175th Rifle Division

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175th Rifle Division (July 23, 1940 - December 27, 1941)
175th Rifle Division (December 1941 - September 4, 1942)
175th Rifle Division (October 15, 1942 - June 1, 1946)
The banner of the 175th (3rd Formation) at the Allied parade in Berlin, May 8, 1946
Active1940–1946
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsBattle of Kiev (1941)
Second Battle of Kharkov
Operation Wilhelm
Case Blue
Sevsk-Trubchevsk offensive
Oryol offensive
Battle of Kursk
Operation Bagration
Lublin–Brest offensive
Vistula–Oder offensive
East Pomeranian offensive
Battle of Berlin
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner (3rd Formation)
Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Order of Kutuzov (3rd Formation)
Battle honoursUral
Kovel (both 3rd Formation)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Col. Semyon Mikhailovich Glovatskii
Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Demyanovich Kuleshov
Maj. Gen. Andrei Sidorovich Golovko
Col. Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov
Maj. Gen. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Borisov
Maj. Gen. Zakhari Petrovich Vydrigan
Maj. Gen. Andrei Nikitich Gervasiev

The 175th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the North Caucasus Military District in July 1940, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It was still in that District at the time of the German invasion, and it was soon moved to the Kiev Fortified Region as part of Southwestern Front. It would remain defending the Ukrainian capital into September, eventually as part of 37th Army, when it was deeply encircled and destroyed.

A new 175th was designated in March 1942, based on a 400-series division that had begun forming the previous December in the Siberian Military District. It was soon moved to the Ural Military District, and after a rushed period of training it joined the reformed 28th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, before that Army was assigned to Southwestern Front. In May it formed part of the Front's northern shock group for the offensive intended to liberate Kharkiv. While initially hampered by the failure to take the German strongpoint at Ternovaya it gradually developed momentum in cooperation with 169th Rifle Division and ended up farther into the German positions than any other formation in the northern group, reaching to just north of Lyptsi, before being struck by an armored counterattack on May 20 and being driven back to near its starting line, at considerable cost. In June it was nearly encircled during Operation Wilhelm, but managed to escape, again with serious losses. When the main German summer offensive began later that month the remnants of the 175th were driven back to the Don River, where a relative handful of personnel and equipment were able to cross after fighting out of encirclement. The division was officially written off on September 4.

The final 175th began as the Ural Rifle Division of the NKVD in October in the Ural Military District. It retained the name "Ural" as an honorific. Early in the new year it, and five similar divisions, were transferred to the Red Army and formed as the new 70th Army. The Army was soon assigned to Central Front, where it joined the advance toward Oryol in late February and March 1943, but proved ineffective due to low standards of training and leadership. Over the following months, as these issues were taken in hand, the 175th helped to prepare for the expected German summer offensive against the Kursk salient.

1st Formation[edit]

The division first began forming on July 23, 1940, at Prokhladny and Mozdok in the North Caucasus Military District. Its order of battle on June 22, 1941, was as follows:

  • 560th Rifle Regiment
  • 632nd Rifle Regiment
  • 728th Rifle Regiment
  • 630th Artillery Regiment[1]
  • 171st Antitank Battalion
  • 454th Antiaircraft Battalion
  • 212th Reconnaissance Company
  • 190th Sapper Battalion
  • 454th Signal Battalion
  • 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 515th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 259th Motor Transport Battalion
  • 431st Field Bakery
  • 157th Field Postal Station
  • 55th Field Office of the State Bank

Col. Semyon Mikhailovich Glovatskii was appointed to command the same day the division began forming.[2] At the start of the German invasion it was part of 64th Rifle Corps, with the 165th Rifle Division.[3] After a brief period to complete its mobilization it began moving by rail, with its Corps, toward the front in early July, concentrating at Brovary by July 12.[4] 64th Corps was now in the reserves of Southwestern Front.[5]

Defense of Kyiv[edit]

Kiev Fortified Region. Note positions of the 175th in the south.

The 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions reached the Irpin River west of Kyiv on July 11 after breaking through Southwestern Front near Zhytomyr. The German command was divided on plans to directly attack Kyiv to seize its crossings over the Dniepr River, but by July 13 German reconnaissance made it clear that Soviet fortifications and troop concentrations ruled out any possibility of taking the city by surprise. Kyiv would remain in Soviet hands for more than two further months. At about the same time the 64th Corps moved into positions along the Irpin, with the 175th west and southwest of Boiarka, and the 165th further southwest.[6] During the first 10 days of fighting along this line the 175th lost nearly 20 percent of its personnel.

During late July and into early August the XXIX Army Corps of German 6th Army made numerous attempts to capture Kyiv, but all of these were foiled. As German forces advanced on Boiarka 64th Corps was split apart, with the 165th pushed across the Dniepr and the 175th falling back by August 11 into the Kiev Fortified Region, defending the city's southwestern sector.[7] As of the beginning of the month the Corps was being disbanded and the 175th came under direct command of Southwestern Front. Later in August it was subordinated to the new 37th Army,[8] which was tasked with continuing the defense of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. By September 10 the remnants of 5th and 37th Armies were grouped north of Kozelets but on September 16 the 2nd Panzers linked up with the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South well to the east and the Army was deeply encircled.[9] Colonel Glovatskii went missing on September 15 and the situation rapidly deteriorated. The remnants of the division managed to get across the Dniepr on September 18, but there was no possibility of breaking through the German lines from so far west. The division was effectively destroyed two days later, but in common with most of the encircled divisions of Southwestern Front it officially remained on the books until December 27, when it was finally written off.

2nd Formation[edit]

The 444th Rifle Division began forming in December 1941 in the Siberian Military District.[10] In March 1942 it was redesignated as the new 175th Rifle Division.[11] Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 1st formation:

  • 560th Rifle Regiment
  • 632nd Rifle Regiment
  • 728th Rifle Regiment
  • 630th Artillery Regiment[12]
  • 171st Antitank Battalion
  • 143rd Antiaircraft Battery
  • 113th Mortar Battalion
  • 212th Reconnaissance Company
  • 190th Sapper Battalion
  • 454th Signal Battalion
  • 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 515th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 259th Motor Transport Company
  • 431st Field Bakery
  • 896th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 1675th Field Postal Station
  • 1117th Field Office of the State Bank

Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Demyanovich Kuleshov had been assigned to command of the 444th on January 23. This officer had led the 85th Rifle Division during 1934-37 before taking command of the Special Railway Corps, but was arrested on March 17, 1938 during the Great Purge. After his release in November 1939 he served as a senior instructor, and then led the 64th Rifle Corps throughout its original formation in 1941. He would remain in command of the 175th for the duration of its second formation. In March the new division was noted as having 95 percent of its personnel of Siberian, Bashkir, and Tatar nationalities, most between 33 and 42 years of age, and some 30 percent of whom had been released from prison camps.[13] During that month it was assigned to the reformed 28th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. In April this Army came under command of Southwestern Front.[14]

Second Battle of Kharkiv[edit]

28th Army, under command of Lt. Gen. D. I. Ryabyshev, also contained the 13th Guards, 38th, 162nd, 169th, and 244th Rifle Divisions, plus a cavalry corps and four tank brigades.[15]

Second Battle of Kharkiv. Note position of 28th Army.

Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, who now commanded Southwestern Front, planned a new offensive to liberate Kharkiv with two shock groups. 28th Army formed the center of the northern group, with 21st Army to its north and 38th Army to its south. Ryabyshev's Army, located northeast of the city and with the bulk of the armor support, was expected to lead the advance. The offensive opened at 0630 hours on May 12 with a 60-minute artillery preparation, followed by a 15-20 minute air attack against front line strongpoints and artillery positions. The infantry and tanks went over to the attack at 0730, but many German positions remained intact. The 175th's initial objective was the village of Ternovaya in cooperation with the 169th; this was held by elements of the 429th Regiment of the 294th Infantry Division. In the event, 28th Army gained only 2–4km in heavy fighting through the day and German forces continued to hold Varvarovka and Ternovaya, hindering the development of the offensive, even though the former had been encircled.[16]

