| 179th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | |
| Decorations | Order of the Red Banner |
| Battle honours | Vitebsk |
The 179th Vitebsk Red Banner Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.
Established at Vilnius on 17 August 1940 as part of the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps on the basis of the 1st Infantry Division of the Lithuanian Army:
| Lithuanian Army units from which the Soviet unit was formed | Soviet units |
|---|---|
| 1st Division's HQ, Lithuanian Army's Staff | HQ |
| 1st Division's HQ, Lithuanian Army's Staff, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Cavalry Regiment | 215th Rifle Regiment |
| 1st, 8th Infantry Regiments, 1st Cavalry Regiment | 234th Rifle Regiment |
| 2nd, 3rd Infantry Regiments, 3rd Cavalry Regiment | 259th Rifle Regiment |
With 29th Rifle Corps of 11th Army on June 22, 1941. Fought at Kalinin, Gomel, and Vitebsk; with 4th Shock Army of the Kurland Group (Leningrad Front) May 1945.
It was reduced to the 27th Rifle Brigade in 1948 at Uralsk. It became a division again in October 1953. [1]
In 1955, the division became the 4th Rifle Division at Buzuluk in the South Ural Military District. [2]
The 3rd Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II.
The 5th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed twice. The division was formed in 1918, initially as the 2nd Penza Infantry Division. After becoming the 5th Rifle Division a month later, it fought in the Counteroffensive of Eastern Front in spring 1919 and later operations in Siberia. In the spring of 1920, the division was relocated west and fought in the Polish–Soviet War, participating in the Battle of Warsaw. The division was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner for its actions during the wars in 1929. In September 1939, it fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland and was then sent to Lithuania under the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. After Operation Barbarossa, the division fought in the Baltic Operation and the Leningrad Strategic Defensive. During the winter of 1941-1942, it participated in the Battle of Moscow, fighting in the Kalinin (Tver) area. During the summer of 1942, the division fought in the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and became the 44th Guards Rifle Division for its actions there on 5 October.
A rifle corps was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.
The 4th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed three times. It was first formed in 1919 from the remnants of the Lithuanian Rifle Division and fought in the Defence of Petrograd during the Russian Civil War. The division then fought in the Polish–Soviet War. In 1939, the division fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland. It fought in the Winter War from December 1939 and suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Kelja. After Operation Barbarossa, the division fought in the Barvinkove-Losowaja Operation and the 1942 Battle of Voronezh. It suffered heavy losses at Voronezh and was disbanded in November 1942. The division re-formed in 1943 and fought in the Bryansk Offensive, Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive, Lublin–Brest Offensive, Warsaw-Poznan Offensive and Berlin Offensive. It was disbanded in the summer of 1945. The division was re-formed a third time from the 160th Rifle Division and inherited that division's honorifics and awards. It became the 4th Motor Rifle Division in 1957 and disbanded in 1959.
The 16th Rifle Division was a formation in the Red Army created during World War II. The division was formed twice, and was given the title 'Lithuanian' during its second formation.
The 7th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed twice.
The 270th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division formed twice during World War II, in 1941 and 1942.
The 90th Guards Rifle Vitebsk Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. Formed from the 325th Rifle Division in recognition of its actions during the winter of 1943, the division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation, Operation Bagration, the Baltic Offensive, the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the East Prussian Offensive.
The 51st K. E. Voroshilov Guards Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued serving in the Soviet Army in the early years of the Cold War.
The 17th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.
The 23rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and Soviet Army, formed three times.
The 118th Estonian Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army. It was formed following the German surrender in June 1945 from the 2nd wartime formation of the 7th Estonian Rifle Division. The division became a brigade in 1946 and became a division again in 1950. It was disbanded in 1956.
The 29th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army.
The 10th Rifle Corps was an infantry corps of the Red Army, which later became the 10th Army Corps after the Second World War.
The 53rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army that served from the early 1930s to the immediate postwar period following World War II.
The 334th Rifle Division was formed in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division in the Volga Military District. For most of the war it followed a very similar combat path to that of the 332nd Rifle Division, sometimes serving on adjacent sectors. It fought in the Battle of Moscow and during the winter counteroffensive was assigned to 4th Shock Army, where it would remain until November 1943. During this offensive it helped carve out the Toropets Salient, where it would remain until the autumn of 1943 when it helped to liberate Velizh and began advancing westward again. In the first days of the 1944 summer offensive the 334th shared credit with several other units in the liberation of Vitebsk and was awarded that name as an honorific. The unit advanced into East Prussia in January 1945, distinguishing itself in the siege of the heavily-fortified city of Königsberg and the clearing of the Baltic coast. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.
The 288th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. Formed in the summer of 1941, the division was sent into combat on the Volkhov Front in the fall of that year. The division served in the area until early 1944 when the siege of Leningrad was ended and the 288th advanced into the Baltic states. The division spent the final months of the war blockading trapped German troops in the Courland Pocket before being disbanded in early 1946.
The 274th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice.
The 56th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army of the Soviet Union, formed three times.
The 262nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.
 Divisions of the Soviet Union 1945–1957 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airborne | |||||||||
| Artillery |
| ||||||||
| Cavalry | |||||||||
| Rifle |
| ||||||||
| Mechanised |
| ||||||||
| Tank |
| ||||||||
| Other | |||||||||
Guards units marked in bold. | |||||||||