387th Rifle Division

Last updated
387th Rifle Division
Active1941 - 1947
CountryFlag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army flag.svg Red Army
TypeDivision
RoleInfantry
Engagements Battle of Moscow
Battle of Stalingrad
Operation Winter Storm
Rostov Offensive Operation
Donbas Strategic Offensive
Crimean Offensive
Vienna Offensive
Battle honours Perekop
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Col. Maksim Andreevich Sushchenko
Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Kulizhsky
Col. Aleksandr Konstantinovich Makarev
Col. Margazian Gallnulovich Krimov
Col. Aleksandr Petrovich Roslov
Col. Antonii Avgustovich Kovalevsky
Col. Semyon Nikolaievich Barakhtanov

The 387th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming on September 1, 1941, in the Central Asia Military District. It first served in the winter counteroffensive south of Moscow, then spent the spring and summer of 1942 on the relatively quiet fronts southwest of the capital in the area of Kaluga and Tula. In September it was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it joined the 1st Reserve Army. This became the 2nd Guards Army and the division fought south of Stalingrad against Army Group Don during the German attempt to relieve their encircled 6th Army in December. During January and into February, 1943, 2nd Guards advanced on both sides of the lower Don River towards Rostov in a race to prevent Army Group A from escaping being trapped in the Caucasus region. The division was now part of Southern Front and it would remain in that Front (later 4th Ukrainian) until May, 1944. During the summer advance through the Donbas and southern Ukraine the 387th served under several different army commands before returning to 2nd Guards for the Crimean Offensive in April, 1944, during which it won a battle honor. After the Crimea was cleared the division remained there as part of the Separate Coastal Army until it went back to the Reserve in March, 1945. It then was assigned to the 2nd Ukrainian Front as a separate rifle division, and spent the last weeks of the war in Hungary and Austria. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.

Contents

Formation

The 387th began forming on September 1, 1941, in the Central Asia Military District [1] at Akmolinsk in Kazakhstan, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions. Its order of battle was as follows:

Col. Maksim Andreevich Sushchenko was assigned to command of the division on the day it began forming, and he would remain in command until May 28, 1942. The division spent slightly over two months forming up in the Central Asia district, then moved north by rail to the Volga Military District in November, where it was assigned to the new 61st Army that was forming there. [3] At that time the division's personnel were noted as being mostly Kazakh. [4]

Battle of Moscow

At the start of the Moscow counteroffensive 61st Army was part of Bryansk Front, but was reassigned to Western Front in January, 1942. [5] Until January 16 the Army was regrouping, operating against the German Bolkhov group of forces, including the 112th and 167th Infantry Divisions. This regrouping changed the direction of the Army's right-flank divisions, the 91st Cavalry, 387th and 350th Rifle Divisions, from the west and southwest to the southeast. By late on January 20 the 91st Cavalry had taken Ivanovo, the 350th took Yagoda while the 387th overcame enemy resistance and reached a front from Nogaya to Kireikovo, liberating both locales. However, by now the neighboring 10th Army had ceased to advance and was being forced back in places. Over the next ten days the 61st Army continued to focus its attacks on the Bolkhov grouping and on the morning of January 30 the division began a fierce fight for Vyazovaya and Malaya Chern. Although by now Bolkhov was surrounded on three sides the German garrison continued to hold, and the offensive turned into positional warfare. [6]

Move to the South

Until August the 387th remained in 61st Army, which moved between Western Front and Bryansk Front. [7] On May 29 Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Kulizhsky took command from Colonel Sushchenko. In August in fighting near Zhizdra the division was encircled and forced to break out, losing most of its personnel and equipment in the process. On September 10 it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. It was assigned to the 1st Reserve Army which was located well behind the front at Tambov, Rasskazovo, Michurinsk and Morshansk. On October 23 the STAVKA formed the 2nd Guards Army based on 1st Reserve, which was expected to be combat-ready by November 25. The 387th was assigned to the 13th Guards Rifle Corps, which also commanded the 3rd and 49th Guards Rifle Divisions. [8] At the same time Col. Aleksandr Konstantinovich Makarev took command of the division from Colonel Kulizhsky, who would go on to command the 152nd Rifle Division, become a Hero of the Soviet Union leading a crossing of the Dniepr, and be promoted to major general in 1944.

Operation Winter Storm

The 2nd Guards Army was intended for the proposed Operation Saturn. However, as the new Army Group Don massed its forces for an attempt to relieve the 6th Army that had been encircled at Stalingrad in November the STAVKA prioritized the defense of the encirclement and directed the Army to the region north of Kotelnikovo. The German offensive began on December 12 and made large gains in the first day, but soon slowed against Soviet resistance. On December 18 the 2nd Guards began arriving after an arduous overland march. By nightfall the leading divisions of 13th Guards Corps closed into defensive positions along the north bank of the Myshkova River, along with more than 200 tanks of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps. Even late on December 20, as the LVII Panzer Corps struggled to cross the Myshkova, Army Group Don was unaware of the presence of 2nd Guards Army backing up the shopworn 51st Army. On December 21 an overextended 3rd Guards Division found itself partly encircled in the Kapkinsky region and required support from 49th Guards while the 387th was in second echelon at Farm No. 1 - Tebektenerovo. Over the next 48 hours the LVII Corps gradually went over to the defensive and early on December 23 the 6th Panzer Division, facing 13th Guards Corps, was ordered southwest to counter the Soviet forces that were breaking loose in Operation Little Saturn, effectively bringing Winter Storm to a close. [9]

Stalingrad Front ordered its forces to go over to the offensive beginning at 0800 hours on December 24 after a brief artillery preparation. 2nd Guards Army attacked southward east of the Don River toward Kotelnikovo with 13th Guards Corps in the first echelon and 2nd Guards Mechanized in support. German forces were soon cleared from the south bank of the Myshkova, after which the mechanized troops took up the lead, advancing between 4 - 16 km. The 387th was advancing on its Corps' left flank, tying in with 51st Army. During the next day the advancing Army continued south, clearing Verkhne-Kumsky, a scene of heavy fighting days earlier. By 1700 hours the defending 17th and 23rd Panzer Divisions had just 19 operable tanks remaining between them. The advance continued through the next four days while the 387th remained some distance in the rear; at 2200 hours combined forces of 2nd Guards Army liberated Kotelnikovo. [10]

Drive on Rostov

At this point the STAVKA shifted its attention to the German Corps Mieth, which was located in the great bend of the Don, south of the Chir River, based on the town of Tormosin. It was made up of a hodgepodge of Axis units and was now partly encircled with 5th Tank Army to its north, 5th Shock Army to its east, and 2nd Guards Army to its southeast, advancing to its south. 2nd Guards was ordered to form a shock group to liquidate the Tormosin grouping in conjunction with 5th Shock. Maj. Gen. Ya. G. Kreizer was given command of the group, which consisted of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps, the 4th Cavalry Corps, and the 33rd Guards, 387th and 300th Rifle Divisions. On December 29 the 33rd Guards crossed the Don aided by light tanks of the 2nd Guards Mechanized and advanced on Chapurin and Aginov. Over that night the 2nd Guards Army was transferred to the new Southern Front; the 387th would remain in this Front (renamed 4th Ukrainian in October, 1943) until May, 1944. [11] [12]

Late on January 1, 1943, the 2nd Guards Mechanized liberated Tormosin, with the 300th and 387th Divisions following its advance. The next objective was the town of Nizhne-Gurov on the way to the Tsimla River. From here the grouping would be joined by the 33rd Guards Rifle to take Tsimlyanskaia and Konstantinovsky, while also seeking to isolate and destroy elements of Corps Mieth as they fell back. The 387th was subordinated to 1st Guards Rifle Corps on January 6, and by now was coming up to join the rest of Kreizer's group. Meanwhile, 11th Panzer Division was moving east to take up positions along the Kagalnik River. During that day the division, along with the 33rd and 24th Guards Rifle Divisions engaged in fierce fighting with the 11th Panzer and 336th Infantry Divisions for the populated points of Suvorov, Kargalsko-Belianski and Mariinski in front of the Kagalnik. By day's end on the 7th these points were taken, but an immediate attempt to force the river was unsuccessful. At this point Group Kreizer was disbanded. [13]

According to the operational summary of 1st Guards Corps for January 9 the 387th "reached the Bogoiavlinskaia region, reinforced 24th Gds. RD, and cut the roads leading to the west and northwest." A further report from 2nd Guards Army indicated that on the same date the Corps faced a heavy German counterattack and "387th RD committed two regiments to combat and the third regiment is in reserve at Nikolaievskaia." 11th Panzer had struck 24th Guards with roughly 35 tanks and its panzer reconnaissance battalion, "bowling it over" and advancing about 10 km, capturing Kostyrochnyi and reaching Bogoiavlinskaia before being halted by the two regiments at 1900 hours. In response to this German attack the commander of Southern Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, ordered the division's reserve regiment, backed by two tank regiments, to Sovkhoz No. 37 and Kondakov to maintain contact with 5th Shock Army. In the course of the fighting between January 9-12, which also involved the 7th Panzer Division, four divisions of 2nd Guards and 5th Shock were badly damaged and forced to withdraw, leaving the 387th and other units on the defense. This effectively brought the Soviet drive on Rostov north of the Don to a standstill. [14]

During the following days the German XXXXVIII Panzer Corps to the north began retreating in the face of a renewed offensive by Southwestern Front. This in turn forced Corps Mieth to start its own withdrawal on January 16, just before 1st Guards Corps planned to renew its offensive. During the day the 387th took Kostyrochnyi and Ust-Kagalnitsky and sent out reinforced forward detachments farther west. The advance continued through to the 19th by which time the division was attacking east of Bronitsky with one regiment and fighting for Mikhailovsky and Aparinsky. This placed it roughly abreast of the 300th Rifle Division south of the Don. At the same time the division seized a bridgehead over the Northern Donets River near its confluence with the Don, but it was dominated from high ground held by elements of the German 384th Infantry Division. At this point the advance stalled and on January 22-23 the division sustained several German counterattacks, including one that 2nd Guards Army claimed was led by 40 tanks despite the fact that the panzer divisions had been moved north to assist XXXXVIII Corps. The 387th was reported to have lost 2km of ground but to have also destroyed six enemy tanks. [15]

By this time it was clear that the decision to operate 2nd Guards Army on both sides of the Don had been a mistake and since German forces had a strong line along the Donets, the best route to Rostov was south of the Don. On January 25-26 the 33rd Guards and 387th regrouped south of the river; due to Soviet supply difficulties both divisions had to leave part of their artillery behind because of the absence of fuel. At 0700 hours on January 27 the division was concentrating at Bagaevskaia, linking up with the 300th. On the 28th it was reported as having had to make a withdrawal due to flanking artillery fire and also repelled an attack by five armored personnel carriers of 17th Panzer Division. On the same day Colonel Makarev recorded the strength of his rifle regiments as 2,884 total personnel with only 1,550 "bayonets" (riflemen and sappers). He continued:

"The division began its offensive at 1200 hours on 28 January with the mission of reaching the Aleksandrovka and Starocherkassk line by 1200 hours on 28 January. The enemy resisted with motorized infantry, tanks, and APCs supported by aircraft in our sector... By 1000 hours on 29 January, the division... reached the Karaich Estuary and Donskoi circular line. As a result... the enemy lost one tank and armored vehicle and withdrew toward Novocherkassk. The division's units suffered the following losses from tank fire and enemy bombs: [173 men killed and wounded and 103 horses]."

On January 26 the 1st Panzer Army began its march north to Rostov and by the 29th it was becoming clear that Southern Front would not be able to prevent it. Nevertheless the 387th advanced along the right bank of the Don with the mission of capturing Starocherkasskaia Station. [16] By the end of the month the division was reassigned to 13th Guards Rifle Corps. [17]

Before midday on February 3 the 33rd Guards finally cleared the village of Manychskaia and advanced to assist the 387th in its struggle for Arpachin. Leaving this fight to the Guardsmen, the division was ordered to move back north of the Don where it made some progress against the 15th Luftwaffe Field Division. At 1800 hours the 1271st Regiment was fighting 1km east of Krasnyi Dvor, the 1273rd reached Marker +1.2 and the 1275th reached the eastern bank of Lake Khriashchevatoe. Between February 6 - 8 the last German forces south of the Don, 111th Infantry and 16th Infantry (Motorized) Divisions, withdrew, blowing the bridges behind them, although one bridge at Rostov was only half destroyed. Although Rostov would not be liberated until February 14, it was understood by both sides that the next German defense line would be along the Mius River, as it had been after the first liberation of the city in 1941. Given the heavy casualties to date on both sides, what followed would be a race to the Mius by "cripples." [18]

Race to the Mius

On February 15 the 2nd Guards Army's advance was led by the roughly 20 operable tanks of 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps and two truck-mounted rifle battalions which liberated Generalskoe near noon and reached Petrovskoe, a total advance of about 32km. The foot-bound 387th and 33rd Guards lagged 15 - 20km behind. The next day the division continued its pursuit, facing little enemy resistance. On February 17 Southern Front was closing on Matveev Kurgan and the Mius River which it hoped to cross from the march; instead, "driven by necessity, optimism, vengeance, or sheer stubbornness, the Southern Front's bloody attacks along the river would persist through and past the end of the month." On that day the division continued its pursuit and fought for Staraia Rotovka before taking it at 1800 hours with help from 3rd Guards Mechanized. Its further objective would be Demidovka, 5 km northwest of Matveev Kurgan on the west side of the Mius. [19]

The 387th's advance continued on February 18. The 1275th Regiment reached Demidovka but was counterattacked and cut off there by elements of the 23rd Panzer Division; the 1273rd captured Shaposhnikova, also west of the river, but was then halted by heavy enemy fire, while the 1271st was in second echelon 1.5km to the rear. The next day communications were restored to the 1275th but the 1273rd was forced out of Shaposhnikova, which was retaken by the 1271st on February 20 while the two other regiments were fighting together 500m east of Doroganov. Over the next two days Southern Front's advance finally ran out of steam. The division, still fighting west of Shaposhnikova, had only 50 active "bayonets"; 28 in the 1271st, 10 in the 1273rd, and 12 in the 1275th. As well, the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, which had penetrated farthest beyond the Mius, had been cut off by German counterattacks. [20]

Even at this low ebb of strength, on February 23 the 387th, aided by the 24th Guards, continued pushing forward against a panzergrenadier battalion of the 23rd Panzer which was in no better shape. The next day the 1271st Regiment faced off a counterattack by six German tanks from Komunna which withdrew after one was destroyed. Finally, on February 25 the 2nd Guards Army was ordered to go over to the defense, although it was planned to launch a new offensive three days later. On February 27 the division was reported as having a total of 1,539 men, including 565 "bayonets". When the attack resumed the next day it captured most of Hill 114.9 with the 98th Division, but following this heavy German fire brought the advance to a standstill. On March 2 only limited gains were made at a cost to the 387th of 59 killed, 116 wounded and 4 missing in action. By this time the German Army Group South was completing its defeat of Southwestern Front in the northern Donbas, and nothing was available to help Southern Front breach the "Mius Wall", so on March 3 the 2nd Guards Army was ordered to dig in to defend its bridgehead. [21]

Into Ukraine and Crimea

In April the 387th was reassigned to the 28th Army, but in May it was moved to the 37th Rifle Corps in 44th Army. [22] On June 29 Colonel Makarev handed his command to Col. Margazian Gallnulovich Krimov, who would remain in this post for exactly two months. During the summer offensive that began across the Muis in July and advanced through the south of Ukraine the division was assigned at various times to the 28th, 44th and 5th Shock Armies. [23] On September 3 Col. Aleksandr Petrovich Roslov took command of the division. From September 11 to October 19 it was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, in 94th Rifle Corps of 58th Army, for rebuilding. [24]

When it returned to the front the division was assigned to the 55th Rifle Corps of 51st Army in the renamed 4th Ukrainian Front. [25] On December 12 Colonel Roslov turned his command over to Col. Antonii Avgustovich Kovalevsky. Just prior to the start of the Crimean Offensive in April, 1944, the 387th returned to 2nd Guards Army, now into the 54th Rifle Corps. At this time it had 5,854 officers and men assigned, armed with (apart from rifles and carbines) 1,375 submachine guns, 265 light machine guns, 89 heavy machine guns, 136 antitank rifles, 70 mortars and 86 artillery pieces of all calibres. Each rifle company averaged about 75 officers and men. For the actual assaults that started in early April the division was reinforced with the 5th Separate Army Rifle Company, a shtraf ("penal") unit with 120 men and 12 LMGs. [26]

2nd Guards began its assault on the German positions on the Perekop isthmus on April 8 using relatively novel tactics. Army Gen. G. F. Zakharov led with just his 13th Guards Corps, with artillery-delivered smoke rounds, flame-throwing tanks and heavy self-propelled guns in support. Despite losses the attack tore a large hole in the German line. By 1600 hours the next day the German line finally broke. While the German Gruppe Konrad was struggling to hold its positions, Zakharov increased the pressure by ordering the 387th to make an amphibious landing behind their lines. Before dawn on April 10, 512 troops of Cpt. Filipp Davidovich Dibrov's 2nd Battalion of the 1271st Regiment were landed on the coast. Even without heavy weapons the battalion held off counterattacks by a company of infantry and several assault guns. This landing was the final straw to convince the Germans to abandon their remaining positions on the Perekop and start a retreat to their second line at Ishun, which was already untenable and soon fell, giving the Soviet forces complete access to the Crimea. [27] Captain Dibrov was awarded the Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union (Medal No. 6900) and in part for this action the division was given "Perekop" as a battle honor. [28]

Late War and Postwar

After the final Axis resistance at Sevastopol ceased on May 13 the 387th was reassigned back to 55th Rifle Corps, which was now in the Separate Coastal Army; this Army was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command on September 11. [29] On August 18 the division had received its final wartime commander, Col. Semyon Nikolaievich Barakhtanov. It remained in the Reserve until March, 1945, when it returned to the active army as a separate reserve rifle division directly under command of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advancing in Hungary and Austria in the final weeks of the war. [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Front (Soviet Union)</span> WW2 Soviet Red Army formation

The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II.

The 67th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 1st formation of the 304th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was officially redesignated in the 65th Army of Don Front, in recognition of that division's leading role in reducing the German 6th Army during Operation Ring, the destruction of the encircled German and Romanian forces at Stalingrad. During the following months it was substantially rebuilt while moving north during the spring of the year. The division put up a very strong defense in the Battle of Kursk, facing some of the main elements of Army Group South, and then attacked through the western Ukraine after the German defeat. Along with the rest of 6th Guards Army it moved further north to join 2nd Baltic and later 1st Baltic Front in the buildup to the summer offensive against Army Group Center, winning a battle honor and shortly after the Order of the Red Banner in the process. During the rest of 1944 it advanced through the Baltic states and ended the war near the Baltic Sea, helping to besiege Army Group Courland in 1945. The 67th Guards was disbanded in 1946.

The 300th Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion, and fought in the southwestern part of the Soviet-German front for nearly two years following. It was able to escape the encirclement east of Kiev in September, 1941, and then fought to defend, and later to try to liberate, the city of Kharkov during 1941-42. After falling back under the weight of the German 1942 summer offensive, the division began distinguish itself during Operation Uranus in late 1942, when it helped defeat the German attempt to relieve Sixth Army and later in the pursuit of the defeated Axis forces and the second liberation of Rostov-na-Donu. In recognition of these successes it was raised to Guards status as the 87th Guards Rifle Division. A second 300th Rifle Division was raised a few months later and fought briefly but very successfully against the Japanese in Manchuria in August 1945. The second formation became the 3rd Tank Division in the Far East postwar and was redesignated as the 46th Tank Division in 1957 before disbanding in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Guards Rifle Division</span> Military unit

The 4th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division on September 18, 1941, from the 1st formation of the 161st Rifle Division as one of the original Guards formations of the Red Army, in recognition of that division's participation in the successful counter-offensive that drove German forces out of their positions at Yelnya. The division then moved northwards to serve in the defense of Leningrad, as well as the early attempts to break that city's siege, but later was redeployed to the southern sector of the front as the crisis around Stalingrad developed. The 4th Guards took part in Operation Uranus which surrounded the German 6th Army in and around that city and then in the pursuit operations that drove the remaining German forces from the Caucasus steppes and the city of Rostov. The division remained in this sector for the duration of the war, fighting through the south of Ukraine through the summer of 1943 and winning the Order of the Red Banner in the process; it was further distinguished with the award of a battle honor in February, 1944. During April and May its advance was halted during the battles along the Dniestr River, but resumed in the August offensive that carried it and its 31st Guards Rifle Corps into the Balkans. It served extensively in the fighting through Hungary and in the outer encirclement during the siege of Budapest in the winter of 1944/45 and in mid-April was awarded a second battle honor for its part in the capture of Vienna. Despite this distinguished service the division was disbanded in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)</span> Military unit

The 7th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed three times. The corps was first formed in 1934 in the Leningrad Military District and was converted into the 10th Tank Corps in 1938. The corps was reformed in the summer of 1940 in the Moscow Military District and fought in the Battle of Smolensk, after which its headquarters became part of Group Yartsevo's headquarters. The corps was formed a third time in August and September 1943. The third formation fought in the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Battle of Debrecen, Budapest Offensive, Bratislava–Brno Offensive, Prague Offensive, and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Postwar, the corps' third formation became a division and was disbanded in 1957.

The 81st Guards Rifle Division is an infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces, previously serving in the Red Army and the Soviet Army. It was formed after the Battle of Stalingrad from the 422nd Rifle Division in recognition of that division's actions during the battle, specifically the encirclement and the siege of the German forces in the city. The 81st Guards continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of the Great Patriotic War, and continued to serve postwar, as a rifle division and later a motor rifle division, until being reorganized as the 57th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade in 2009 in the Russian Ground Forces. Most of its postwar service was in the Soviet (Russian) far east, where it was originally formed as the 422nd.

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 16th Guards Tank Division was a tank division of the Soviet Army and later the Russian Ground Forces.

The 333rd Rifle Division began forming in the North Caucasus Military District in August, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, as part of the massive mobilization of reserve forces very shortly after the German invasion. In 1942 it served in the late winter and early spring fighting near Kharkov, taking a beating both then and during the opening stages of the German summer offensive. Withdrawn into the reserves, the division was rebuilt in time to take part in the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad in November, and played an important role in driving the German forces out of the Caucasus region during the winter. In the autumn of 1943 the division shared credit with the 25th Guards Rifle Division for the liberation of Sinelnikovo in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, receiving that place name as an honorific. After battling through Ukraine and into the Balkan states, the 333rd completed its combat path on a relatively quiet note doing garrison duties in the Balkans.

The 14th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 96th Rifle Division, which was officially a mountain unit at the time, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was on Southern Front when it was redesignated and was soon assigned to the 57th Army. It was encircled during the May German counterattack in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Its first commander was made a prisoner of war, later dying in German captivity. A cadre of the division managed to escape and was sent to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. In July it joined the 63rd Army and took part in the attacks against the Italian 8th Army that created the bridgehead south of the Don River near Serafimovich during August. In October, now in the 21st Army of Don Front, it was active in two probing attacks against the Romanian forces now containing the bridgehead which inflicted severe casualties in advance of the Soviet winter counteroffensive. At the start of that offensive the division was in 5th Tank Army, but was soon transferred to 1st Guards Army and then to the 3rd Guards Army when that was formed. It was under this Army as it advanced into the Donbas in late winter before returning to 57th Army during most of 1943, fighting through east Ukraine and across the lower Dniepr by the end of the year. After being briefly assigned to 53rd Army in December it was moved to 5th Guards Army in February, 1944 where it remained for the duration, mostly in the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. It saw action in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive and won its first decoration, the Order of the Red Banner, as it advanced, before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border. In late spring, 1944 the division was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 14th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was awarded the Order of Lenin for its part in the liberation of Sandomierz. On January 22, 1945, its commander suffered mortal wounds in the fighting for a bridgehead over the Oder River. In the drive on Berlin in April the division and its regiments won further honors and decorations but despite these distinctions it was disbanded in August, 1946.

