215th Rifle Division

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(Redirected from
215th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
)
215th Motorized Division (11 March 1941 - 19 September 1941)
215th Rifle Division (May 1942 - 30 April 1955)
Active1941–1956 (48th Rifle Brigade 1941–1942, 33rd Rifle Division 1955–1956)
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army (Soviet Army from 1946)
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsWorld War II
Decorations
Battle honoursSmolensk
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Andranik Ghazaryan

The 215th Rifle Division (Russian: 215-я стрелковая дивизия) was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued to serve in the Soviet Army during the early years of the Cold War. It was the successor to a motorized division of that same number that was destroyed during the Battle of Kiev in September 1941.

Formed as the 48th Rifle Brigade in late 1941, it fought in the

Soviet Far East to participate in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The 215th received its final decoration, the Order of Kutuzov
, 2nd class, for its actions in the latter. Postwar, it remained in the Soviet Far East and was briefly renumbered as the 33rd Rifle Division in 1955 before being disbanded a year later.

215th Motorized Division

This division began forming in March-April 1941 at

Kiev Special Military District as part of the 22nd Mechanized Corps
. It was based on the 15th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Col. Pavlin Andreevich Barabanov was appointed to command on March 11 and he would remain in this position until the division was disbanded. Once formed its order of battle was as follows:

The 133rd fielded a total of 129 BT tanks, and the 677th was equipped with a total of 24 122mm howitzers, while the 211th had just four 37mm guns. Even by the time of the German invasion it was suffering crippling shortages of specialized personnel. The tank regiment and reconnaissance battalion were short about 70 percent of their required officers while the maintenance and supply echelons were missing almost 75 percent of their mechanics and technicians.[2]

Battle of Brody

When Operation Barbarossa began on June 22 the 22nd Mechanized Corps (19th and 41st Tank Divisions, 215th Motorized Division, 23rd Motorcycle Regiment) was under command of the 5th Army of the redesignated Southwestern Front.[3] The 215th was still positioned at Rivne with the 19th Tanks deployed somewhat to the northwest but the 41st Tanks was all the way forward to the frontier north of Volodymyr.[4] The division went into action on June 23 after moving west along with 19th Tanks to link up with the 41st east of Svynaryn. The divisions were facing the 14th Panzer Division as it drove toward Lutsk. By the end of the day on June 27 the German division had captured that city as well as Rozhyshche despite the resistance of the now-depleted 22nd Mechanized.[5] The fragility of the 215th was exposed by a report from 5th Army at this time that the division had "apparently only remnants" left.[6] By July 1 it had been withdrawn with 19th Tanks to north of Klevan.[7]

Battle of Kiev

Despite its difficulties a steady trickle of reinforcements and replacements kept a small cadre of the division in action with 22nd Mechanized.[8] As of July 10 it was still under 5th Army's command,[9] and was moving back to the fighting front to face Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler southwest of Volodarsk-Volynskyi before being driven back to the northeast over the following days. It continued its fighting withdrawal into the second week of August, pulling back past Malyn by the 11th.[10] The division was officially redesignated as the 215th Rifle Division on August 22. At this time it had roughly 1,200 personnel still on strength with eight repaired T-37 tankettes and a dozen each of artillery pieces and mortars.[11] The persistent resistance of 5th Army in the fastnesses of the eastern Pripyat marshes on the flanks of both Army Groups Center and South was influencing German strategy and was one reason for Hitler's decision to divert Panzer Group 2 southward to encircle Southwestern Front at and east of Kiev. At the start of this operation the 215th, which had been detached from 22nd Mechanized Corps,[12] was positioned at Sorokoshichi on the Dniepr north of Kiev, very deep within the developing pocket.[13] It had no chance to escape under circumstances and was officially written off on September 19.

History

The division was formed in the

Toropets–Kholm Offensive. After the army transferred to the Kalinin Front on 22 January, the 48th fought in defensive battles near Velizh.[14]

During May 1942, the brigade was used to form the 215th Rifle Division near Ponizovye (30 kilometers from Troitsa) in the reserve of the

Volga, northwest of Rzhev. Crossing the Volga on 9 September, the 215th fought on the approaches to Rzhev but was stymied by German defenses. Kupriyanov, now a major general, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his leadership of the division in actions between August and October, in which it was credited with destroying up to two German infantry regiments and fifteen tanks.[14]

When German forces began

Sozh River. For its actions in the capture of Smolensk, the division received the name of the city as an honorific on 25 September.[15][16]

At the end of 1943, the 215th was transferred to the

Borisov, Vilnius, and Kaunas. For its "exemplary fulfillment of command tasks" in the capture of Vilnius the 215th received the Order of the Red Banner on 25 July.[17][18] By the end of the summer offensive in August, the average rifle company in the division was reduced to 70 men, about half strength.[16]

The division was placed in the second echelon of the 72nd Rifle Corps between 3 September and 16 October, then fought in the

Soviet Far East for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.[16][17] The division began loading into rail cars on 22 April.[19]

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

The 5th Army completed its move to the Far East by July, with the 215th part of the 72nd Rifle Corps together with the

1st Far East Front.[16] Breaking through Japanese border fortifications, the division pursued retreating Japanese troops and captured Dunhua. After the end of Japanese resistance, the division guarded the railway at Dunhua, Jiaohe, and Jilin, along with factories in the area. It was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, on 19 September for its actions in the capture of Jilin.[21] Postwar, the 215th was stationed in Primorsky Krai with its corps and army;[22] Ghazaryan remained in command until about October 1947.[17] It was renumbered as the 33rd Rifle Division on 30 April 1955, stationed at Krasny Kut. It was disbanded there on 25 July 1956.[23]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Charles C. Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", Soviet Tank, Mechanized, Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940 - 1942, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. I, Nafziger, 1995, p. 64. This source identifies the 667th as a motorized howitzer regiment.
  2. ^ Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 64
  3. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 9
  4. ^ Artyom Drabkin and Alexei Isaev, Barbarossa Through Soviet Eyes, trans. C. Summerville, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2012, p. xiii
  5. ^ David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 70-71
  6. ^ Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 64
  7. ^ Stahel, Kiev 1941, p. 72
  8. ^ Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 64
  9. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 24
  10. ^ Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 78-79, 84-85
  11. ^ Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 64
  12. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 42
  13. ^ Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 262-63
  14. ^ a b c Tsapayev & Goremykin 2015, pp. 518–519.
  15. ^ Tsapayev & Goremykin 2015, p. 67.
  16. ^ a b c d Sharp 1996, p. 86.
  17. ^ a b c Tsapayev & Goremykin 2015, pp. 100–101.
  18. ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967a, p. 411.
  19. ^ Glantz 2003, p. 19.
  20. ^ Glantz 2005, p. 15.
  21. ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 423.
  22. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 588.
  23. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 151.

Bibliography

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