76th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
| 76th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | September 5, 1922 – 1942 1943–1945 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Type | Rifle Division |
| Role | Tactical attack and defense combat operations |
| Size | ca. 5–7,000 men 50–100 guns and mortars |
| Engagements | First Battle of Kharkov Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus |
| Decorations |  Order of the Red Banner (1st and 2nd formations)Order of Suvorov (2nd formation) |
| Battle honours | K. Y. Voroshilov (1st formation) Yelnya (2nd formation) Warsaw (2nd formation) |
The 76th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division, formed twice.
The division was formed in 1922 and was known also as the 76th Armenian Mountain Division. It was a
Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, but also included among its ranks several different nationalities. The division became the 51st Guards Rifle Division on 23 November 1942 for its actions in Operation Uranus
.
The division was reformed in 1943 from a rifle brigade. The division's second formation was disbanded in the summer of 1945.
Interwar period
The division was originally formed as the Armenian Rifle Division by an order of the
Armenian Red Army on 18 November 1921, after the Red Army invasion of Armenia. The division was part of the Separate Caucasus Army.[1]
The 76th was led by several non-Armenian commanders including
Major Generals S. V. Chernikov, E. F. Pryakhin, K. E. Goryunov, N. E. Kaladzen, N. T. Tavarkiladze (the latter two were ethnic Georgians), Colonel G. G. Voronin, and subordinate commanders A. P. Melik-Shahnazaryan, H. T. Atoyan (the latter two being Armenians).[2] Instruction was carried out in Armenian
and the unit published a military newspaper, The Red Soldier, and a newsletter The Red Fighting Man (both in Armenian). During the Second World War, a third paper, Voroshilovets, under the aegis of Armenian novelist Hrachya Kochar, began publication in Russian.
The division was reorganized as the Armenian Mountain Rifle Division in 1931. In 1935, the division became part of the
Central Committee member (and later Marshal of the Soviet Union) Kliment Voroshilov. On 21 May 1936 it was redesignated as the 76th Armenian Mountain Rifle Division when the Red Army standardized its numbering system. The division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 29 May in commemoration of its fifteenth anniversary.[3] In 1938, soldiers of other Soviet nationalities began to enter the ranks of the division, though it remained in the Armenian SSR and retained its flag, its number, and traditions.[2] On 16 July 1940, the division's Armenian designation was removed when the Red Army officially converted national formations into regular units.[1]
The Second World War
Iran
In the summer of 1941,
Ukraine, Stalingrad, Don
In September, the 76th was relocated to the
Mius River. On 9 December, the 76th Mountain Rifle Division was redesignated as the 76th Rifle Division, part of the Southwestern Front's 38th Army. It was transferred to the 21st Army in May 1942.[4]
With Iran pacified, in September 1941 the division was sent to
German Army Group South. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the division was able to cross the riverbank, and retake a line of towns straddling the Russian-Ukrainian border: Grafovka, Nekhotevka, Shamino and Arkhangelskoye.[2]
In June 1942, the 76th helped close a gap between the
Don River. It overran its lines at the railway terminus in Kletskaya, a feat which earned it the status of a Guards unit (November 23, 1942) and subsequent reorganization as the 51st Guards Rifle Division.[2]
Second Formation
The division was reformed in the Tula area on 20 April 1943 from the 87th Rifle Brigade. The division's final titles were 76th Yelnya-Warsaw Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division.[5] The division was disbanded "in place" during the summer of 1945 with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.[6]
See also
- Soviet 89th "Tamanyan" Rifle Division
- Sassuntsi-Davit Tank Regiment
References
Citations
- ^ a b Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993, p. 177.
- ^ a b c d e f (in Armenian) Hakobyan, Arshavir M. and K. Harutyunyan, S. Sargsyan and N. Baloyan. «Հայկական դիվիզիաներ» [Armenian divisions]. Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1980, vol. vi, p. 174.
- ^ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 57.
- ^ Avanzini, Michael; Crofoot, Craig (3 May 2006). "Red Army's 76th Rifle Division" (PDF). Orbat Web Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ^ "76-я Краснознаменная Ельнинско-Варшавская стрелковая дивизия" [76th Red Banner Yelnya-Warsaw Rifle Division]. rkka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 380–381.
Bibliography
- 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 2018-01-25.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Dvoinykh, L.V.; Kariaeva, T.F.; Stegantsev, M.V., eds. (1993). Центральный государственный архив Советской армии [Central State Archive of the Soviet Army] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Minneapolis: Eastview Publications. ISBN 1-879944-03-0.
- 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.