| 32nd Rifle Division (1934–1957) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1934 – c. 1957 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Rifle |
| Engagements | Battle of Moscow, others |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Stepan Chernyak Ivan Bezugly |
The 32nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later of the Soviet Army, formed three times.
An order of 25 May 1922 combined the 2nd Saratov Separate Rifle Brigade and the 81st Rifle Brigade of the 27th Omsk Rifle Division to form the 32nd Rifle Division. It was located in Saratov (Volga Military District).
July 20, 1922 is the official birthday of the 32nd Rifle Division. According to the order RVSR number 1647/323 of 10 July 1922 excluding brigade unit in the divisional structure, the 32nd Rifle Division was reorganized on the basis of the 81st Rifle Brigade. Its 241st, 242nd, 243rd Rifle Regiments receive numbers respectively 94th, 95th, 96th. On 29 November 1922, by the order No. 2668/508 RVSR in connection with the adoption of patronage Saratov City Council awarded the division name: 32nd Saratov Rifle Division.
In 1934 it joined the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, serving the Far Eastern Military District as part of the 39th Rifle Corps. It took part in a number of border skirmishes with Japanese Manchukuo on the Manchurian border near Lake Khasan. By 1941 it consisted of the 17th, 113th, and 322nd Rifle Regiments and the 133rd and 154th Artillery Regiments. It was commanded by Colonel Viktor Ivanovich Polosukhin from 26 May 1941 to 18 February 1942 and by Colonel Stepan Trofimovich Gladyshev from 19 February to 24 May 1942. [1]
While the 32nd Rifle Division was serving in the 25th Army of the Far East Military District, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in Europe on June 22, 1941. The German Army Group Center in September paused near Smolensk because Hitler had ordered the capture of Kiev to secure the southern flank. This allowed the Soviets some time to prepare the defenses west of Moscow, but by the beginning of October the offensive toward the capital began again and was called Operation Typhoon by the Germans. The 32nd Rifle Division was ordered west and was rapidly transported by train to the Mozhaisk Defense Line, then manned by Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko's 5th Army. By October 10, the forward elements had arrived and dug in on the old Borodino battlefield, where the Russians had bled white Napoleon's Army in 1812. The best the division could hope for was to delay the German advance long enough to form a new line of defense further east. The Germans attacked with two veteran divisions, the 10th Panzer Division and the 2nd SS Division Das Reich on the 32nd's line of defense. On October 13 the fighting began in the Yelnya area (defended by the 17th Regiment). The battle continued for five more days until the exhausted Russians fell back further to the east and Mozhaisk fell on the 18th. The 32nd Rifle Division had traded its blood for time and had inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. It stayed on the front lines through November and took part in the Battle of Moscow.
The 32nd Division part in the battle of Moscow did not escape the notice of the Soviet high command and it was given the title 29th Guards Rifle Division on 24 May 1942 [1] and the 17th Rifle Regiment received the Order of the Red Banner.
The division was reformed and was back on the front line by 1 October 1942, and stayed fighting until 16 February 1944. It then fought again from 29 May 1944 to 9 May 1945 (Victory Day). (Perecheni No. 5). In August 1945, it was moved to Tambov in the Voronezh Military District with the 92nd Rifle Corps. The division was disbanded by the summer of 1946, along with the corps. [2]
Commanders: [1]
In 1955, the 207th Rifle Division was redesignated as the 32nd Rifle Division in 1955 at Stendal with the 3rd "Red Banner" Army. On 17 May 1957, it became the 32nd Motor Rifle Division. [3]
The 322nd Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division during World War II. It is most notable for liberating Auschwitz concentration camp as part of the 60th Army on January 27, 1945, in the course of the Vistula-Oder offensive. Prior to this the division also distinguished itself during the second liberation of Zhitomir on the last day of 1943. It received further distinctions for its service in western Ukraine and in Poland. Along with many other distinguished Soviet formations it was disbanded with the coming of peace.
The 270th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division formed twice during World War II, in 1941 and 1942.
The 101st Rifle Division was a unit of the Soviet Red Army initially formed as a mountain rifle division on 28 August 1938 within the 2nd Separate Red Banner Army in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city.
The 87th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, active before, during the Second World War and afterwards.
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 31st Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the interwar period and World War II.
The 11th Guards Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. It was disbanded in 1946.
The 22nd Motor Rifle Division named for Atamyrat Niyazov is a division of the Turkmenistan Ground Forces. It traces its history to the 344th Rifle Division, an infantry division of the Red Army and the Soviet Ground Forces during World War II and the Cold War.
The 313th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 15, 1941 in the Udmurt ASSR before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, first in the 7th Separate Army east of Lake Ladoga, and later in 32nd Army of Karelian Front, where it spent most of the war facing the Finnish Army in East Karelia. In consequence the division saw relatively uneventful service on this mostly quiet front until the summer of 1944, when it took part in the offensive that drove Finland out of the war. When this was accomplished, the division was redeployed to take the fight into Poland and then into the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war north of Berlin after compiling a very distinguished record of service.
The 336th Rifle Division was formed in August, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division in the Volga Military District. After additional training and equipping in the Moscow Military District it was assigned to 5th Army and went directly into the winter counteroffensive in mid-December. It fought in the battles around Rzhev in the summer and winter of 1942, taking heavy casualties for little gain. In spring of 1943 the division began shifting southwards, campaigning in southeastern Belorussia in the autumn and then moving into the northern Ukraine. On the last day of 1943 the 336th was recognized for its role in the second liberation of Zhitomir and was awarded that city's name as an honorific. During 1944 it continued to advance from western Ukraine into Poland, and in the last month of the war joined 4th Ukrainian Front's advance into Czechoslovakia, gaining additional honors along the way. The division continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.
The 340th Rifle Division began forming in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Balashov in the Saratov Oblast. The division went into the lines defending Moscow in November, then into the winter counteroffensive in December. After rebuilding, the division was assigned as the only rifle division in the new 5th Tank Army, but avoided the fate of most of the tank units of that formation when it attacked in July 1942. Following another aborted offensive in July, the 340th settled into mostly defensive assignments until after the Soviet victory at Kursk, when it joined in the general offensive through eastern Ukraine to the Dniepr River, winning honors for its role in the liberation of Sumy, and later Kiev. During 1944 the division continued the westward march through northern Ukraine and on into Poland in the Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive before being reassigned to 4th Ukrainian Front advancing into the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia. The 340th ended its distinguished record of service in 1st Guards Army in Czechoslovakia.
The 265th Motor Rifle Division was a motorized infantry division of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.
The 263rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.
The 361st Rifle Division formed in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Ufa. It may be considered a "sister" division to the 363rd Rifle Division. After forming, it was assigned to the 39th Army, and played a major role in the near-encirclement of the German 9th Army around Rzhev in the winter counteroffensive of 1941-42. In recognition of its successes it was reorganized as the 21st Guards Rifle Division in March 1942. A new 361st was formed in November 1944, in the far east of the USSR. It saw action during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, staging several crossing operations of the Amur and Songhua Rivers during the first days of the offensive, in recognition of which one regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The 365th Rifle Division began forming on 1 September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. After forming, it was assigned to the 30th Army of Western Front, served briefly in the defense of Moscow, and played a role in the liberation of Klin, and later in the near-encirclement of the German 9th Army around Rzhev in the winter counteroffensive of 1941–42. In late January 1942, it was transferred to the 29th Army of Kalinin Front, which was very soon after encircled by German forces near Sychevka, and on 18 March the division was disbanded due to very heavy losses. In November 1944, a new 365th Rifle Division was formed in the Far Eastern Front, based on the 29th Rifle Brigade, and saw action in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, being awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its services.
The 366th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice.
The 367th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August 1941 in the Chelyabinsk Oblast. After forming, it was initially assigned to the 28th (Reserve) Army, but was soon reassigned to Karelian Front, where it remained until nearly the end of 1944. The division had mostly a relatively quiet war on this defensive front, but later saw action against the German forces trying to hold northern Finland, being awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its services. The division ended the war in 14th Separate Army on garrison duties in the far north.
The 172nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II, formed thrice.
The 12th Rifle Corps was an infantry corps of the Red Army during the interwar period and World War II, formed four times.
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 May 1945. 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.
 Divisions of the Soviet Union 1945–1957 | |||||||||
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| Airborne | |||||||||
| Artillery |
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| Cavalry | |||||||||
| Rifle |
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| Mechanised |
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| Tank |
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| Other | |||||||||
Guards units marked in bold. | |||||||||