Overnight, the commander of Army Group South released the 23rd Panzer Division plus two infantry divisions to its 6th Army to join the depleted 3rd Panzer Division as a counterattack force. When combat resumed on the morning of May 13 Ryabyshev decided to develop the offensive on his left flank, taking advantage of the gains made by 38th Army the day before. During the day the garrison of Varvarovka was liquidated but Ternovaya continued to hold out, despite itself being encircled. The left flank regiment of the 175th and the right flank of the 169th were unable to force their way into the village proper. Late in the day the 38th Division was ordered forward to maintain the encirclement while the 175th and 169th continued to advance to the west. By the middle of the day disconcerting intelligence reports were reaching Ryabyshev about large concentrations of German armor and infantry massing east of the city. Early in the afternoon the German grouping struck 38th Army, and 13th Guards was ordered to form a defense facing south.[17]

Despite the growing crisis on his left flank, Ryabyshev urged his divisions onward on May 14. While Ternovaya continued to hold out to the 38th, the 175th and 169th advanced 6-8km, defeating several small units formed from rear-area support troops. By the end of the day the 175th had reached the Murom River, capturing the villages of Bezbozhini, Neskuchnoe, and Petrovskoe. The two divisions were now reaching the German rear defense line running along the west bank of the Kharkiv River. At the same time Ternovaya remained in German hands for several more days, requiring air supply and even reinforcements in the form of paratroops. Meanwhile, the armored attacks against 28th Army's left flank, in which the 13th Guards still held most of their positions, but at the cost of as much as a third of their strength, rendered that wing of the Army incapable of further offensive action.[18]

After some hesitation overnight in the German command, its counterattack proceeded on May 15. A grouping consisting of an infantry regiment and 40 tanks struck from the Nepokrytaia region against the boundary of the 28th and 38th Armies and advanced northeastward toward Peremoga and Ternovaya. One regiment of the 244th Division was driven back 10km in what can only be termed a rout, finally taking up new positions 2–3km southwest of Ternovaya. Meanwhile, the 175th and 169th had received orders from Timoshenko to continue their advance alongside 21st Army. In the event, the two divisions scrambled throughout the day to contain the German breakthrough, and one regiment of the 175th was removed from the front line to deal with the paratroops. With these distractions, and despite weak resistance, the two divisions managed to gain only 5km, reaching the Lipets River. Meanwhile, Ternovaya continued to hold out against 38th Division.[19]

21st Army attempted to continue its offensive on May 16 but ran into stiff resistance and counterattacks. However, its left flank 227th Rifle Division discovered that the main German force it faced had withdrawn to the line of the Kharkiv River. It then joined with the 175th in crossing to the west bank of the Lipets, jointly occupying the villages of Ustinka, Morokhovets, and Bednyi. The division was now nearly due north of Lyptsi, having made a deeper advance than any other division of the northern shock group. However it was also in a deep salient, as the German garrisons of Murom and Ternovaya remained in place. Over the following days efforts were made to revive the offensive of the northern group, including an order from Timoshenko on May 17 that the 169th was to attack westward to join the 175th. In the event, this was forestalled when the 3rd and 23rd Panzers, with the 71st Infantry Division, renewed their drive toward Ternovaya. The remnants of 244th Division were taken by surprise and driven off to the northeast, uncovering the Murom axis. The German garrison was relieved and 38th Division was forced to withdraw 2-3km to the east. The 169th was also forced to pull back 5-8km northward, finally taking up positions with second echelon units of 5th Guards Cavalry Division. This division, along with the regiment of the 175th that had been detached against paratroops, put up a strong defense in the Arapovka–Ploskoe area and halted any further advance on Murom. By this time the southern shock group, and indeed all the Soviet forces in the Izium salient, were in danger of encirclement and destruction due to the counteroffensive launched the same day by 1st Panzer Army in the area of Barvinkove.[20]

Overnight the 244th was sent to the rear; it would be disbanded within a few months. Captured documents now convinced Timoshenko that the two panzer divisions would change their attack axis to the southeast in an effort to link up with 1st Panzer Army. In order to prevent this he ordered the 28th and 38th Armies to continue offensive operations on May 18 with all available forces. Despite the danger to the forces of Southwestern and Southern Fronts in the Barvinkove salient, Stalin refused to abandon the offensive on Kharkiv. 38th Army began its attack at 0700 hours, but due to organizational difficulties 28th Army did not get underway until 1130. The 169th Division was nailed down by air attacks and while the 162nd made some initial gains it was soon forced back to its start line. Meanwhile, the shift of German forces allowed 38th Division to again encircle Ternovaya.[21]

On May 19 the Luftwaffe again dropped supplies and paratroops from 11 transport aircraft in and near Ternovaya, but this time the assault force was largely destroyed by the 38th and the detached regiment of the 175th. 28th Army again went over to the attack at 0930 hours, as did the 38th Army, but with no greater success than the day before. In the afternoon in the 21st Army's sector the 168th Infantry Division struck the 293rd Rifle Division and drove it back from Murom. This forced General Ryabyshev to commit scant reserves to cover his flank and rear. Meanwhile, 3rd Panzer was indeed on the move, but contrary to Timoshenko's understanding it had moved through Lyptsi and was concentrating, along with the 57th Infantry Division, to the northwest of the main body of the 175th. Unaware of this, Ryabyshev ordered all his forces, except the 175th, to go over to the attack again at first light on May 20. The advance was initially successful until it ran into the positions of 23rd Panzer near Vesele. At noon a German counterattack was launched against the 175th and 169th. Under pressure of armor, and almost continuous air attacks, the two divisions began to withdraw to the east, uncovering the flank of 21st Army's 227th Division to the north. By the end of the day all the units along the boundary flanks of the two Armies had been forced back 10-15km with heavy losses. The northern shock group was now along a line from Murom to Ternovaya and then south along the west bank of the Bolshaya Babka River.[22]

Having attained this success, 6th Army did not press the offensive on this sector, but instead began to withdraw the two panzer divisions back to Lyptsi as a preliminary to redeployment toward the Barvinkove salient, where the Soviet situation was going from bad to worse. During the following days the 21st, 28th, and 38th Armies were limited to local attacks to improve positions. Timoshenko soon ordered the 175th, 169th and 227th withdrawn from the front for rebuilding, along with all the tank brigades that had supported the northern shock group. On the afternoon of May 22 the encirclement of the southern shock group and two armies of Southern Front was completed, and these forces were reduced and largely destroyed by the end of the month.[23]

Operation Wilhelm[edit]

In early June the 175th was in much the same place as it had been at the start of the Kharkiv offensive, southwest of Vovchansk in a bridgehead over the Northern Donets centered on Staryi Saltiv. As a preliminary to the main German summer offensive Gen. F. Paulus, commander of 6th Army, intended to eliminate the bridgehead in a pincer attack in order to gain crossing points over the Donets. Altogether the bridgehead contained seven rifle divisions, five from 28th Army, including the 175th, plus two of 21st Army. All of these were under strength, backed by four weak tank brigades, three more rifle divisions and three cavalry divisions. The assault began early on June 10 and took the defenders by surprise. The four infantry divisions of VIII Army Corps took only two days to clear the bridgehead and capture Vovchansk. Meanwhile, the III Motorized Corps broke through the defenses of 38th Army to the south. Under the circumstances the 28th Army began retreating almost as soon as the German attack was underway. Rainy weather began on June 11 and this slowed the advance, along with defensive actions and counterattacks by the tank brigades. By the time the pincers closed on June 15 most of the Soviet forces had escaped, losing 24,800 men taken prisoner, largely from the now-shattered 28th Army.[24]

Case Blue[edit]

By the start of the main German summer offensive in late June 28th Army had five rifle divisions in various states of repair (13th and 15th Guards Rifle, 38th, 169th, and 175th), plus three battered tank brigades, numbering in total about 90 tanks. The 175th was directly facing the 79th Infantry Division, with the 164 tanks of 3rd Panzer just to the north. The 244th Division was deployed near Valuyki on the Oskol River as Southwestern Front's reserve. On the first day the Army's forces managed to limit the advance of XXXX Panzer Corps to just 10km. However the German XXIX and VIII Army Corps to the north struck more than twice that distance, tearing a yawning gap between 28th and 21st Army. Over the coming days the 28th was forced to fall back towards Valuyki, exposing the flank of the 21st to its north. By July 10 the situation had drastically deteriorated and General Ryabyshev was forced to report:

We have no communications with the units of the army... By the day's end on 9 July... 175th Rifle Division was fighting encircled in the Kopanka region (28 kilometres northwest of Rovenki)... At the present time, the exact locations of the divisions are unknown; but it is most likely that the divisions no longer exist as organized formations and their encircled remnants are fighting their way eastward toward the Don River crossings.

Over the next three days the Army reported that elements of the divisions made it back safely. However by this time they mustered only 40 to 400 "bayonets" (riflemen and sappers) each, with only a handful of guns and mortars. Within days the 28th and its depleted units were transferred to the new Stalingrad Front.[25]

In the chaos General Kuleshov became missing in action. While he nominally remained in command until September 4, when the division was written off, he had actually been captured, and died in a German PoW camp in July 1944.

3rd Formation[edit]

The Ural Rifle Division of the NKVD began forming on October 15. This would become the 3rd formation of the 175th.[26] Its order of battle was almost completely different from the previous formations:

  • 277th "Karelia" Rifle Regiment
  • 278th "Revdinsk" Rifle Regiment
  • 282nd "Sverdlovsk" Rifle Regiment
  • 373rd "Chusovsk" Artillery Regiment[27]
  • 123rd Antitank Battalion
  • 71st Reconnaissance Company
  • 89th Sapper Battalion
  • 454th Signal Battalion (later 663rd Signal Company)
  • 104th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 35th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 331st Motor Transport Company
  • 67th Field Bakery
  • 43rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 2275th Field Postal Station
  • 1845th Field Office of the State Bank

NKVD Maj. Gen. Andrei Sidorovich Golovko was appointed to command on November 10. He had previously led the 22nd NKVD Motorized Rifle Division. The personnel were assembled from several sources, and by nationality were roughly 75 percent Russian and 25 percent Ukrainian, largely 19-29 years of age.[28] The 277th Regiment was obtained from NKVD assets in Karelian Front and inherited the Order of the Red Banner it had been awarded on April 26, 1940 while serving as the 4th NKVD Border Regiment.[29] As the Urals District did not share any borders with foreign states the bulk of the division's manpower came from railroad troops (line of communication guards) rather than border guards as was the usual case with NKVD-based Red Army divisions.[30] On January 26, 1943, General Golovko handed the division over to Col. Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov, who had been serving as his deputy commander. Marshal G. K. Zhukov soon issued a decree to create the new 70th Army from a group of NKVD divisions:

"The Stavka of the Supreme High Command orders:

1. Name the Separate Army formed by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR, consisting of six rifle divisions, with separate reinforcing and support units, the 70th Army and include it in the Red Army on 1 February.
2. Give the formations of the 70th Army the following designations:

3. Determine the numbering and table of organization and composition of the units of 70th Army in accordance with the instructions of the Chief of the Red Army Glavupraform."

The 175th was to load aboard trains at Revda Station beginning at 1800 hours on February 9.[31]

Sevsk-Trubchevsk Offensive[edit]

70th Army was assigned to the re-deploying Don Front (soon re-designated Central Front) under command of Col. Gen. K. K. Rokossovskii. It was some time before Rokossovskii could knock it into shape as a front-line formation, forcing him to remove many senior, ex-NKVD officers.[32] Rokossovskii had received detailed instructions from the STAVKA early on February 6, directing him to, among other things, concentrate 70th Army's units by February 14 in the Volovo, Dolgorukovo, and Livny areas as they arrived and then send them send them off in the wake of the Front's first echelon. In the event, this deployment schedule was impossible to meet, due to shortages of rolling stock, damage to the rails themselves, and winter weather, and the start of Central Front's offensive was postponed until February 25.[33]

At the same time, Rokossovskii made changes in his operational plan. In the first phase, Central Front would break through the German line from Nikolskoe to Karmanovo to Mashkino to Olshanka with the objective of reaching the rail line from Bryansk to Konotop. After this, the axis of the attack would be toward Sevsk and Unecha Station to cut the line from Bryansk to Gomel. This first phase would require covering up to 250km through deep snow and with a paucity of roads. 70th Army would join in the second phase, with the objective of capturing Mogilev by March 28 after concentrating in the Kursk area on February 23. These ambitious objectives proved well beyond the Army's capabilities. On February 24 Rokossovskii's chief of operations reported, in part, that the Army had largely completed unloading and was proceeding on two march routes, with the 175th, 162nd and 106th approaching Kolpny with the rear of the column passing through Livny. He also reported that each division contained 9,000-11,000 personnel, but up to 75 percent of authorized horses were missing, and there were no tractors at all for the 122mm howitzers in the artillery regiments, so they had to remain where they had been unloaded.[34]

The strategic situation was already changing. Already on February 20 the XXXX Panzer Corps of Army Group South had struck the advancing forces of Southwestern Front, scoring immediate gains in the Barvinkove area. A few days later, further overextended mobile formations were destroyed by XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and the SS Panzer Corps. The STAVKA was slow to acknowledge the situation, expecting Rokossovskii's anticipated advance to make the setbacks irrelevant. This began as planned on February 25 as Central Front continued to take advantage of the weaknesses along the boundary of 2nd and 2nd Panzer Armies. The Front was led by 2nd Tank, 13th, and 65th Armies as 70th Army was still two days to the rear. German resistance at Dmitriev-Lgovsky was determined, so the 11th Tank Corps swung southward to bypass the town and drove headlong toward Sevsk, more than 50km to the west.[35]

Rokossovskii's armies had achieved significant success by March 1. 65th Army had pushed a deep salient toward Komarichi and Trosna, and despite the arrival of 78th Infantry Division the next day the Army commander, Lt. Gen. P. I. Batov, remained confident as 70th Army arrived in his support; the 175th was now some 20km southwest of the latter place. Dmitriev-Lgovsky had been abandoned, but the garrison began a fighting withdrawal, covering the road to Bryansk, and the rate of advance in the center slowed. The direction also changed from Sevsk–Trubchevsk and more toward Komarichi and Lokat, where German reserves were gathering. During the next five days Central Front made only marginal gains in the center and on the right. On the left much greater (and somewhat misleading) progress was made as 70th Army more fully joined the 65th against the defenses of 76th Infantry and 12th Panzer Divisions on the southern approaches to Oryol. Under Rokossovskii's urgings, the commander of 70th Army, Maj. Gen. G. F. Tarasov, pushed his forces against Trosna without success and at high cost, and it became apparent to all no further advance was possible without additional reinforcements.[36]

Oryol Offensive[edit]

These began arriving in the form of 21st Army from Stalingrad. Determined not to repeat the mistake he made in committing 70th Army piecemeal, Rokossovskii gave it several days to fully assemble around Fatezh before reinforcing Batov and Tarasov. Finally, in the last days of February the STAVKA began to grasp the gravity of the situation created by Army Groups South's counterstroke south of Kharkiv, and began shifting the flow of reserves which had been intended for Central Front. At 2130 hours on March 7 Rokossovskii's mission was changed. Instead of striking deeply at Bryansk and beyond, he was to cooperated with Western and Bryansk Fronts in encircling and defeating the German forces in the salient around Oryol:

... 2. Turn the forces of General Batov's, Tarasov's, and Chistiakov's armies from the west toward the north and northeast, with the missions to destroy the enemy's Dmitrovsk-Orlovskii group of forces and cut the railroad line between Briansk and Orel somewhere east of Karachev with the combined forces of these armies and, by doing so, Help the Briansk Front liquidate the enemy's Orel group of forces.

The 2nd Tank, 65th and 70th Armies would deploy left to right along the Usozha River with 21st Army joining as soon as possible.[37]

Rokossovskii sent out his orders for the revised plan in the afternoon of March 8, and these expected an early arrival of 21st Army. Tarasov was directed to continue its advance on the morning on March 9 "in the general direction of Volobuevo, Apal'kovo, and Naryshkino" and subsequently capture a series of lines before taking the Oryol region in conjunction with 21st Army around March 14. The 175th was on the Army's right flank of the first echelon, which also contained the 102nd and 140th Divisions, and faced the 12th Panzers. While the 65th and 2nd Tank Armies made gains on March 10, 2nd Panzer Army began to receive reserves and 70th Army stalled. Meanwhile, the changing situation was producing command confusion within STAVKA; effective March 12 Bryansk Front was disbanded, with three armies shifted to Central Front. The following day a new Reserve Front was established. On March 14 two infantry divisions of 2nd Army began a counterattack east of Hlukhiv against a thin screen on the left flank of Central Front which soon put 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps in an untenable position. Rokossovskii had few options available. An attack by 16th Army north of Oryol had utterly failed, his own progress was minimal, and Army Group South had renewed its offensive against Voronezh Front south of Kharkiv, which had fallen on March 15. As the panzers moved north, Central Front was in jeopardy. 21st Army was reassigned to Voronezh Front, which ended any possibility that Rokossovskii could successfully continue his offensive, although he continued limited operations until March 21.[38]

On March 25 Colonel Drozdov returned to his chief of staff duties and Col. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Borisov took command of the 175th. This officer had previously served as chief-of-staff and later deputy commander of the 13th Guards Division, before attending the Voroshilov Academy for roughly six months. He would be promoted to the rank of major general on September 25. Rokossovskii issued a long decree on April 4 in which he extensively critiqued the performance of 70th Army and requested that the STAVKA relieve General Tarasov of his command. He focused on fighting in the second half of March for the villages of Svetlyi Luch, Novaia Ialta, Rzhavchik, Muravchik and Hill 260.2 which led to losses of 8,849 personnel killed and wounded, as well as a good deal of equipment. He blamed this, first, on inadequate reconnaissance and poor provision of artillery support. Lack of cooperation with supporting tanks was also noted. Specific to the 175th, it was noted that Colonel Sedlovsky, the commander of the 278th Regiment at the time, had ordered all of his command cadre to enter the forward lines, in contravention of NKO Orders No. 456 and 306, in a desperate effort to get the attack moving in the final days of fighting. As a result, all of his battalion commanders and most of his company and platoon leaders, as well as their political officers and workers, became casualties. In the division overall, during the same period, 224 members of the command cadre were killed or wounded. The decree also noted that, due to a lack of planning for the rasputitsa the roads were not kept passable for supply traffic, to the point that 112 men of the 102nd Division and two of the 175th were reported to have died of starvation.[39] Tarasov was relieved of command, being replaced by Lt. Gen. I. V. Galanin.

Battle of Kursk[edit]

70th Army remained along the line it had gained in March through the rest of the spring and into July. This formed the northwestern corner of the Kursk salient, with 65th Army on its left flank and 13th Army on its right. By late April the STAVKA had decided to go over to the strategic defensive and prepare for a German offensive against the salient, which all intelligence indicated was in the works.[40] The preparation of extensive fortifications was put in hand. The reinforced 70th Army occupied a sector 62km in length. It was not expected to come under attack initially except along its boundary with 13th Army, as the German forces were considered most likely to launch a classic pincer movement against the bases of the salient. However, one variant considered possible by Rokossovskii was a main attack on 70th Army's front in the direction of Fatezh and Kursk.[41]

German plan of attack at Kursk. Note position of 70th Army.

As of July 5, when the offensive began, Galanin had eight rifle rifle divisions under his command, plus three tank regiments, ten artillery and mortar regiments, and an antitank brigade. Six of the divisions were grouped under the 19th and 28th Rifle Corps, but the 175th and 140th remained under direct Army control. They were both in the Army's second echelon, along with the 162nd and 132nd Rifle Divisions. The tank regiments were grouped behind the right flank where the German attack was most likely. Galanin had placed his headquarters in the woods north of Radogoshcha.[42]

At 0210 hours Rokossovskii ordered an artillery counterpreparation along his Front's right wing. This lasted 20 minutes with mixed results, but delaying the start of the offensive between 1 1/2 and 2 hours. The German artillery preparation began at 0430. The main attack of German 9th Army was directed at Olkhovatka, but a secondary thrust by elements of XXXXVI Panzer Corps (7th Infantry and 20th Panzer Divisions) was made at the boundary of 13th and 70th Armies at Gnilets. This struck the 132nd and 280th Rifle Divisions but made only marginal gains. However, a group of tanks and motorized infantry managed to penetrate the left flank of 13th Army and got into the rear of the 132nd. Later in the day this division began to fall back under renewed pressure from XXXXVI Corps. However, German losses were very high and the Soviet line remained intact.[43]

Fighting along Central Front's line continued through July 6-7, until Rokossovskii declared to his army commanders that "We have won the defensive battle, and our new mission is to finish off the defeated enemy by the launching of a decisive offensive." The next day, in an effort to revive the offensive, another large German grouping launched heavy attacks against the boundary of 13th and 70th Armies, aiming to drive apart the 175th and 140th Divisions near Samodurovka. More than 200 tanks and self-propelled guns were committed to the attack. Elements of the 140th repelled 13 attacks over the course of the day; having suffered heavy losses the following attack began to force the division back to the south. However, the 175th and neighboring 70th Rifle Division held firm. They then committed their reserves in the direction of Samodurovka, closed off the breach created by the retreat of the 140th, and cut off the tanks and infantry that had infiltrated. These tanks attempted several times to regain contact with their main forces, but gradually fell victim to antitank units. This ended the German offensive along this sector and the former attackers began to dig in.[44]

Operation Kutuzov[edit]

The Western and Bryansk Fronts went over to the offensive against the Oryol salient on July 12. On the same day Rokossovskii ordered his Front to be ready to go over to the attack on July 15. Apart from the 13th, his armies had emerged relatively unscathed from the defensive battle. They were first to destroy the forces of 9th Army that had penetrated the Front's positions and regain the original line by the end of July 17. Following this, they were to continue to advance in the general direction of Oryol. In the first phase the 70th was to specifically cooperate with 13th and 48th Armies, as well as 16th Air Army. The 175th was one of three divisions initially assigned to hold a defensive line while the remainder of the Army moved forward.[45]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 86
  2. ^ According to Commanders of Corps and Divisions (see Bibliography) Glovatskii left the division on July 15, 1941 and no other commanders of the 1st Formation are listed. According to https://osetia.kvaisa.ru/1-rubriki/01-budem-pomnit-vsegda/zabytyj-korpus/ he remained in command until he became missing in action in mid-September.
  3. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 12
  4. ^ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 86
  5. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 24
  6. ^ David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 77-80
  7. ^ Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 81, 84-85
  8. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 33, 43
  9. ^ Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 228-29
  10. ^ Glantz states that it was formed at Tyumen in the Ural Military District; David M. Glantz, Kharkov 1942, Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, UK, 2010, p. 114
  11. ^ Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 99
  12. ^ Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 71
  13. ^ Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 592
  14. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 73, 85
  15. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 112-14
  16. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 163-65, 173
  17. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 176-81
  18. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 184-88
  19. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 203-07, 211, 214
  20. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 219-20, 246-48
  21. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 248, 250-52, 254, 261-63
  22. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 269-73
  23. ^ Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 273-74, 281, 297-98
  24. ^ Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 90-91, 96-97
  25. ^ Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 111, 127-30, 134, 180-81
  26. ^ Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p. 121
  27. ^ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 71
  28. ^ Glantz, Colossus Reborn, p. 592
  29. ^ http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/35698-locale-nil-97-27-apr#mode/inspect/page/1/zoom/1
  30. ^ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 71
  31. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011; pp. 257-58
  32. ^ Glantz, "Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky", in Stalin's Generals, (Harold Shukman, ed.), Phoenix Press, 2001, p. 187
  33. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 260-61
  34. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 261-62, 264, 287
  35. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 303, 305-07
  36. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 314-15, 317-18
  37. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 320-21, 325
  38. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 338-40, 342-43, 356-57, 361-62, 364-65
  39. ^ Glantz; After Stalingrad; pp. 383-85
  40. ^ Valeriy Zamulin, The Battle of Kursk - Controversial and Neglected Aspects, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, p. 179
  41. ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016; Kindle ed., Book One, Part One, ch. 1
  42. ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book One, Part One, ch. 1
  43. ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book One, Part Two, ch. 2
  44. ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book One, Part Two, ch. 2
  45. ^ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book One, Part Two, ch. 2

Bibliography[edit]

  • 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.
  • Grylev, A. N. (1970). Перечень № 5. Стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизии, входивших в состав Действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 гг [List (Perechen) No. 5: Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized divisions, part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 85–86
  • 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. 189–90

External links[edit]

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