The 276th Rifle Division () was an infantry division 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 ...

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 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 opposin ...

, formed twice. First formed in the summer of 1941, the 276th was destroyed in Crimea during the

Battle of the Kerch Peninsula The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, which commenced with the Soviet Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation (russian: Керченско-Феодосийская десантная операция, ''Kerchensko-Feodosiyskaya desantnaya operatsiya'') ...

in the spring of 1942. Reformed during the summer in the Caucasus as a Georgian national division, the 276th served through the entire war before being disbanded in the summer of 1945.

History

First Formation

The 276th began forming on 10 July 1941 near Orel in the

Orel Military District The Orel Military District ( rus, Орловский военный округ (ОрВО), r=Orlovskiy voyennyy okrug (OrVO), p=) was a military district of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. Established in 1918 ...

. Its basic order of battle included the 871st, 873rd, and the 876th Rifle Regiments, as well as the 852nd Artillery Regiment. Still incomplete, the division was rushed south to Crimea, where it finished forming near

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

with the 51st Army. The division fought in the defense of Crimea until November, when it was evacuated to the Caucasus. In February 1942 the division returned to Crimea, fighting in the

as part of the 44th Army. When

Operation Bustard Hunt The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, which commenced with the Soviet Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation (russian: Керченско-Феодосийская десантная операция, ''Kerchensko-Feodosiyskaya desantnaya operatsiya'') ...

, the final German offensive, began on 8 May, the division was virtually destroyed. Its division commander and staff escaped by being evacuated to the Caucasus.

Second Formation

The 276th was reformed at

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

in the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

as a Georgian National Division in August. In November, it was sent into combat as part of the 9th Army of the

Transcaucasian Front Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a front of the Soviet Red Army—a military formation comparable to an army group, not a geographic military front—during the Second World War. Th ...

northern group along the

Terek River The Terek (; , Tiyrk; , Tərč; , ; , ; , ''Terk''; , ; , ) is a major river in the Northern Caucasus. It originates in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of Georgia (country), Georgia and flows through North Caucasus region of Russia into the Casp ...

. After the German retreat from the Caucasus, the 276th remained with the 9th Army on the

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

front. In October 1943, the division was transferred to 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 Sta ...

, and at the end of 1943 was assigned to the 18th Army on the front. The 276th was soon transferred to the 1st Guards Army. By the beginning of 1944 the division had removed all of the light 50 mm mortars of its rifle units, which may have been a mistake because the army spent most of 1944 in the Carpathian mountains, and the mortars were portable over rough terrain. By August, the 852nd Artillery Regiment had at least one battery entirely equipped with captured German 105 mm howitzers in place of the normal 122 mm howitzers. During the last weeks of the war, in April 1945, the division transferred to the 38th Army, advancing through western Czechoslovakia. The division was disbanded "in place" during the summer of 1945 with 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 ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945

276 __NOTOC__ Year 276 ( CCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tacitus and Aemilianus (or, less frequently, year 1029 ...

Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner