Related Research Articles
The Battles of Rzhev were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast. Due to the high losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder".
The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation, started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki as a previous part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation.
Operation Iskra, a Soviet military operation in January 1943 during World War II, aimed to break the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad. Planning for the operation began shortly after the failure of the Sinyavino Offensive. The German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 had weakened the German front. By January 1943, Soviet forces were planning or conducting offensive operations across the entire German-Soviet Front, especially in southern Russia; Iskra formed the northern part of the wider Soviet 1942–1943 winter counteroffensive.
Operation Mars, also known as the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation, was the codename for an offensive launched by Soviet forces against German forces during World War II. It took place between 25 November and 20 December 1942 around the Rzhev salient in the vicinity of Moscow.
The 22nd Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II.
The 2nd Mechanised Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
The 11th Cavalry Corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a cavalry corps active during the Second World War.
The 119th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times.
The 252nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.
The 243rd Rifle Division was the first 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. It served as part of 29th Army in the heavy fighting around Smolensk in July and August, then later in the counteroffensive operations around Kalinin, where it helped to clear the first Soviet territory to be permanently liberated. It then saw extensive service in the severe fighting around Rzhev, before being moved south in the winter of 1942-43. During Operation Gallop in February, as part of 3rd Guards Army, it participated in the action that liberated the city of Voroshilovgrad, before attacking into the Donbas during the following summer. In February of 1944 the division was recognized for its role in the liberation of Nikopol, receiving that place name as an honorific, and then was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner after helping to free Odesa. In May it was trapped by German counterattacks in a deep bend on the east bank of the Dniestr River north of Grigoriopol while serving with 5th Shock Army and suffered heavy losses in breaking out to friendly territory. After recovering from this debacle the 243rd advanced into Romania and Hungary, mostly under either 53rd or 7th Guards Armies, and during early 1945 fought through Czechoslovakia; two of its regiments were decorated for their roles in the liberation of Brno just weeks before the German surrender. Along with the rest of 53rd Army it was railed across Siberia to take part in the Soviet offensive against the Japanese forces in Manchuria in August. While the division saw little, if any, actual combat in the far east, it received a second honorific for the sheer accomplishment of advancing through the mountainous terrain. Within months of the Japanese surrender the 243rd was disbanded.
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 334th Rifle Division was formed in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division in the Volga Military District. For most of the war it followed a very similar combat path to that of the 332nd Rifle Division, sometimes serving on adjacent sectors. It fought in the Battle of Moscow and during the winter counteroffensive was assigned to 4th Shock Army, where it would remain until November 1943. During this offensive it helped carve out the Toropets Salient, where it would remain until the autumn of 1943 when it helped to liberate Velizh and began advancing westward again. In the first days of the 1944 summer offensive the 334th shared credit with several other units in the liberation of Vitebsk and was awarded that name as an honorific. The unit advanced into East Prussia in January 1945, distinguishing itself in the siege of the heavily-fortified city of Königsberg and the clearing of the Baltic coast. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.
The 2nd Training Motorized Rifle Division named after Alp Arslan is a division of the Turkmen Ground Forces. Its headquarters is at Tejen in the Ahal Region. It traces its history to the 357th Rifle Division formed in August 1941 in Sarapul in the then Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a standard Red Army rifle division. It notably served on the front lines of the 1st Baltic Front during the Second World War. Particularly, it helped lead the 3rd Shock Army in the battle and siege of Velikiye Luki. By late October 1945, the division had been transferred to the Turkmen SSR, where it was re-designated four times as Soviet Army unit. It remained in Turkmenistan even after the events of 1991 and serves as one of four units in its armed forces.
The 21st Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed from the 361st Rifle Division on March 17, 1942, in recognition of that division's successes in the attempt to encircle the German 9th Army in the Rzhev area during the Soviet winter counteroffensive of 1941-42. After being partially encircled itself in the spring of 1942, the division was withdrawn for rebuilding, and then played a major role in the Battle of Velikiye Luki in 1942-43. It distinguished itself in the battle for Nevel in October, 1943, for which it was awarded a battle honor. The division went on to complete a combat path through northwestern Russia and into the Baltic States, ending its war containing the German forces trapped in the Courland Peninsula.
The 19th Guards Rifle Division was formed from the first formation of the 366th Rifle Division on March 17, 1942. At this time it was in the 52nd Army of Volkhov Front, taking part in the Lyuban Offensive Operation, which was planned to encircle and defeat the enemy forces laying siege to Leningrad. However, just at that time the German 18th Army was in the process of cutting off the Soviet Lyuban grouping in a pocket, and over the following months the division was nearly destroyed. Enough survivors emerged from the swamps in June and July to rebuild the unit, and it fought in the Second Sinyavino Offensive before it was shifted south into Kalinin Front to take part in the battle and siege of Velikiye Luki in December. In the summer of 1943 the 19th Guards fought in the battles for Smolensk, and won its first battle honor, "Rudnya". in September. During the offensive in the summer of 1944 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its successes in the fighting around Vitebsk. It was further honored in February, 1945, with the Order of Lenin for its role in the victories in East Prussia. In the summer the division was moved by rail with its 39th Army to the Far East and saw action in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, winning its second battle honor, "Khingan", for its services. The division continued to see service well into the postwar era.
The 369th Rifle Division began forming on 1 August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, in the Chelyabinsk Oblast. After forming, it was assigned to the 39th Army which soon became part of Kalinin Front, and it participated 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 the same Front, which was very soon after encircled by German forces near Sychevka, and while it was written off by German intelligence in February, enough of the division escaped that it was not officially disbanded. By August it returned to battle, now in 30th Army of Western Front, still fighting near Rzhev. After the salient was finally evacuated in the spring of 1943 the division was moved to Bryansk Front, first in 11th Army and then in 50th Army, under which it served for most of the war. In the summer counteroffensive the 369th was awarded the battle honor "Karachev" for its part in the liberation of that city. At the start of Operation Bagration the division was in 2nd Belorussian Front and its commander, Maj. Gen. I. S. Lazarenko, was killed a few days later; despite this loss it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its successful crossing of the Dniepr River and the liberation of Mogilev. The division continued to advance through Belarus and into Poland and eastern Germany over the following months, but despite a fine record of service was disbanded soon after the German surrender.
The 379th 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 in August 1941 in the Urals Military District. It first served in the winter counteroffensive west of Moscow, and later in the bitter fighting around the Rzhev salient, but was moved north late in 1942. It took up positions along the Volkhov River, mostly under command of the 8th Army, and continued to serve in this Army's battles near Leningrad until September 1943, when it was transferred to the 2nd Baltic Front, where it would stay for the remainder of its service. During this period the division served under many army and corps commands but mostly in the 3rd Shock Army. The division ended the war in Lithuania, helping to contain and reduce the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket. By this time it was judged as being surplus to the Red Army's needs and in December 1944 its personnel were parceled out to help bring other units of the Front closer to establishment strength. The 379th officially disbanded on the first day of 1945.
The 381st 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 in August, 1941 in the Urals Military District. It first served in the bitter fighting around the Rzhev salient, deep in the German rear in the 39th Army and came close to being completely destroyed in July, 1942. The division's survivors were moved north well away from the front for a major rebuilding. It returned to the front in October, joining the 3rd Shock Army for the battle and siege of Velikiye Luki. The division remained in this general area in western Russia until March, 1944, when it was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and then to 21st Army north of Leningrad in April. It served in the offensive that drove Finland out of the war from June to September, winning a battle honor and the Order of the Red Banner in the process, before being transferred back to the Soviet-German front in October. As part of the 2nd Shock Army of 2nd Belorussian Front the 381st advanced across Poland and Pomerania during the winter of 1945, then joined its Front's advance across the Oder River into north-central Germany in late April, ending the war on the Baltic coast. In the summer of that year the division was disbanded.
The Battle of Nevel was a successful military operation conducted by the Red Army in the Pskov Oblast of western Russia and in northern Belarus during World War II, from October 6 to roughly December 16, 1943 although fighting persisted in the area into the new year.
The 46th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in October 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 174th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in the 6th Army of Voronezh Front when it won its Guards title, but was immediately moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding, where it was soon assigned to the 5th Guards Rifle Corps. In mid-November it moved with its Corps to join the 3rd Shock Army in Kalinin Front and played a leading role in the Battle of Velikiye Luki, both in the encirclement of the German garrison of that city and then in fighting off several relief attempts. It remained in the area through the spring and summer of 1943 before taking part in the breakthrough battle at Nevel and the subsequent operations to expand the salient and pinch off the German positions that 3rd Shock had partly surrounded. In June 1944 the 46th Guards was reassigned to the 6th Guards Army of 1st Baltic Front in preparation for Operation Bagration and made a spectacular advance into Luthuania through the "Baltic Gap" between Army Groups Center and North. The division would continue to serve in the Baltic states in 6th Guards for the duration of the war, winning the Order of the Red Banner in the process and ending on the Baltic coast in 22nd Guards Rifle Corps helping to contain the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket. Despite a creditable record of service the division was disbanded shortly after the end of hostilities.
References
- ↑ Jack Radey; Charles Sharp (1 January 2014). The Defense of Moscow 1941: The Northern Flank. Stackpole Books. pp. 226–. ISBN 978-0-8117-1348-1.
- ↑ Zhukov, Georgy (1974). Marshal of Victory, Volume II. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 9781781592915.
- ↑ Keith Earle Bonn (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Aberjona Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-9717650-9-2.
- ↑ David M. Glantz (2005). Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War : 1941-1943. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1353-3.
- ↑ G. F. Krivosheev, Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study, (in Russian), via axishistoryforum at .
- ↑ David M. Glantz (1994). The History of Soviet Airborne Forces. Taylor & Francis. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-7146-4120-1.