The 15th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 136th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The division had already distinguished itself during the Winter War with Finland in 1940 and had been decorated with the Order of Lenin; soon after its redesignation it also received its first Order of the Red Banner. It was in Southern Front as this time but was soon moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it was assigned to 7th Reserve Army in May, then to 28th Army in Southwestern Front in June, then to 57th Army in Stalingrad Front in July. It remained in that Army for the rest of the year, with one brief exception, until it was transferred to Don Front's 64th Army in January, 1943 during the closing stages of the battle of Stalingrad. In March this Army became 7th Guards Army and was railed to the northwest, joining Voronezh Front south of the Kursk salient. In the battle that followed the 15th Guards assisted in the defeat of Army Detachment Kempf, then took part in the summer offensive into Ukraine, winning one of the first battle honors at Kharkov. It remained in either 7th Guards or 37th Army into the spring of 1944. It saw action in the Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive and was awarded the Order of Suvorov before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border. In June the division became part of 34th Guards Rifle Corps in 5th Guards Army and was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 15th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was further decorated with the Order of Kutuzov for forcing a crossing of the Oder River. It then saw action in the drive on Berlin in April and the Prague Offensive in May, winning a further battle honor and an unusual second Order of the Red Banner in the process. After the war the division did garrison duty in Austria, then in Ukraine, followed by a move in late 1947 to Crimea and the Kuban where its personnel assisted in rebuilding the local economy and infrastructure for nearly 20 years. It September 1965 it was renumbered as the "51st" and became the 2nd formation of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division.

The 33rd Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 3rd Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the second of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 47th Army in the North Caucasus Front but was soon moved to the Volga Military District and saw its first action as part of 62nd Army in the fighting on the approaches to Stalingrad. It was withdrawn east of the Volga in September, but returned to the front with the 2nd Guards Army in December, and it remained in this Army until early 1945. After helping to defeat Army Group Don's attempt to relieve the trapped 6th Army at Stalingrad the 33rd Guards joined in the pursuit across the southern Caucasus steppe until reaching the Mius River in early 1943. Through the rest of that year it fought through the southern sector of eastern Ukraine as part of Southern Front and in the spring of 1944 assisted in the liberation of the Crimea, earning a battle honor in the process. The Crimea was a strategic dead-end, so 2nd Guards Army was moved north to take part in the summer offensive through the Baltic states and to the border with Germany as part of 1st Baltic Front. During the offensive into East Prussia the division and its 13th Guards Rifle Corps was reassigned to 39th and the 43rd Armies before returning to 2nd Guards Army in April. For its part in the capture of the city-fortress of Königsberg the 33rd Guards would receive the Order of Suvorov. In mid-1946 it was converted to the 8th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade.

The 41st Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in August 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 10th Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the last of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front, then to the 24th Army in Don Front, and suffered heavy casualties north of Stalingrad before being withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding. Returning to 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front in November it took part in Operation Little Saturn as part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps and then advanced into the Donbas where it was caught up in the German counteroffensive in the spring of 1943. During the summer and fall the division fought its way through eastern Ukraine as part of the 6th, and later the 57th Army under several corps commands. It would remain in the southern part of the front for the duration of the war. By February 1944 it was in the 7th Guards Army and took part in the battle for the Korsun Pocket, winning its first battle honor in the process. Shortly after it was transferred to the 4th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration, still moving through several corps headquarters. The 41st Guards saw limited service in the first Jassy-Kishinev offensive in the spring, but considerably more in August's second offensive and several of its subunits received battle honors or decorations. The division itself won a second honorific during the offensive into Hungary in January 1945 and was later decorated for its role in the capture of Budapest. After the fall of Vienna in April it did garrison duty in the city for a short time before being directed west into lower Austria where it linked up with U.S. forces in the last days of the war. In October, while still in Austria, it was converted to the 18th Guards Mechanized Division.

