The 290th Rifle Division () was an infantry division 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

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 ...

. Formed in the summer of 1941, the 290th fought in the Battle of Smolensk,

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

, the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the East Pomeranian Offensive during the rest of the war before its postwar disbandment in 1946.

History

The 290th began forming on 12 July 1941 at

Kalyazin Kalyazin (russian: Каля́зин) is a town and the administrative center of Kalyazinsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, northeast of Tver, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...

from reservists. Its basic order of battle included the 878th, 882nd, and the 885th Rifle Regiments, as well as the 827th Artillery Regiment. After only five weeks, the division was assigned to the 50th Army. In late September, the division was encircled in the Bryansk pocket by

Operation Typhoon The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive ...

, the German advance on Moscow. The division's remnants broke out from the pocket by 23 October. On 27 November the 827th Artillery Regiment was removed from the division and replaced by the 1420th Artillery Regiment on 22 January 1942. In May, the 290th transferred to the Western Front's 10th Army. During the last four months of 1943, the division was part of the 33rd Army,

49th Army "Thank God for Mississippi" is an adage used in the United States, particularly in the South, that is generally used when discussing rankings of U.S. states. Since the U.S. state of Mississippi commonly ranks at or near the bottom of such rankings ...

, and the 68th Army, as it advanced from

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

to the

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

line on 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 ...

. At the end of the year, the 290th transferred back to the 10th Army, but in spring 1944 it was moved to the 49th Army. The division fought in

and was awarded the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established ...

, 2nd class, for recapturing Grodno. By August it began to outrun its supply lines, and received 1200 rear area conscripts and militia from Grodno, and 380 newly drafted civilians from areas it advanced through as replacements. In September, the 290th was transferred to the 3rd Army of the

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front ( Russian: Второй Белорусский фронт, alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front) was a military formation, of Army group size, of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Soviet army g ...

, with which it fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the East Pomeranian Offensive in early 1945. At the very end of the war, the 3rd Army was transferred to the

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 ...

, and became part of the front reserve during the Battle of Berlin. By the end of the war, the division's honorifics were "Mogilev, Order of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov." The division was relocated to

Chavusy Chaussy, Chavusy or Chausy ( be, Чавусы; pl, Czausy; russian: Чаусы; Łacinka: Čavusy) is a town in the eastern Belarusian Region of Mogilev. Chavusy serves as an administrative center of Chavusy Raion. As of 2009, its population ...

in the

Minsk Military District Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

with the

35th Rifle Corps Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

in the summer of 1945, and disbanded there in June 1946 along with the corps.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner