354th Rifle Division
354th Rifle Division (August 11, 1941 – June, 1946) | |
---|---|
Order of Suvorov | |
Battle honours | Kalinkovichi |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Dimitrii Fyodorovich Alekseev Maj. Gen. Vladimir Nikolaievich Dzhandzhgava |
The 354th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard
Formation
The division was organized at Penzensk in the Volga Military District, starting on August 11, 1941, through to the end of October, when it began moving to the front.[1] Its full order of battle was as follows:
- 1199th Rifle Regiment
- 1201st Rifle Regiment
- 1203rd Rifle Regiment
- 921st Artillery Regiment
- 476th Sapper Battalion
- 645th Antiaircraft Battalion
- 809th Signal Battalion
- 443rd Medical Battalion
- 420th Reconnaissance Company
- 473rd Truck Company
- 436th Chemical Defense Company[2]
Col. Dmitrii Fyodorovich Alekseev was named divisional commander on September 1. Alekseev had the advantage of starting with an unusually strong cadre for this period of the war; 35 percent of his officers were active-duty, and he received a large number of high-morale, experienced Communist Party members from the Penzensk party organization.[3] Alekseev would be promoted to Major General on May 19, 1943, and apart from a few weeks in October/November, 1943, he would remain in command until nearly the end of that year.
Battle of Moscow
On November 26 the 354th was assigned to
By December 14 the division was fighting along the western bank of the reservoir of the
During that month the 354th was reinforced with the 274th Antitank Battalion (12
Battles of Rzhev
The division spent all of 1942 and early 1943 in Western Front. It was reassigned to the
In the late stages of Operation Mars, the 354th, now part of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps in 20th Army, and one of the few fresh units available to the Western Front command, was directed to attack German strongholds in the villages of Khlepen and Zherebtsovo, beginning on November 30. The division's assault briefly threatened the 2nd Battalion of the 13th Panzergrenadier Regiment with complete encirclement, but in the process the division had suffered "immense casualties" and could not complete its mission.[10] The division then went back into Western Front reserves for rebuilding.[11] By the end of January, the division was back up to 75% of its authorized manpower, but only 70% of the required horses and 25% of the authorized trucks and tractors.[12]
Battle of Kursk
In February, 1943, the 354th was reassigned to Lt. Gen.
During the following weeks the division helped make gains in a gap between the German 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army until German reserves freed up by their evacuation of the Rzhev salient brought the advance to a halt.[14] The 354th remained in the Kursk salient through the following months, including Operation Citadel. 65th Army's positions were in the western sector of the bulge, and were not directly involved in the German offensive.[citation needed
Battles for Belarus
Following the German defeat at Kursk, Central Front began advancing westward out of the salient. During the following months the division was assigned first to the
Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive
In spite of this, on September 28 the 1203rd Rifle Regiment, reinforced by the 257th Separate Army
By October 20, 65th Army's attacks had bogged down on this sector, and the offensive towards
Over the next ten days Belorussian Front carried out another regrouping to continue the offensive and encircle and destroy the German Rechitsa-Gomel grouping. 65th Army remained in the center of the Front's main attack sector, with 27th Corps on the right wing. The 354th was in the first echelon, along with the 115th Rifle Brigade. The Corps' mission was:
"... to penetrate the enemy defense in the Bushatin region (a sector of 4 kilometres), destroy the opposing enemy in their strongholds, and capture Hill 131.6 and the village of Prokisel (at a depth of 6 kilometers)."
The order went on to set further objectives. The offensive reopened on November 10, and in the first two days the 27th and 19th Rifle Corps had carved out a penetration which was then exploited into the Germans' operational rear by
By November 29, the 354th was deep in the penetration, about 25 km south of Parichi, with virtually no German forces to oppose it. With the rest of 29th Corps it established close contacts with local partisan brigades, forming the so-called Rudobelskie Gates, through which a steady supply of arms, ammunition and personnel flowed to and from the partisans. Shortly thereafter, General Batov ordered the bulk of the Corps to wheel southward to increase the pressure on German defenses north of Kalinkovichi, the rail hub that supplied most of German 2nd Army. At about the same time, Hitler finally gave his 9th Army orders to abandon Gomel, which freed up enough troops to contain the Soviet penetration, thus bringing the offensive to a halt.[23]
Kalinkovichi Offensives
Rokossovski remained determined to reach the objectives set for him by the STAVKA, specifically the city of
On January 2, 1944, Rokossovski received an order from the STAVKA, which began:
"Begin an offensive with the forces on the Front's left wing, defeat the enemy's Kalinkovichi-Mozyr grouping, and subsequently attack towards Bobruisk and Minsk. The 65th and 61st Armies [are] responsible for its fulfillment."
Throughout this offensive, which began on January 8, 27th Corps was holding the line facing 4th Panzer, and later the
"KALINKOVICHI"... 354th Rifle Division (Colonel Krimskii, Nikolai Alexeevich)... The troops who participated in the liberation of Mozyr and Kalinkovichi, by the order of the Supreme High Command of January 14, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.[26]
Ozarichi-Ptich Offensive
Rokossovski was determined to continue his assaults on German 2nd Army, and after a brief pause launched a new offensive on January 16. General Batov's plan was to penetrate the German line along the Ipa River at the junction between 4th Panzer and the weak 707th Security Division. The penetration would be made overnight on January 15/16, led by advance detachments of ski troops from 19th Rifle Corps. 27th Corps was in the second echelon. The fast-moving and silent skiers got into the German rear and spread alarm, scattering the right wing of the security troops. 60th and 354th Rifle Divisions moved into the penetration and pushed westward 3–5 km towards Ozarichi, where the headquarters of XXXXI Panzer Corps was located; it was forced to displace to Parichi. By the end of the 19th these divisions were just 2 km from the eastern defenses of the town, and were being reinforced by elements of 105th Rifle Corps. Two days later, in heavy fighting, the 354th and 253rd Divisions fought their way into Ozarichi, but were unable to drive the 35th Infantry Division from its western outskirts. At this point the gap in the German defenses was 15 km-wide and 12 km-deep and there was virtually nothing they could do to plug it. While the two Soviet armies continued to advance, the 354th remained held up at Ozarichi until January 25.[27] A few days later the division was transferred to the 95th Rifle Corps and moved north from the still-contested town.[28]
The division remained in much the same positions through February, during which it was transferred again, this time to the 105th Rifle Corps, where it would remain for the duration.[29] On February 14, Colonel Krimskii was replaced by Col. Nikolai Vasilievich Smirnov, who would hold command for the next two months. On the night of March 16, the LVI Panzer Corps began withdrawing from its forward positions, including those just west of Ozarichi. The divisional history describes the pursuit:
"On the night of 16 March, a platoon of scouts from 1203rd Rifle Regiment wedged into the defenses of the enemy, who had begun to withdraw their forces from the first positions into the depth of the defense. The platoon commander, Sergeant V. Dziuban, quickly informed his regimental commander. On Major N. A. Kharitonov's orders, [Dziuban's] forces penetrated into the enemy's trenches with a swift attack and began advancing forward. The division's other regiments joined the offensive in the morning. They drove the covering forces back and advanced 5-6 kilometres by the evening of the next day. While pursuing the withdrawing enemy, the forward detachments discovered a concentration camp 4 kilometres north of the village of Kholma, and a second 2 kilometres to the northwest in the village of Medved. Once again staring death in the eyes, the soldiers were staggered by what they saw. Dying old men, women, and children were sitting in the forests and the swamps or lying on the frozen ground, in a state of delirium. The territory within the camps was strewn with coils of barbed wire, and the approaches to them within and outside were mined. The surrounding pits and ditches were choked with corpses. The living lay among the dead and dying."
The 354th, with its Corps, reached German 9th Army's new defenses along the Tremlia River late on March 17.[30]
All this came at a cost and during this month the rifle units in the division were at about 1/3rd their authorized strength. For example, on March 24 the 1201st Rifle Regiment consisted of:
- 1 rifle battalion
- 1 mortar battery with 3 120mm mortars and 30 men
- 1 regimental gun battery with 3 guns and 40 men
- 1 antitank battery with 2 45mm guns and 15 men
- 1 reconnaissance platoon with 20 men
- 1 submachine gun platoon with 15 men
- 1 antitank rifle platoon with 25 men
- 1 sapper platoon with 12 men
- 1 signal platoon (30 men); 1 transport platoon (12 men) and 1 medical platoon.[31]
Accordingly, from early April until early June the division was withdrawn to the reserves of 65th Army for rebuilding, after which it returned to the 105th Rifle Corps in the renamed 1st Belorussian Front.[32] On April 15, Col. Sergei Andreevich Vdovin took command of the division, which he would hold until just after the start of the coming summer offensive.[33]
Operation Bagration
At the start of that offensive,
On the same day, Colonel Vdovin was replaced in command of the division by Col.
Into Poland and Germany
With the defenses of Army Group Center shattered, the division raced westward towards Poland. While attempting to reach and cross the
The new offensive began on January 14, and the 354th pushed on through northern Poland and eastern Germany to the
When the Berlin operation began on April 16 the 105th Rifle Corps consisted of the 354th, 193rd and
Postwar
On June 4 the division was awarded its final decoration, the Order of Lenin, for its participation in the taking of Anklam, Neubrandenburg, and other nearby German towns during the Berlin Operation.[46] At this time the division carried the full title of 354th Rifle, Kalinkovichi, Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division [Russian: 354-я стрелковая Калинковичская ордена Ленина Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия]. Seven men of the 354th Rifle Division, including General Dzhandzhgava, were named as Heroes of the Soviet Union, all in 1945. On March 1, 1946, Dzhandzhgava handed command over to Col. Fyodor Alekseevich Grebyonkin. The division was stationed in Poland with its corps and disbanded in June, 1946.[47]
References
Citations
- ^ Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 79
- ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 90
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- ^ Dr. Boris Sokolov, Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, p. 143
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R.W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 3
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, part IV, ch. 2
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- ^ Sokolov, p. 153
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- ^ David M. Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, p. 190
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 37
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 63
- ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, pp. 284-85
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 220, 249
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
- Desna River, which is contradicted by Glantz.
- ^ Glantz, Battle for Belorussia, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2016, pp. 99, 101-02
- ^ "Biography of Major-General Porfirii Sergeevich Furt - (Порфирий Сергеевич Фурт) - (Порфирий Сергеевич Фуртенко) - (Porfirii Sergeevich Furtenko) (1903 – 1962), Soviet Union". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 114–118, 121
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 174, 179–80, 182, 186-87
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 198, 204-05
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 242–45, 247, 250-58
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 418–19, 422, 431–34, 451
- ^ "Освобождение городов".
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 453–54, 459-71
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 42
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 71
- ^ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 535-37
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", pp. 90–91
- ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, pp. 132, 163, 193
- ^ Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy, p. 276
- ^ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, pp. 183–84, 186, 188, 190-97
- ^ Nikolai Litvin; 800 Days on the Eastern Front; University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2007; p. 81
- ^ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, p. 199
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 377.
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 418.
- ^ Litvin, pp. 84-89
- ^ Litvin, pp. 90-99
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 248.
- ^ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 91
- ^ Soviet General Staff, The Berlin Operation 1945, ed. & trans. R.W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016, Kindle ed., chs. 11, 14
- ^ "Джанджгава Владимир Николаевич".
- ^ Litvin, p. 140
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967b, p. 378.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 409
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.
- Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 36, 109, 275-76
- Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть I. 1920–1944 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part I. 1920–1944] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967b). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945–1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)