The 167th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the

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, after ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, formed twice.

History

First Formation

The division was formed at Balashov in the

Volga Military District The Volga Military District (PriVO) was a military district of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation that existed from 1918 to 1989 and 1992 to 2001. The district headquarters was located at Kazan, Saratov and Kuibyshev (Samara) at different ...

in July 1940, under the command of ''Kombrig''

Vasily Rakovsky Vasily Stepanovich Rakovsky (; 1 January 1898 – 7 January 1978) was a Soviet Army major general. Drafted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Rakovsky briefly served as a non-commissioned officer without seeing action in 1917 befo ...

. Just 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 ...

, the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, the division became part of the

63rd Rifle Corps The 63rd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice. First formation The corps headquarters was first formed during September 1939 in the Volga Military District. It was part of the 21st Army in June 1941, with th ...

. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the division and its corps were sent to the front, joining the 21st Army of the Reserve of the High Command (Stavka reserve). From 28 June, the 167th fought in defense of positions between

Rogachev Rahachow or Rahačoŭ ( be, Рагачо́ў, ; russian: Рогачёв, Rogachyov, also transliterated Rogachev; pl, Rohaczów; yi, ראגאטשאוו, ''Rogatshov'', ) is a town in the Gomel Region of Belarus. It is center of Rahachow District ...

and

Zhlobin Zhlobin ( be, Жло́бін; russian: Жло́бин, pl, Żłobin, lt, Žlobinas) is a city in the Zhlobin District of Gomel Region, Belarus, located on the Dnieper river. As of 2017, the population was 76,078. The city is notable for being t ...

. During the Battle of Smolensk the division repulsed German attempts to cross the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

. Launching a counterattack, it advanced to the line of the

Drut River The Drut, Druts or Druć (, ; , ) is a river in Belarus, a right tributary of Dnieper. It originates in the Orsha Upland in the Belarusian Ridge and flows through Vitebsk, Mogilev and Homiel provinces of Belarus. It is long, and has a drainage ...

and remained there until 12 August, when it was withdrawn to the army reserve. Relocated to the area of Dovsk, the division defended the latter as part of the

67th Rifle Corps The 67th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice. First formation The corps was formed in March 1940 in the Kharkov Military District with the 102nd Rifle Division, 132nd, and 151st Rifle Divisions, 194th Se ...

, fighting in encirclement from 13 August. Due to its loss of contact with the 67th Rifle Corps, the 167th returned to the control of the 63rd Rifle Corps from 14 August. In the encirclement, Rakovsky decided to destroy heavy weapons and ordered the division to escape in groups. He led a group of 25 others out of the encirclement with their weapons in the sector of the 155th Rifle Division of the

Bryansk Front The Bryansk Front (russian: Брянский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. First Formation (August - November 1941) General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first fo ...

on 18 September; about 2,500 men of the division escaped the encirclement. The units that escaped encirclement were disbanded and their men used to reinforce other units.

Second Formation

On 16 December 1941, the 438th Rifle Division was formed in the Ural Military District. On 23 January 1942, it became the 167th Rifle Division (Second Formation). The division was recreated at Ssucho Lug in February 1942 and fought near Bryansk and at Kursk. The division fought in the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four ...

. Division personnel Major Fyodor Bruy, Junior lieutenant Alexander Bondarev, Sergeant major

Arkady Chepelev Arkady Yegorovich Chepelev (Russian: Аркадий Егорович Чепелев; 24 January 1915 – 31 July 1985) was a Red Army Starshina or sergeant major and Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the title for ferrying weapons and amm ...

, Senior sergeant

Alexey Gabrusev Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...

, Sergeant

Andrian Zhuravlev Andrian may refer to: *Andrian, South Tyrol, an Italian commune * Andrian (name) * -andrian, a botanical suffix * SS ''Andrian'', a British cargo ship *'' The Bacchanal of the Andrians'', an oil painting by Titian See also *Adrian Adrian is a fo ...

and Private Dmitry Yemelyanov, among others, were awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

for their actions during the battle.warheroes.ru The division fought in the Carpathians and in Hungary. The division was with the 1st Guards Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front in May 1945. The division ended the war with the honorifics "Sumy-Kiev Twice Red Banner". Postwar, the division moved to Chortkov with the 107th Rifle Corps, part of the 38th Army in the

Carpathian Military District The Red Banner Carpathian Military District (, ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Cold War and subsequently of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the early Post-Soviet period. It was established on 3 May 1946 on the ...

. The division and its corps were disbanded in May 1946.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*Poirer and Connor, Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War.
Iremember.ru Interview with a veteran of the division
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union