specific responsibility for the areas of North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Formation
The 15th Infantry Brigade was first formed in 1905 at Fermoy and up to the outbreak of the First World War continued to serve in Ireland. The Brigade, which at that time consisted of 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, 1st Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment and 2nd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, was mobilized on 5 August 1914 and crossed to France as part the 5th Division with the British Expeditionary Force.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, First World War
During the opening months of the War, the Brigade had its full share of fighting and saw action at Mons, Le Cateau, at the crossings of the Marne and Aisne and in the first battles in Flanders.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, First World War
The Brigade has chosen Ypres, November 1914, as the Brigade Battle and there is an annual Brigade Dinner to celebrate it. The Brigade fought in all four battles of Ypres.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, First World War
The Brigade distinguished itself in various battles. One of the most notable was the attack on Hill 60 near Ypres in 1915. Hill 60 was the highest point on what was known as the "Caterpillar Ridge" and as such was an excellent post for observation of the ground area around Zillebeke and Ypres. The 5th Division, composed of 13th, 14th and 15th brigades, had the task of securing Hill 60 and the ridge line. The Hill was taken between 17 and 19 April 1915, with heavy losses, and the subsequent German counterattack in early May was particularly ferocious. The Germans, unable to obtain victory, eventually resorted to the use of chlorine gas and Brigade casualties during the first week in May 1915 were 33 officers and 1,553 men. However, the line was held until reliefs were brought forward and the Brigade withdrawn.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, First World War
The last battle of the Great War in November 1918 found 15th Brigade in the forefront of the advance, east of the River Sambre.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, The Inter-War Years
Following the war the 15th Brigade returned to Belfast where it commanded 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, 1st Durham Light Infantry and 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. In 1924 the 15th Brigade moved to Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine and was renamed 1st Rhine Brigade. The Brigade was reformed, as 15th Infantry Brigade in October.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Second World War
The brigade was formed from regular units on the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. When the 5th Division was sent to France late 1939, the 15th Brigade was sent instead in May to Norway, as part of Sickleforce to participate in the unsuccessful Norwegian Campaign, under the command of Lieutenant-General H.R.S.Massey. The brigade was reunited with the 5th Division on 3 August.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Second World War
The Brigade served with this formation for the rest of the war, seeing action in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and Italian Campaign later in the year. After participating in the later stages of the Battle of Anzio, the brigade was deployed to garrison duties in the Middle East before being transferred to North-western Europe on 3 March 1945. The brigade was disbanded in Hanover on 31 March 1948.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Reformation
The Brigade was reformed in 1982, as a Territorial Army formation, which in turn was part of the 2nd Infantry Division. The Brigade's Headquarters were at Alanbrooke Barracks and its first commander in this new role was Brigadier Michael Aris. Its organisation and role were tested in Exercise Keystone in 1983, when it consisted of:


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Reformation
In 1999, having been a territorial formation for many years, the brigade was made responsible for both regular and territorial units in the North East, when the Second Division became a "Regenerative Division", responsible for the north of England and Scotland.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), History, Reformation
This brigade was merged with the former 4th Mechanised Brigade to become the Headquarters North East section of 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East based in Catterick.


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), Role and Structure
In 1989 the 15th Infantry Brigade, (at that time a Reserve Brigade), had the following structure


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), Role and Structure
15th (North East) Brigade was a Regional Brigade responsible for the recruiting of soldiers and Officers for the Regular and Territorial Army. It trained the Territorial Army for operations, provided a command and control focus for all military support to civilian authorities during civil emergencies e.g. flooding and was responsible for providing the "Firm Base" to the Regular Army within its area. The brigade had its headquarters at Imphal Barracks in York and included the following units:


15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), Commanders
The following officers commanded the 15th Brigade during its existence:


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo"
The 15th Infantry Division "Bergamo" (Italian: 15ª Divisione fanteria "Bergamo") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Bergamo was formed on 24 May 1939 in Opatija and named for the city of Bergamo. After the Armistice of Cassibile the division initially resisted German Wehrmacht forces, but was soon forces to surrender.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", History, Initial deployment
From 10 June 1940, the Bergamo division was assigned to border guard duty in Rijeka-Brešca(near Matulji)-Klana sector. The Bergamo division was part of the Italian V Corps that took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia. 6 April 1941, Bergamo division has received orders to advance. By 11 April 1941, it broken through Yugoslavian defences at Veli Vrh summit near Drenova, Rijeka, and captured the Kastav the same day. By 12 April 1941 it has reached the Bakar, continuing to advance to the south. 16 April 1941, the Bergamo division has captured Žuta Lokva village. After the invasion it was stationed in Dalmatia, in particular in city of Makarska, towns of Livno, Sinj, Ljubuški, Imotski and on the Brač island.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", History, Fighting the partisans
From 22 July 1941 to 25 July 1941, the Bergamo division has fought the Yugoslavian partisans near the town of Drvar. Another large surge of fighting with partisans trying to infiltrate Croatia has happened from 9 October 1941 to 9 November 1941, across Croatian-Yugoslavian border. Afterward, the main duties of Bergamo has become the coastal defence, protection of roads and peacekeeping between the Yugoslavian and Croatian communities. In June 1942, it has suppressed a major revolt in Lika region.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", History, Fighting the partisans
The Bergamo Division took part in Operation Alba which was an anti Partisan operations in Croatia carried out on 12 August to 2 September 1942, to destroy partisan groups in the Biokovo area 40 to 50 kilometres east of Split. Italian forces burned down 10 villages and killed and arrested several hundred people. In 1943, increasingly bloody skirmishes with partisans were fought until 8 September 1943.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", History, The defeat
After the Italian surrender in September 1943, it resisted the German forces but was defeated and some of the division's officers were executed by order of the German XV Mountain Corps, others evaded capture and joined the Yugoslav Partisans.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", History, C.R.O.W.C.A.S.S.
The names of three Italian commanders attached to the Bergamo Division can be found in the CROWCASS list established by the Anglo-American Allies of the individuals wanted by Yugoslavia for war crimes.


15th Infantry Division "Bergamo", XV Mountain Corps war diary
Daily Report from Commander in Chief Southeast (Army Group F)


15th Infantry Division (Belgium)
The 15th Infantry Division (15de Infanterie Divisie) was an infantry division of the Belgian Army that fought in the Battle of Belgium against the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
After the Phony wars, the Germans have had enough time to gather a sufficient amount of their forces near the Rhineland and smashed into Belgium and the Netherlands. The 15th Division was one of the weaker formations in the Belgian army. It was made up entirely of older reserve regiments which was armed with antiquated weapons of world war one vintage. Moreover, its regiments lacked the fourth heavy weapons battalion that was customary in the regiments of the active army and those of newer reserves.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
The division was stationed behind the Albert Canal line between Herentals and Massenhoven. To compensate for its weaker units, its lines were somewhat shorter then those of its neighbouring divisions.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
As the Belgian front at the Canal collapsed near Liège, the 15th Division was withdrawn from its positions and was made to occupy the lines between the Antwerp Position and the K-W Line, covered by the forts of Kessel and Massenhoven. When the Germans broke through and the K-W Line was abandoned, the 15th Division's line was lenghtened as it was assigned a covering role for the retreat of the army. Only the 42nd regiment saw heavy fighting, successfully defending Lier from multiple German probes during May 17th.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
The 15th Division withdrew all the way to the coast, where it was assigned a role in the rearguard. First, it was to prepare the north of Zeeuws Vlaanderen from a possible German attack across the Scheldt while the remaining troops of the French 7th Army withdrew from the region.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
After the Germans reached the English Channel and the Allied forces in Flanders were effectively cut off, the 15th Division was positioned along the Yser facing West against a possible German breakthrough over the British sector. As the Lys Battle unfolded and the Germans decisively punctured the Belgian defences at the river, the units of the 15th Division were called in to serious action for the first time.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
The 31st line regiment was detached from the Division on 25 may to man a makeshift line over the Roeselare-Ypres railroad. It took position between Frezenberg and Passendale, on the old World War One battlefields. By the 26th of may the regiment found itself in the front line. After several preliminary bombardments, the Germans succeeded in destroying several companies at the first attack, successfully enveloping the remainder of two of its battalions.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
The 42nd line regiment was the last to remain on the Yser. As the situation at the Lys became desperate, Army Command was throwing the last remaining reserves into the fray. On the 26th of may, the regiment was hastily transported towards Tielt. As the Belgians embarked on their buses, the Luftwaffe attacked, leaving 20 dead and 75 wounded. By the time the regiment arrived in Tielt, it's morale had taken a serious beating. On the 27th of May, its battalions were deployed under constant Luftwaffe strafing. In the afternoon, shortly after taking position, they found themselves  suddenly on the frontline. After a brief fight, they were quickly overwhelmed, either surrendering or retreating in disarray.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
The 43rd line regiment followed the 31st almost immediately to the position behind the railroad. It took position near Passendale, covering the flanks of the 31st and the 4th of the line. During the night of the 26th, it was gradually reinforced by cyclists, machine and AA gun companies from different units.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
As the disaster in the area of the 31st unfolded, the 2nd battalion of the 43rd quickly became involved in the fighting, too. Although it attempted to contain the breach on its right, by noon the Germans struck the town of Passendale in force. One by one its companies were defeated, losing several officers as well as its Major Phillippart. By the end of the day only 2 battalions were more or less in fighting condition, conducting a successful fighting retreat inland.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), World War II
By the Belgian surrender on the 28th of May, at least 215 officers, NCO and enlisted were killed in action.


