Commander of the 13th Guards Division, which took part in the defense of Stalingrad, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Alexander Ilyich Rodimtsev near the headquarters dugout. Stalingrad, September 1942
Since the beginning of the war, he was the commander of the 5th airborne brigade. The brigade under the command of Rodimtsev took part in border battles in Western Ukraine on the Southwestern Front. At the end of July 1941, she was redeployed to the Darnitsa area near Kiev, where during the Kiev defensive operation she fought fierce battles on the outskirts of Kiev for almost a month. In September, Rodimtsev's brigade was surrounded, fought defensive battles on the Seim River and at Putivl station, and, while maintaining its combat effectiveness, broke through from the encirclement. At the end of October, the 3rd Airborne Corps was transformed into the 87th Infantry Division, and Colonel Rodimtsev was appointed its commander. For the well-organized withdrawal of the division to the east, the courage and bravery of the soldiers and commanders in the struggle for the township Tim and Shchigry, the division was transformed into the 13th Guards division on March 27, 1942 and awarded the Order of Lenin, and the division commander himself, Rodimtsev, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In the summer of 1942, the division waged heavy hostilities in the Kharkov direction, and then retreated in the direction of Veydelevka, Kantemirovka and Vyoshenskaya. After receiving reinforcements in mid-September, the division was transferred to the 62nd Army (South-Eastern Front), after which it took part in defensive hostilities in Stalingrad, including the capture of Mamaev Kurgan. In May 1943, he was appointed commander of the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps, which in July of the same year was included in the 5th Guards Army and took part in hostilities in the Battle of Kursk and in the battle for the Dnieper, in Kirovograd, Umansko- Botoshanska, Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder, Lower Silesian, Berlin and Prague offensive operations. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 2, 1945, Lieutenant General Alexander Ilyich Rodimtsev was awarded the second Gold Star medal for his skillful leadership of the troops during the crossing of the Oder River on January 25, 1945 in the area of the Linden settlement (Poland), personal heroism and courage (6049).