110th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
The 110th Rifle Division was a formation of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the course of World War II, which was formed, dissolved, and re-formed three times throughout the war.
History
First formation
The division was first formed 20 September 1939 at Sverdlovsk. Mobilized before the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, by June 1941 the division (first formation) formed part of the 61st Rifle Corps in the 20th Army, in Stavka reserve around Moscow, the 20th Army occupying a defensive position around Kaluga.[1] The division was transferred to the Soviet Western Front in July 1941, and was encircled with the 20th Army as part of the Vyazma pocket to the west of Moscow in October 1941. In that encirclement, it was virtually destroyed, and was officially disbanded on 19 September 1941.[2]
Second formation
On 4 September 1941, the 4th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division, which had originally been raised in the Kuibyshev district of Moscow in July 1941, was renumbered as the new 110th Rifle Division, beginning its second formation.[3]
Its composition changed to the regular army subunits to include:
- 1287, 189, 1291 Rifle Regiments
- 971 Artillery Regiment
- 695 AA Artillery Battalion
- 470 Reconnaissance Company
- 859 Separate Signal Battalion
- 493 Medical Battalion
- 332 Separate Chemical Defence Company
- 329 Auto-transport Company
It was assigned as part of the 24th, 49th, 21st, and 33rd Armies, participating in the defensive and offensive operations around Moscow – Operation Mars at the end of 1942 as part of the Red Army's Kalinin Front,[4] and later in 1943 the Rzhev-Vyazma offensives, and the Orel offensive operation (Operation Kutuzov), after the Battle of Kursk. From the Rzhev battles to October 1944, the division was commanded by General Major Georgii Borisovich Peters, its former deputy commander.[5]
On 10 April 1943, the 110th Rifle Division was renamed the 84th Guards Koracheyev Rifle Division.[6]
Third formation
The third formation of the division was on 5 May 1943, with retention of its second formation subunits.[7] On 6 April 1945, commanded by Colonel Sergey Mikhailovich Tarasov, it participated in the encirclement of Königsberg, located at the northern sector. In that assault, the division was accompanied by its two sister divisions of 69th Rifle Corps, 50th Army:[8] the 153rd Rifle Division, on its right flank, and the 324th Rifle Division on its left flank.
The division was disbanded soon after the war ended, in 1945–46.[9]
See also
References
- ↑ 20th Army, STAVKA Strategic Reserves, Red Army, 22.06.41
- ↑ p.54, Perecheni
- ↑ p. 372, Bonn
- ↑ Armchair General: Operation Mars - The Second Offensive in Rzhev Vicinities. November-December 1942
- ↑ Петерс Георгий Борисович 24. 6. 1897 - 18. 5. 1978 Герой Советского Союза Hero of Soviet Union
- ↑ 84th Guards Rifle Division was disbanded 29 June 1946 at Kaliningrad
- ↑ p. 55, Perecheni
- ↑ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 April 1945, accessed June 2008
- ↑ V.I. Feskov et al., The Soviet Army in the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004, p. 77 (exact page number may not be correct)
Sources
- Glantz, David M., Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army of the eve of World War. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1998. ISBN 0-7006-0879-6
- Generals.dk General Major Georgii Borisovich Peters (1897–1978) was the deputy commander and later commanding officer of 110th Rifle Division in 1942-44, including after its renaming as the 84th Guards Koracheyev Rifle Division.
- Bonn, Keith E., Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford PA, 2005
- Grylev, A., Gen. Maj., Perecheni No.5 of the General Staff: Rifle, mountain, motor-rifle and motorised divisions included in the active army during the years of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, Military-scientific directorate of the General Staff, Moscow, 1970, via www.soldat.ru, Perechen, verified 4 June 2008.
