The 17th Rifle Division was an

infantry division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

of the Soviet Union's

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 ...

during World War II.

First Formation

The division was first formed on 23 October 1918 from the 1st Vitebsk Rifle Division and 2nd Smolensk Rifle Division by the order of the Military council of the Smolensk Defensive Region. The division participated in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belorussia. After the civil war the division participated in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

. The division was stationed along the Brezina River in 1920. The division was garrisoned at

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

(renamed Gorky in 1932) from 1920 to 1939. In 1939 the division was broken up and used to form three divisions, the new 17th, 136th and the 137th Rifle Divisions. The new 17th Rifle Division, formed from the 49th Rifle Regiment, continued the traditions of the original 17th.

Composition

* 49th Rifle Regiment * 50th Rifle Regiment * 51st Rifle Regiment * 17th Artillery Regiment The division was maintained on a reduced status until December 1939 when the division was brought to full strength for the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

with Finland. The division returned to Gorky in April 1940. In June 1940 the division was moved to the Lithuanian border and assigned to the Belorussian Military District. Assigned to

21st Rifle Corps The 21st Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the Western Front. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. The headquarters formed in the Moscow Military District in September 1939. Assigned to the WSMD with the 17th, ...

, 10th Army when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 and located in the Vitebsk and Polotsk area. By the end of June the division was surrounded in the area east of Minsk. Though the division was destroyed in late June 1941 it was not officially disbanded until 19 September 1941.

Composition

* 55th Rifle Regiment * 271st Rifle Regiment * 278th Rifle Regiment * 20th Artillery Regiment * 35th Howitzer Regiment (never formed) * 390th Howitzer Regiment (added April 1940)

Second Formation

Reformed from the 17th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division on 26 October 1941. Assigned to the 33rd Army,

Reserve Front The Reserve Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. First Formation The Reserve Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first version was created on July 30, 1941 in a reorganiza ...

. In November 1941 it was assigned to the 43rd Army, Western Front where it participated in the Moscow Counteroffensive. The division remained in the Western Front until the summer of 1943. In late July 1943 the division participated in the

Orel Strategic Counter-offensive Operation 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 ...

and in late August was transferred to 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 ...

. Reassigned to the 53rd Rifle Corps, 48th Army,

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

in February 1944. The division stayed with this Corps and Army until the end of the war. In June 1944 the division took part in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

and the liberation of

Bobruisk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 2 ...

, Belorussia. From February to April 1945 the division participated in the East Prussian Offensive ending the war there as part of the occupation forces assigned to the

Northern Group of Forces The Northern Group of Forces (; ) was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in People's Republic of Poland, Poland from the end of World War II, Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fal ...

. After a brief period on occupation duty the division was returned to the Soviet Union 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 ...

Yoshkar-Ola Yoshkar-Ola ( Mari and russian: Йошкар-Ола) is the capital city of the Mari El Republic, Russia. Yoshkar-Ola means “red city” in Mari and was formerly known as Tsaryovokokshaysk () before 1919, as Krasnokokshaysk () between 1919 an ...

where it was reorganized as the 1st Rifle Brigade as part of the 53rd Rifle Corps. It was disbanded in March 1947.Feskov et al 2013, p. 148

Composition

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 017 017 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War ru:17-я стрелковая дивизия (1-го формирования)

First Formation

Composition

Composition

Second Formation

Composition

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography