187th Rifle Division

Last updated
187th Rifle Division (September 13, 1939 - November 1, 1941)
187th Rifle Division (October 23, 1941 - September 1945)
Active1939–1945
CountryFlag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army flag.svg Red Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Engagements Operation Barbarossa
Battle of Kiev (1941)
Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Battle of Mutanchiang
Decorations Order of Suvorov 2nd class.png   Order of Suvorov (2nd formation)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Col. Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov Hero of the Soviet Union medal.png
Maj. Gen. Viktor Vasilevich Arkhangelskii
Maj. Gen. Iliya Mikhailovich Savin

The 187th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed just after the start of the Second World War, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It began forming on that same date, in the Kharkov Military District, and while it was officially part of the Active Army when the invasion of Poland began four days later it was not nearly complete enough to take part. At the start of the German invasion it was in reserve in the 45th Rifle Corps, but soon began moving to the front, again joining the Active Army on July 2, 1941. It was initially assigned to 21st Army in Western Front, then moved to 13th Army in the same Front, before returning to the 21st. Part of the division was encircled and destroyed in the hard-fought battle for Mogilev. Late in August the 187th was transferred, with its Army, to Bryansk Front, just days before the 2nd Panzer Group began driving south to encircle Southwestern Front east of Kyiv. The division was directly in the path of this drive, and despite being withdrawn across the Desna River on September 5, it was pocketed by September 16 and largely destroyed within days, although not officially disbanded until November 1.

Contents

A new 187th appeared in April 1942 in the Far Eastern Front when a named rifle division was redesignated. Through most of its existence it was in 1st Red Banner Army, but just prior to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 it was reassigned to 5th Army. As part of 1st Far Eastern Front this Army quickly pierced the Japanese frontier defenses and the division, with its 17th Rifle Corps, was quickly shifted to 25th Army in the same Front. This was followed by an advance on Mudanjiang, which fell on August 16, two days before the Japanese capitulation. The 187th's performance was rewarded with the Order of Suvorov, but it was disbanded in September.

1st Formation

The division began forming on September 13, 1939, in Poltava Oblast in the Kharkov Military District. For its first two months it was under command of Col. Pavel Ivanovich Abramidze. As of June 22, 1941, it had the following order of battle:

Col. Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov took command of the division on July 20, 1940. He had previously served as the deputy commanding officer of the 72nd Rifle Division.

Battles in Belarus

As of June 22 the 187th was assigned to the 45th Rifle Corps, unattached to any Army, in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and by July 1 it was in the same Corps, assigned to 21st Army, which was part of the STAVKA Group of Reserve Armies. [2] On July 2, as the division joined the fighting, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko took over command of Western Front, which included the 21st. The Army, which was anchoring the Front's southern flank, launched a partially-successful reconnaissance-in-force on July 5, and then a series of resolute and somewhat effective counterattacks against the right flank of 2nd Panzer Group in the area of Rahachow and Zhlobin. [3]

On July 7 the 45th Corps, with the 187th, was transferred to 13th Army, still in Western Front. [4] 2nd Panzer Group renewed its assault on July 10, when two divisions of XXIV Motorized Corps crossed the Dniepr River at and near Bykhaw, 29–32 km south of Mogilev. This had been partially anticipated by Timoshenko in his intelligence summary of the previous night, but he had expected the assault to be made at Rahachow. As a result, only the 187th had been left to defend the sector north of Bykhaw. After four hours of fighting the XXIV Corps had seized a sizeable bridgehead and, after driving off Soviet forces, began construction of two bridges. That evening, Timoshenko reported that 45th Corps (187th and 148th Rifle Divisions) were fighting against German units that had crossed in the Barsuki and Borkolobovo region, while at 1330 hours German tanks had been seen along the Mogilev– Novy-Bykhaw highway. [5]

The next day, the remainder of 2nd Panzer Group also crossed the Dniepr. Timoshenko reported that 13th Army was holding at Barsuki and Borkolobovo, with the 187th fighting with German units in the bridgehead; the 137th Rifle Division had now joined 45th Corps. On July 12, Western Front headquarters stated that 13th Army's positions had been penetrated to a depth of 20 km. The commander of 2nd Panzer Group, Col. Gen. H. Guderian, now directed the XXIV Corps to move eastward through Chavusy and Krychaw to Roslavl. The Corps was also supposed to protect the Group's right flank. This penetration had forced a gap between the 13th and the adjacent 20th Army, and a major portion of the former was threatened with encirclement in the Mogilev area. [6]

