295th Rifle Division
| 295th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Rifle division |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Decorations | 2nd formation:
|
| Battle honours |
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Alexander Dorofeyev |
The 295th Rifle Division (Russian: 295-я стрелковая дивизия) was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed twice.
The 295th's first formation was formed in the summer of 1941 and destroyed within months during the
Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive
, Poland, and Germany during the rest of the war. The 295th was downsized into a brigade after the end of the war and was relocated to the North Caucasus. It was reformed from the brigade in 1953 and renumbered in 1955.
History
First Formation
The 295th began forming on 10 July 1941 at
Pripyat River and the Dnieper to cover the northern flank of the Soviet troops at Kiev. The 1042nd Regiment was detached to the 40th Army and as a result was not trapped in the Kiev pocket with the rest of the division, and survived as a separate regiment. The main forces of the 295th were destroyed in the Kiev pocket in late September, and it was officially disbanded on 30 September.[1]
Second Formation
The division began reforming on 1 October 1941 in the
58th Army of the North Caucasus Front. In September it was transferred to the Southern Front's 2nd Guards Army. The Southern Front became 4th Ukrainian Front
on 20 October.
While serving with the 2nd Guards Army, the 295th was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the honorific "Kherson" for recapturing Kherson.[1] The division gained the placename-honorific "Kherson" by Prikaz of the VGK No. 67 of 23 March 1944.[2]
In March 1944, the 295th was transferred to the
Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in the summer of 1944 and after its end in September the 5th Shock Army was relocated north to become part of the 1st Belorussian Front. From October to the end of the war the 295th was part of the 32nd Rifle Corps in the army. By February 1945, its anti-tank unit was the 65th SU Battalion, which had 12 SU-76 self-propelled guns.[1] Postwar, the 295th was initially part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany with the 32nd Rifle Corps in the summer of 1945.[3] However, it was soon relocated to Stavropol in the North Caucasus Military District with the 23rd Rifle Corps, where it became the 30th Separate Rifle Brigade in 1946. In October 1953, the brigade was upgraded into the 295th Rifle Division.[4] In 1955 it was renumbered the 49th Rifle Division.[5]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Sharp 1996, p. 66.
- ^ ИнфоРост, НП (23 January 2024). "Сборник приказов Народного комиссара обороны СССР (1941-1944) о присвоении наименований частям, соединениям и учреждениям Красной Армии". historyrussia.org (in Russian). Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 382.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 149.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 151.
Bibliography
- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
- Sharp, Charles C. (1996). The Soviet Order of Battle World War II: An Organizational History of the Major Combat Units of the Soviet Army. Vol. 9. West Chester, Ohio: George F. Nafziger. OCLC 258366685.