The 110th Rifle Division was a

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

during the course of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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 in the

Urals Military District The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. Its primary order of battle included: * 394th, 411th, 425th Rifle Regiments * 355th Light Artillery Regiment * 457th Antiaircraft Battalion Mobilized before the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, by June 1941 the division formed part of the

61st Rifle Corps The 61st Rifle Corps ( Russian: 61-й стрелковый корпус '' '') was a Red Army infantry corps during World War II, formed twice. The 61st Rifle Corps was formed firmed in Tula during September 1939. After Operation Barbarossa, it wa ...

in the 20th Army, in the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the ''Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stav ...

('' Stavka'' Reserve) around

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, the 20th

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

occupying a defensive position around Kaluga. The division was destroyed with its corps during the

Siege of Mogilev The siege of Mogilev was a three-week encirclement of Mogilev undertaken by German troops, part of the Battle of Smolensk. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German troops broke through Soviet l ...

in July 1941. The division was officially disbanded on 19 September 1941.

Second formation

On 4 September 1941, the 4th

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. Its composition changed to regular army subunits to include: * 1287th, 1289th, 1291st Rifle Regiments * 971st Artillery Regiment * 695th Antiaircraft Battalion * 470th Reconnaissance Company * 859th Signal Battalion * 493rd Medical/Sanitation Battalion * 332nd Chemical Defence Company * 329th 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 Operation Mars (Russian: Операция «Марс»), also known as the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation (Russian: Вторая Ржевско-Сычёвская наступательная операция), was the codename fo ...

at the end of 1942 as part of the Red Army's Kalinin Front, and later in 1943 the Rzhev-Vyazma offensives, and the Orel offensive operation (

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German '' He ...

), after the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...

. From the Rzhev battles to October 1944, the division was commanded by Major General Georgy Borisovich Peters, its former deputy commander. On 10 April 1943, the 110th Rifle Division was renamed the

84th Guards Rifle Division The 84th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 110th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Throughout its ...

Third formation

The third formation of the division was on 5 May 1943, with the same unit numbers as the second formation. On 6 April 1945, commanded by Colonel Sergey Mikhailovich Tarasov, it participated in the encirclement of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

, located at the northern sector. In that assault, the division was accompanied by its two sister divisions of 69th Rifle Corps, 50th Army: the

153rd Rifle Division The 153rd Rifle Division was a Soviet infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed in the Ural Military District. On 22 June 1941 when the German Operation Barbarossa began, it was serving under command of Nikolai Gagen wi ...

, on its right flank, and the

324th Rifle Division The 324th Rifle Division was a standard Soviet Union, Soviet infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed as part of the massive mobilization of August 1941, and first saw action in early December in the Battle of Moscow, co ...

on its left flank. The division moved to the

Kharkov Military District The Kharkov Military District () was a military district of the Russian Empire, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and the Soviet Union. Throughout its history, the district headquarters was located in the city of Kharkov in northeast ...

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...

postwar and was disbanded with the corps on or around 6 May 1946.Feskov et al 2013, p. 477

References

Sources

* * Glantz, David M., ''Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army of the eve of World War.'' University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1998.
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. * pp. 152-53 {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017