The 50th Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued as part of the Soviet Army during the early period of the Cold War. Converted into the 50th Guards Motor Rifle Division in the late 1950s, the division was based in Brest, Belarus. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the division became part of the Belarusian Ground Forces and was reduced to a brigade and then a storage base before being disbanded in 2006.

The 204th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was destroyed in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The first formation was based on the shtat of July 29, 1941 and it then remained for nine months in the far east of Siberia training and organizing before it was finally sent by rail to the Stalingrad region in July 1942 where it joined the 64th Army southwest of the city. During the following months it took part in the defensive battles and later the offensive that cut off the German 6th Army in November. In the last days of the battle for the city it took the surrender of the remnants of a Romanian infantry division. Following the Axis defeat the division was recognized for its role when it was redesignated as the 78th Guards Rifle Division on March 1, 1943.

The 1940 formation of the 160th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. The division completed its formation at Gorki in the Moscow Military District and at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in the same area, assigned to the 20th Rifle Corps in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. It was moved west by rail to join the 13th Army of Western Front in the first days of July 1941 in the Mogilev area. At the end of the month the division was assigned to the reserves of Central Front before becoming part of Operations Group Akimenko in the reserves of Bryansk Front. In mid-September it was encircled and forced to break out; in the process it lost its commanding officer, much of its command staff and so many men and heavy weapons that it was briefly written off. Its number was reallocated to the 6th Moscow Militia Division and for the next 18 months there were two 160th Rifle Divisions serving concurrently. By the start of Operation Typhoon at the end of September it was in Operations Group Ermakov; while falling back to southwest of Kursk it managed to avoid encirclement but remained barely combat-effective due to its heavy losses.

The 212th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was badly damaged and then redesignated about five weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

The 214th 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. It was moved to the fighting front to join 22nd Army in late June and took part in the fighting between Vitebsk and Nevel in early July, escaping from encirclement in the process, and then played a significant role in the liberation of Velikiye Luki, the first Soviet city to be retaken from the invading armies. In October it was again encircled near Vyasma during Operation Typhoon and was soon destroyed.

The 219th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was redesignated about 10 weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Due to a chronic lack of vehicles, and especially tanks, the division had been effectively serving as a motorized rifle brigade since June 22, so the redesignation was a formality and it was soon destroyed in the encirclement battle east of Kiev.

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.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 81
  2. ↑ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 106
  3. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106
  4. ↑ David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 594
  5. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 11, 28
  6. ↑ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., Part V, ch. 8, 12
  7. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 84, 123
  8. ↑ Glantz, Armageddon at Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 37, 443-44
  9. ↑ Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 147, 301-03, 305-09, 314-15
  10. ↑ Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 318-22, 325-26
  11. ↑ Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 273-76
  12. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106
  13. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2018, pp. 38-39, 43, 49, 54
  14. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 111-13, 115-18
  15. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 196-204
  16. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 294-95, 312, 416-17, 829. Makarev has the totals broken down by regiment.
  17. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 41
  18. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 429, 435, 442-45, 464, 504. According to the reports quoted by Glantz, the 387th was still in 1st Guards Rifle Corps into early March.
  19. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 566, 576, 584-85, 591
  20. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 598, 609, 629, 636
  21. ↑ Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 656-58, 662-63, 666-72
  22. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 114, 140
  23. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106
  24. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 263
  25. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 282
  26. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106-07
  27. ↑ Robert Forczyk, Where the Iron Crosses Grow, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2014, pp. 272, 274-76
  28. ↑ http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=11555. In Russian, with English translation. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  29. ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, pp. 171, 264, 299
  30. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 107

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.