21st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

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For the Guards Rifle Division, see 21st Guards Rifle Division.
20th Mechanized Division
(1945–1947)

21st Rifle Division
(1919–1945)

5th Ural Infantry Division
(1918–1919)
Active1918–1947
Country
BranchRed Army (Soviet Army from 1946)
TypeInfantry (Mechanized from 1945)
Engagements
DecorationsHonorary Revolutionary Red Banner
Battle honoursPerm
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The 21st Rifle Division (

Soviet Union's Red Army
, active between 1918 and 1945.

Formed in late 1918 during the

Vienna Offensive
at the end of the war. Postwar, the 21st was withdrawn to Romania and converted into the 20th Mechanized Division, which was disbanded in 1947.

Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War

The 5th Ural Infantry Division was organised during the

Iren Rivers and capturing the cities of Osa, Okhansk, and Kungur.[2][3]

In July, the division was transferred back to the 3rd Army. It fought in the

26th Rifle Division, fought in the Petropavlovsk Operation, capturing Petropavlovsk. It continued the advance, fighting in the Omsk Operation, the attack on Omsk, between November 4 and 16.[2] It was transferred west to the 9th Army in November.[3]

The 1st and 3rd Brigades completed their journeys across Russia by October, when they re-entered combat. Between November 20 and December 9, the 1st Brigade fought in the

Yekaterinodar.[2]

Battle of Warsaw positions on August 14

In May, the division was transferred to the Western Front to fight in the

Bialystok, but was ultimately defeated in the Battle of Radzymin and annihilated in the following days. Its remnants retreated through Grodno to Lida.[2][3]

The 21st was briefly transferred to the

Novonikolayevsk (later renamed Novosibirsk), Barnaul, Biysk, and Semipalatinsk.[2][3]

Interwar period

Following the end of the revolt in West Siberia, in 1922, the division was directly subordinated to the commander of troops in Siberia. It became part of the

Zhang Xueliang's Northeastern Army over control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria.[4]

It was mobilized with the corps on July 13,

Dalainor. The battalion captured the first Chinese trench line by 01:00 hours on October 3. After Chinese counterattacks, the Soviet troops withdrew from Chinese lines by 03:00 hours. According to an American intelligence report, the battalion inflicted 314 casualties on the Chinese but suffered 183 casualties.[9]

Soviet soldiers with captured Chinese banners, late 1929

During the

36th Rifle Division's 106th Rifle Regiment, preventing the 15th Brigade from moving on Dalainor to aid the defending 17th Brigade and cutting off its retreat.[10] After the capture of Manzhouli on November 20, the division remained behind as a garrison force, allowing the 18th Rifle Corps to advance to Hailar. The 21st restored order and basic public services in Manzhouli by November 25, while also distributing propaganda to the civilians.[11]

In 1930, the division was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner for its actions in the Russian Civil War[3] and the Sino-Soviet conflict. By 1937 it was stationed at Spassk-Dalny near the Manchurian border.[12] On June 5 of that year, Japanese troops occupied a hill near Lake Khanka in the 21st's sector. The division commander, Kombrig Ivan Boryayev, was ordered to use the division's troops to assist the border guards in repulsing an attack by Japanese troops. Colonel Iosif Dobysh's 63rd Rifle Regiment was moved forward, but by the time it arrived near the border, the Japanese had already withdrawn. Dobysh was subsequently shot, charged with negligence and failure to speedily deploy troops.[13] Boryayev himself was later dismissed on July 13 and arrested weeks later before being shot during the Great Purge.[14] In September 1938, the 21st Division became part of the 1st Red Banner Army.[2]

World War II

On June 22, 1941, the division was part of the 1st Red Banner Army's

Svir River between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, defending against the Finnish in Karelia in the Continuation War.[16]

For leading his platoon in repulsing Finnish attacks in early November, 326th Rifle Regiment Sergeant Vasily Poleshchuk was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.[17] Due to the relatively quiet nature of the front, the division's 109th Howitzer Regiment became a separate 7th Army regiment in early 1942. Around the same time, like other divisions in the front, it formed a ski battalion for winter patrolling and security duties. The division remained in the area until March 1944, when it was moved to the Arctic theatre of operations, to Kandalaksha. As part of the 19th Army it took part in defeating a group of German forces in the area of Alakurtti and reached the pre-war Soviet-Finnish border. By October it was part of the 14th Army, pushing German troops out of Finland and into northern Norway.[18]

In January 1945 it was transferred to the

80th Infantry Division of XX Corps at the Enns.[19][20][21]

Postwar

Postwar, in October 1945, the division became the 20th Mechanized Division

28th Guards Rifle Divisions, respectively.[23]

Commanders

The following commanders are known to have led the division:

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, pp. 421–422.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993, pp. 89–90.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Khromov 1983, pp. 169–170.
  4. ^ Walker 2017, p. 174.
  5. ^ Walker 2017, p. 179.
  6. ^ Walker 2017, p. 196.
  7. ^ Erickson 2001, p. 241.
  8. ^ Walker 2017, p. 303.
  9. ^ Walker 2017, p. 222.
  10. ^ Walker 2017, p. 242.
  11. ^ Walker 2017, pp. 248–249.
  12. ^ Erickson 2001, p. 451.
  13. ^ Milbakh 2011.
  14. ^ a b Cherushev & Cherushev 2014, pp. 32–33.
  15. ^ Niehorster, Dr. Leo. "1st Army, Far East Front, Red Army, 22.06.41". niehorster.org. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  16. ^ Tsapayev & Goremykin 2014, p. 613.
  17. ^ "Vasily Poleshchuk". Герои страны ("Heroes of the Country") (in Russian). Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Sharp 1995, pp. 23–24.
  19. ^ 21-я стрелковая Пермская Краснознаменная дивизия [21st Rifle Division]. Primorsky Krai Heroic and Patriotic Portal (in Russian). Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  20. ^ Uvarov & Malgov 1945, p. 37.
  21. ^ a b c Tsapayev & Goremykin 2014, p. 540.
  22. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 204.
  23. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 206.
  24. ^ a b c d e Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964, p. 112.

Bibliography

Military documents

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