15th Infantry Division (Belgium), Structure 1940
Structure of the division at the eve of the Battle of Belgium:


15th Infantry Division (France)
The 15th Infantry Division (French: 15e division d'infanterie (15e DI)) was an infantry division of the French Army originally formed after the end of the Franco-Prussian War that fought in World War I. It fought in World War II as the 15th Motorized Infantry Division, under the command of Alphonse Juin, surrendering during the Battle of France.


15th Infantry Division (France)
Reestablished on 1 March 1951, it was disbanded in 1962. The division was reformed again during the French Army reorganization of 1977. In the 1980s it was part of the 2nd Army Corps; it was shifted into the 3rd Army Corps after the 2nd Army Corps was disestablished, and finally disbanded in 1994.


15th Infantry Division (France), First World War
It was commanded by General Léon Bajolle upon mobilization. General Gaston d'Armau de Pouydraguin became commander on 14 October 1914. General Ferdinand Blazer was appointed commander on 24 March 1915, General François Collas on 15 July of that year, and General Louis Achille Arbanere on 9 March 1917.


15th Infantry Division (France), First World War
The division was assigned to the 8th Army Corps for the duration of the war. It included the 29th Brigade with the 56th and 134th Infantry Regiments and the 30th Brigade with the 10th and 27th Infantry Regiments. Organic artillery support was provided by the 48th Field Artillery Regiment with three groupes of 75mm guns, while reconnaissance was provided by a cavalry squadron of the 16th Chasseur Regiment; in November 1915 it transferred to the 73rd Infantry Division. In January 1917, the 27th Regiment was transferred to the 16th Infantry Division.


15th Infantry Division (France), First World War
At the same time the division was reorganized to form a triangular structure, eliminating the brigade headquarters to include the 10th, 56th, and 134th Infantry Regiments, and was again assigned two squadrons from the 16th Chasseurs. In August 1918, the pioneer battalion of the 106th Reserve Infantry Regiment was attached to the division after being transferred from the 20th Army Corps.


15th Infantry Division (France), Interwar period
The 15th Motorized Infantry Division, a unit of the Northeast type, was stationed at Dijon during the interwar period. It included the 4th, 27th, and 134th Infantry Regiments, the 4th Infantry Division Reconnaissance Group with armored cars (French: 4e Groupe de reconnaissance de division d'infanterie (4e GRDI)), the 1st Motorized Divisional Artillery Regiment, the 201st Motorized Divisional Light Artillery Regiment with two groups of 155mm howitzers, in addition to smaller support units.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Mobilization and Phoney War
On 23 August 1939, when the French Army began its mobilization for World War II, the division was at the disposal of the Minister of Defense and its first echelon was alerted in the 8th Military Region. Under the mobilization plan it was located in the area of Gray, under the command of Général de division Henri Parisot from 2 September. The second echelon arrived on 26 August, when the division was assigned to the covering reserve in the 8th Army sector. On 5 September it was transferred by road to the area southwest of Sarrebourg, with headquarters in Blamont as part of the 5th Army. Three days later the division headquarters relocated east to Lemberg when it became part of the 8th Army Corps of the 5th Army.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Mobilization and Phoney War
Between 9 and 12 September the division advanced into the Ohrenthal (part of Rolbing) salient with the 23rd Infantry Division of the 5th Army Corps of the 4th Army on the left and the 4th Colonial Infantry Division of its corps on the right in front of the Maginot Line as part of the Saar Offensive, with its headquarters at Schorbach. This advance, which became known as the Saar Offensive, resulted in the division occupying positions from the German border at Hornbach to the outskirts of Stausteinerwald, west of the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, on 13 September. As the French units began retreating towards the Maginot Line, the division sector was modified to run from Height 326 west of Hornbach to Height 354 west of Riedelberg between 24 and 25 September.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Mobilization and Phoney War
Relieved by the 35th Infantry Division in its left sector and the 3rd Colonial Infantry Division in its right sector between 2 and 3 October, the division retreated behind the Maginot Line. It reconcentrated in the area of Baerenthal on 4 October. Transferred to the 5th Army reserve with headquarters at Bouxwiller on 9 October, the 15e DIM moved by road to the area of Sarrebourg and Cirey on the next day, where it became part of the reserve of the 2nd Army Group with headquarters at the latter.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Mobilization and Phoney War
It was further moved by rail and road to the area of Chauny, Guiscard, Ham, and Coucy for rest, reorganization, and training on 23 October. There, it was placed in the reserve of the Grand Quartier Général while headquartered at Chauny, where it spent the rest of the Phoney War. Général de division Alphonse Juin became division commander on 1 December.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Battle of Belgium
When the German invasion of Belgium began on 10 May 1940, the division was alerted for movement into Belgium under the Dyle Plan. Assigned to the 4th Army Corps of the 1st Army, the 15e DIM recalled the 27th Infantry Regiment, which was at Sissonne on maneuvers. The 134th Infantry Regiment was sent ahead to Saint-Quentin, while the 4e GRDI was detached to the corps headquarters as part of Groupement Arlabosse, led by its commander.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Battle of Belgium
On the next day the division moved by road from Chauny to Gembloux through Tergnier, Saint-Quentin, Le Cateau, Binche, La Louvière, Gosselies, and Tongrinne, setting up its headquarters at Tongrinne. The 4th and 134th Infantry Regiments began moving into positions on 12 May, with a battalion from each regiment occupying the sector of the 1st Moroccan Division, which had not yet arrived, from Ernage to the northern part of Gembloux. Groupement Arlabosse was briefly transferred back to the division that day but again detached to the 1st Moroccan Division at noon.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Battle of Belgium
The 27th Infantry Regiment arrived at the division positions on 13 May and at the end of that day the division was relieved by the newly arrived 1st Moroccan Division. Its positions shifted to a sector between the 1st Moroccan Division on the southern edge of Gembloux and the 12th Motorized Infantry Division at Beuzet; the 134th Infantry held the northernmost part of the line, the 27th Infantry the middle, and the 4th Infantry the southernmost. At noon on the same day the 4e GRDI was placed under direct corps command between Geest and Noville to the north of Grande-Rosiére.


15th Infantry Division (France), Second World War, Battle of Belgium
The division engaged German forces along its front on 14 May, while being forced to retreat in what became known as the Battle of Gembloux. Its artillery targeted German tank concentrations in the area of Grandleez and Baudeset in support of the 1st Moroccan Division. German tank attacks were repulsed by the 27th Infantry Regiment to the south of Gembloux and the 4th Infantry Regiment at Beuzet on 15 May.