The 316th Rifle Division was formed as a Red Army division during World War II. The division was initially formed in July 1941, renamed the 8th Guards Rifle Division on 18 November 1941. The division was recreated at Vjasniki in July 1942, fought in the early battles around Stalingrad and was disbanded in November 1942. The division was recreated for the third time from the 57th and 131st Rifle Brigades in September 1943. The division ended the war assigned to the 27th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
The 266th Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. The 266th was formed three times during the war.
The 138th Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division, was converted to serve for two years as a mountain rifle division, then back to a rifle division. The division played a leading role in defending the Barricades ordnance factory in the Battle of Stalingrad, for which it was raised to Guards status as the 70th Guards Rifle Division. A new 138th was raised a few months later and fought through Ukraine and the Carpathian Mountains of Czechoslovakia from August 1943 to May 1945.
The 70th Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and Soviet Army. It was formed after the Battle of Stalingrad from the 138th Rifle Division in recognition of that division's actions during the battle. The 70th Guards continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of the Great Patriotic War, and continued to serve postwar, as a motor rifle division, until being finally disbanded in 1991.
The 119th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times.
The 301st Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion, but was soon largely destroyed in the encirclement of Kiev, although enough of a cadre survived to form the basis of a second formation. This new division began forming in the last days of 1941, and saw some limited service in the Second Battle of Kharkov, but then had to fall back in the face of the German summer offensive, became encircled quite early on, and had to be disbanded in July. Nearly a year later a third 301st was raised, based on the personnel and equipment of two existing rifle brigades. This incarnation of the division compiled a creditable record of service in several major offensives through Ukraine, then into Poland and into the heart of Berlin in April, 1945, and also served briefly post-war in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, headquartered in Berlin.
The 416th Rifle Division was formed for the first time as a standard Red Army rifle division late in 1941, after the Soviet winter counteroffensive had begun, but was soon re-designated. A second formation began in March 1942, this time as an Azerbaijani National Division and was completed in July, after which it remained serving in the southern sectors of the Soviet-German front until the autumn of 1944, when it was redeployed to Poland in anticipation of the final offensives into the German heartland. The 416th compiled a record of service comparable to any majority-Russian unit, and saw postwar service in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
The 146th Rifle Division was formed for the first time as a standard Red Army rifle division in mid-1939, as part of a major build-up of the Army prior to the start of World War II. After the start of the German invasion in 1941 it defended the approaches to Kiev for several months until being surrounded and destroyed in September. A second formation began in January 1942, and the new division spent the following year on a relatively quiet sector before joining the offensives that would drive the German invaders from north-central Russia, Lithuania, and Poland. The 146th ended the war fighting in the streets of Berlin, after compiling an enviable record of service, and saw postwar duty in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
The 321st Rifle Division was formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, based on an existing division of militia. This formation had an extremely short career, coming under devastating attack in the north of the Crimea on the day of its redesignation and being officially disbanded just over a month later. A second division began forming in the Transbaikal in February 1942, and served in the defensive and offensive fighting around Stalingrad, eventually distinguishing itself sufficiently to be redesignated as the 82nd Guards Rifle Division. The world had not seen the last of the 321st, however, as a new division was formed from two existing rifle brigades in the spring of 1944, which gave very creditable service for the duration, completing its combat path in northeastern Germany, and serving into the postwar period.
The 325th Rifle Division was formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, made up of older reservists and young men with no prewar training. As with many other divisions in the 320-330 series it was flung into the fighting west of Moscow in the 10th Army to defend the capital and then to take part in the winter counteroffensive. After a year on a quiet sector the division rejoined the fighting in the late winter of 1943, eventually distinguishing itself sufficiently to be redesignated as the 90th Guards Rifle Division. After disappearing from the Soviet order of battle for more than a year a new division was formed in the spring of 1944, based on a cadre of two distinguished rifle brigades, and gave very creditable service for the duration, completing its combat path in East Prussia.
The 327th Rifle Division was first formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, based on a cadre of workers from Voronezh. This formation was assigned to the Volkhov Front near Leningrad, toiling through the so-called "Rat's War" in the wooded swamps of that region and taking significant casualties in the encirclement of its 2nd Shock Army near Lyuban in early 1942. In January 1943, it helped to lead the partial raising of the German siege of Leningrad in Operation Iskra, distinguishing itself sufficiently to be redesignated as the 64th Guards Rifle Division. Well over a year later a second 327th Rifle Division was formed and was also moved to the Leningrad region where it took part in the offensive that drove Finland from the war, then spent the first months of 1945 clearing German forces from the coasts of the Baltic States and containing the German forces trapped in Courland.
The 319th Rifle Division was first formed in December 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, in the Moscow Military District, but after a month was redesignated as the 2nd formation of a pre-war division that had been destroyed and disbanded. Another 319th was formed in the summer of 1942 in the North Caucasus Military District while the German offensive was threatening the Soviet oilfields near Baku. This formation had a short and undistinguished career, seeing little combat, and was disbanded in December. A third and final 319th was formed in the autumn of 1943 in the northern part of the front. This unit gave very creditable service for the duration of the war, distinguishing itself in the fighting through the Baltic states, and completing its combat path in East Prussia. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.
The 335th Rifle Division was first formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Stalingrad. It was a "sister" unit to the 341st Rifle Division, which was formed at about the same time and place and shared a very similar combat path in its first formation. The division was assigned to the southern sector of the Soviet-German front during the winter counteroffensive, but took severe losses during the German spring offensive that formed the Izium Pocket, and it was all but destroyed in the opening phase of Case Blue. The division was formed again nearly two years later, this time in the Far Eastern Front, and spent the rest of the war mainly on coastal defense duties. The 335th had one of the shortest and least distinguished careers of any Soviet rifle division.
The 292nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed three times.
The 295th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed twice.
The 297th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice. Its first formation was formed in the summer of 1941 and destroyed during Case Blue, the German summer offensive towards Stalingrad, in 1942. Reformed in the summer of 1943, the division's second formation fought in combat for the rest of the war before being disbanded postwar.
The 299th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice.
The 273rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice.
The 341st Rifle Division was first formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Stalingrad. It was a "sister" unit to the 335th Rifle Division, which was formed at about the same time and place and shared a very similar combat path in its first formation. It was assigned to the southern sector of the Soviet-German front during the winter counteroffensive, but was effectively destroyed during the German spring offensive that formed the Izium Pocket, and was soon disbanded. The division was formed again almost exactly two years later, this time in the Karelian Front, facing Finland, and saw only limited action in the Continuation War before being assigned to coastal defense duties during 1945. While the 341st had one of the shortest and least distinguished careers of any Soviet division in the Soviet-German War, it continued to serve well into the Cold War, eventually being re-designated and becoming a motorized rifle division.
The 414th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army; very briefly in the winter of 1941/42, then from the spring of 1942 until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was officially considered a Georgian National division, having nearly all its personnel of that nationality in its second formation. After its second formation it remained in service in the Caucasus near the borders of Turkey and Iran in the 44th Army until the summer of 1942, when it was redeployed to help counter the German drive toward Grozny. As German Army Group A retreated from the Caucasus in January, 1943 the division was reassigned to the 37th Army in North Caucasus Front, and during the fighting in the Taman Peninsula during the summer it served in both the 58th and 18th Armies, earning a battle honor in the process. It entered the Crimea during the Kerch–Eltigen Operation in November, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner following the offensive that liberated that region in April and May, 1944, fighting in the 11th Guards Rifle Corps of the Separate Coastal Army. After the Crimea was cleared the Coastal Army remained as a garrison and the 414th stayed there for the duration of the war. Postwar, it was relocated to Tbilisi, being renumbered as the 74th Rifle Division in 1955 and disbanded the following year.