Timoshenko's Offensive

In the afternoon of July 12 the STAVKA realized that desperate measures were required to restore the situation, including the need to "[c]onduct active operations along the Gomel' and Bobruisk axis to threaten the rear of the enemy's Mogilev grouping." Timoshenko and his staff had already issued a number of preliminary orders, which included directions to Col. Gen. F. I. Kuznetsov's 21st Army which demanded that a counterattack be made from the Taimonovo and Shapchitsy area by the 187th and 102nd Rifle Divisions (under command of 67th Rifle Corps) to destroy German forces in the Komarichi and Bykhaw regions. No part of Timoshenko's plan was even remotely feasible. Only 21st Army scored a partial success when it managed to project a sizeable force across the Dniepr to briefly threaten German communications with Babruysk. [7]

The 187th went over to the attack on July 13, trying to advance north into the flank of 4th Panzer Division from Shapchitsy. [8] The 67th Corps had been reinforced by 300 tanks of the newly-arrived 25th Mechanized Corps, but the effort turned out to be futile. The next day Timoshenko reported the partial success, without any reference to the 187th. The forces, mostly of 13th Army, that were rapidly being encircled in Mogilev were putting up very stiff resistance against 2nd Panzer Group and included part of the division. [9]

Battle of Kyiv

By July 16, the 45th Corps had managed to escape southward to rejoin 21st Army. In a report on July 21 it was stated that the 236th Rifle Regiment was in the Rogi region as part of this Army, but there was no information about its remaining regiments. [10] By July 23 the division had lost over half of its artillery, leaving it with just 10 76mm regimental guns, 12 76mm cannons, 24 122mm and six 152mm howitzers, plus six 120mm mortars. [11] Through the following days, until Mogilev fell on July 27, the 21st Army launched incessant attacks from the south in an effort to assist the defense. The commander of the defending 61st Rifle Corps, Maj. Gen. F. A. Bakunin, ordered a breakout by his remaining troop overnight on July 26/27, but only a handful managed to reach Soviet lines. [12] Shortly after rejoining 21st Army the 187th was reassigned to 21st Rifle Corps. [13]

While Mogilev was presenting one difficulty to Army Group Center, the continuing resistance of 21st Army was another thorn in its side. Elements of the 21st had earlier recaptured Rahachow, forcing German 2nd Army to prepare to take it back. The new commander of the 21st (which was now part of Central Front), Lt. Gen. M. G. Yefremov, requested permission to withdraw his 63rd Rifle Corps back to more defensible positions on the east bank of the Dniepr, but was refused. [14]

On August 14 the 187th was again reassigned, now to 28th Rifle Corps, still in 21st Army. When 2nd Panzer Group turned south into the flank and rear of Southwestern Front, the division was directly in its path. [15] General Kuznetsov had returned to command of the Army on August 25, and at noon two days later he sent a combat report to the commander of Bryansk Front, Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, describing the alarming progress of the German drive. 21st Army was described as being involved in sustained fighting since 1000 hours, and the 187th was said to be at Klintsy and Glinishche, 108–114 km west of Trubchevsk. Kuznetsov formed two shock groups, largely of cavalry, in a bid to restore his communications with 13th Army. [16]

Despite these efforts, by August 29 Kuznetsov's force had been separated from the rest of his Front by the XXIV Motorized Corps. 28th Corps, now consisting of the 187th and 117th Rifle and 219th Motorized Divisions, was defending along a line from Gutka Studenetskaya through Elino to Novye Borovichi; together with 66th Rifle Corps it was attempting to hold a 100 km-wide line with a handful of battered rifle divisions. Despite this, over the following days the STAVKA continued to issue attack orders to the Front which were doomed to failure. [17]

Encirclement and Disbandment

By August 30 the 2nd Panzer Group had begun its drive to the south to link up with 1st Panzer Group and encircle Southwestern Front east of Kiev. 28th Corps was defending along the Snov River on and appears to have eliminated a German force that had infiltrated its positions on September 1 but this was of little relevance to the overall situation. The next day the 187th was reported as fighting intense defensive battles along a line from Gutka Studenetskaya to Mostki, 78–95 km northeast of Chernihiv. During September 4 the 187th was defending from Tikhonovichi to the wood 2 km southeast of Slobodka. Kuznetsov ordered his Army to withdraw across the Desna River at 1300 hours on September 5. [18]

The two panzer groups met at Lokhvytsia on September 16. Most of 21st Army was pocketed, including the 187th, and it was destroyed by the end of the month although it officially remained in the Red Army order of battle until November 1. [19]

Colonel Ivanov suffered a heavy wound on September 15 and was evacuated from the pocket. After returning to duty in January 1942 he took command of the 8th Rifle Division, and on October 1 was promoted to the rank of major general. In June 1943 he was moved to command the 18th Rifle Corps of 65th Army, and after leading his Corps in a crossing of the Dniepr near Gomel he was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. He later led the 124th Rifle Corps before the end of the war in 3rd Belorussian Front. However, he came under some suspicion and was arrested in December 1951, and on October 2, 1952, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, with his rank and his title as a Hero of the Soviet Union revoked. After the death of Stalin in March 1953 he was rehabilitated in August and restored to his rights and rank. He served in the educational establishment until his retirement in April 1955, and died in Moscow on July 8, 1968. [20]

2nd Formation

The Grodelkovskaya Rifle Division began forming on October 23, 1941, in the 1st Red Banner Army of Far Eastern Front, north of Vladivostok. [21] In April 1942 it was redesignated as the 2nd formation of the 187th. [22] Following redesignation its order of battle was almost completely different from the 1st formation:

The division came under command of Col. Viktor Vasilevich Arkhangelskii on the day it began forming. This officer would be promoted to the rank of major general on February 22, 1944, but on June 13 he left the division and soon took command of the 4th Fortified Region. He was replaced by Col. Iliya Mikhailovich Savin, who had led the 385th Rifle Division in 1941-42, and more recently the 17th Rifle Brigade. He would command the 187th into the postwar, being promoted to major general on April 20, 1945. The division immediately came under command of 26th Rifle Corps, but in May it came under direct Army command. [23]

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

Manchurian Operation. Note initial position of 5th Army (V GE) on right. Manchuria Operation map-es.svg
Manchurian Operation. Note initial position of 5th Army (V GE) on right.

In February 1943 the 187th joined 5th Rifle Corps, still in 1st Army, but in July it again came under Army control. [24] It remained in this arrangement throughout 1944. During the early months of 1945 the division received the 458th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion of 12 SU-76s (plus one T-70 command tank) to supplement its mobile firepower in anticipation of operations in the difficult terrain of Manchuria.

During July the division was assigned to the 17th Rifle Corps of 5th Army in the Primorsky Group of Forces, [25] which would soon be renamed 1st Far Eastern Front. When the invasion began on August 9 the division attacked Japanese border fortifications, with support from the 20th Assault Engineer Brigade, and in two days ripped through the forts and advanced over 22 km into Japanese-held territory, From August 10 the 17th Corps was assigned to 25th Army. [26]

At Heitosai the Soviet advance divided into two separate columns. 17th Corps, with the 72nd Mechanized Brigade acting as a forward detachment, drove west toward the Taipingling Pass. While the 187th launched a frontal attack, the other division of the Corps, the 366th Rifle, encircled positions of the Japanese 284th Infantry Regiment of the 128th Division at Lotzokou from the south on August 15. Late on the next day both divisions, in cooperation with a brigade of the 10th Mechanized Corps, pushed the Japanese forces out of Lotzokou and the Taipingling Pass. Mudanjiang was taken after a two-day battle on August 15–16. On August 18 the Japanese capitulation was announced, by which time the 187th was near the Korean border. [27]

Postwar

On September 19 the 187th was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd Degree, in recognition of its part in the crossing of the Ussuri River and the capture of Mishan, Jilin, Yanji and Harbin. [28] Before the end of the month it had been disbanded. [29] [30]

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The 233rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. As part of 20th Army it was moved from the Moscow Military District to the front west of Orsha by July 2. Serving under Western Front the 20th was soon pocketed in the Smolensk region and although remnants of the 233rd were able to escape the division was no longer combat-effective and was broken up for replacements in early August.

The 242nd Rifle Division was the lowest-numbered infantry division of the Red Army to be formed from scratch following the German invasion of the USSR. It was largely based on what would become the shtat of July 29, 1941 and was very quickly assigned to the new 30th Army of Western Front. Despite many shortages of equipment and specialist personnel, and a near-complete absence of formation training, the division joined the active army on July 15, thrown into the fighting near Smolensk. In late August and early September it took part on the Front's offensives toward Dukhovshchina, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to encircle and destroy a large part of the German 9th Army. At the start of Operation Typhoon on October 2 it was defending part of the sector attacked by 9th Army and 3rd Panzer Group south of Bely and was quickly overwhelmed. After fighting in encirclement for most of the rest of the month its remaining men were able to break out and reach Soviet-held territory, but the losses were to too great to justify rebuilding and the division was disbanded.

The 244th Rifle Division was the second of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was largely based on what would become the shtat of July 29, 1941, with several variations. Initially assigned to the 31st Army, it was soon reassigned to 30th Army in Western Front northeast of Smolensk; under this command it took part in the first Dukhovshchina offensive against German 9th Army before being transferred to 19th Army in the third week of August for the second attempt to take this objective. After this failed the division went over to the defense at the boundary between the 19th and 30th Armies, where it was overwhelmed by 9th Army and 3rd Panzer Group at the outset of Operation Typhoon and soon destroyed.

The original 186th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed just before the start of the Second World War, in the Ural Military District, based on the pre-September 13, 1939 shtat. At the outbreak of war with Germany in June 1941 it was already moving west, and was soon assigned to the 22nd Army, which became part of Western Front on July 1. After the disastrous frontier battles this Front was attempting to defend along the lines of the Dvina and Dniepr Rivers, with the 22nd on the far right (north) flank. The division was initially quite successful in holding prepared positions near Polotsk, but was outflanked by German crossings elsewhere along the Dvina and forced to retreat. It became encircled west of Nevel, but was able to escape when Velikiye Luki was retaken on July 21. It held positions east of this city into late August when it was struck by a surprise panzer assault and largely overrun, which soon led to Velikiye Luki changing hands again. As the damaged division retreated in late September a former militia division in the far north was assigned the same number, and this anomaly persisted into late June 1943, when the later division was redesignated. The 186th, now in Kalinin Front, took part in the winter counteroffensive which drove a huge salient into the German lines around Toropets, and created the Rzhev salient. By February 1942 the offensive had bogged down, and the following months saw attacks and counterattacks on the west side of the salient, during which the division was fortunate to escape encirclement. Prior to Operation Mars it was transferred to 39th Army, but it played only a minor role in that offensive, and was moved in March 1943 to the reserve near Moscow for rebuilding. When it returned to the fighting front in late April it joined 25th Rifle Corps under direct command of Bryansk Front. After Operation Kutuzov began this Corps came under command of 3rd Army to serve as an exploitation force. By the first week of August the 186th had fought forward to take part in the liberation of Oryol, after which it advanced through eastern Ukraine and into Belarus. During the fall and winter of 1943/44 the division fought in a series of offensives in eastern Belarus under command of Belorussian Front, gradually closing in on the Dniepr. It was along this line at the start of the 1944 summer offensive and soon began advancing against the routed forces of Army Group Center, taking part in the capture of Babruysk and winning the Order of the Red Banner before continuing to drive westward. During this drive the division took part in the liberation of Brest, and was awarded its name as a battle honor. It was now in the 46th Rifle Corps of 65th Army, and it would remain under these commands into the postwar, moving to 2nd Belorussian Front in November. In September it forced crossings over the Narew River before the offensive was finally shut down. During the first phase of the Vistula-Oder offensive the 186th attacked out of the Serock bridgehead in the direction of Mława and Płońsk and two of its regiments were recognized for their roles in the fighting for these towns. Further awards followed for the division's role in the battle for Danzig in March. Beginning on April 18 it fought its way across both branches of the lower Oder River before advancing to the northwest. It took part in the fighting around Stettin, and in its final actions cleared the island of Rügen. After the war it was pulled back into Poland, where it was disbanded in June 1946.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 91
  2. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 11, 18
  3. ↑ David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  4. ↑ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 91
  5. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  6. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  7. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  8. ↑ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 91
  9. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  10. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 6
  11. ↑ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 91
  12. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 6
  13. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 33
  14. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 6
  15. ↑ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 91
  16. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 120-21
  17. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 369-71, 373-75
  18. ↑ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 388-89, 437, 459-61, 463, 465
  19. ↑ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 91
  20. ↑ https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=8320. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  21. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, pp. 25-26
  22. ↑ Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 111
  23. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 97, 117
  24. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 77, 210
  25. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1945, p. 196
  26. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 26
  27. ↑ Glantz, August Storm, The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, Pickle Partners Publishing, 2014, Kindle ed., ch. 8
  28. ↑ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 423.
  29. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 577, 579.
  30. ↑ According to Commanders of Corps and Divisions, (see Bibliography), General Savin remained in command until February 1946.

Bibliography

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