The 33rd Rifle Division was a rifle 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 ...

and

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

, formed twice. The division was formed in 1922 at

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

and moved to Belarus in the next year. It fought in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

in September 1939 and in the Occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. After

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 division fought in the Baltic Operation and Leningrad Strategic Defensive. In January 1942, it fought in the

Toropets–Kholm Offensive The Toropets–Kholm offensive was a military operation conducted south of Lake Ilmen by the Red Army during World War II, from 9 January–6 February 1942. The operation contributed to the formation of the Kholm Pocket and the encirclement of ...

. The division participated in the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive, the Pskov-Ostrov Offensive, the Tartu Offensive and the Riga Offensive. In 1945, the division fought in the East Pomeranian Offensive and the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. The division remained in Germany postwar with the Soviet occupation forces and disbanded in 1947. In 1955, it was reformed from the 215th Rifle Division in the Far East and inherited that division's honorifics, but was disbanded in 1956.

History

First formation

The 33rd Rifle Division was formed on 29 May 1922 in the area of

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

, and

Troitsk Troitsk (russian: Троицк) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities *Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast; *Troitsk, Moscow, a town in Troitsk Settlement of Troitsky Adm ...

from units of the 97th Separate Rifle Brigade of the Trans-Volga Military District; it was assigned to 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 ...

. On 18 October of that year it received the honorific Samara, and in October 1923 relocated to Belorussia, becoming part of the Western Front (which became the

Western Military District The Western Military District (russian: Западный военный округ, Zapadnyy voyennyy okrug) is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, ...

in April 1924). In 1925 it became a territorial division. The division was renamed the 33rd Belorussian Rifle Division on 16 January 1934, replacing the Samara honorific. It fought in the

, advancing into territory annexed as western Belorussia. The division transferred to the Baltic Special Military District in 1940.

Vasily Margelov Vasily Filippovich Margelov ( Russian: Василий Филиппович Маргелов; be, Васі́ль Пілі́павіч Марге́лаў; – 4 March 1990) was a Red Army General who was the commander of the Soviet Airborne Forces ...

served with the division's 99th Rifle Regiment as a machine gun platoon commander during 1931 and 1932. With 16th Rifle Corps of 11th Army on June 22, 1941. Fought vicinity Stalingrad and Berlin. During the Battle of Berlin, it helped capture the Reichstag. With 3rd Shock Army of 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 ...

May 1945. During November and December 1946, the division was disbanded in Germany, still with the 3rd Shock Army.

Second formation

The division was reformed briefly in the Far East by redesignation of

215th Rifle Division The 215th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued to serve in the Soviet Army during the early years of the Cold War. It was the successor to a motorized division of that same number that was d ...

in 1955. It inherited the 215th's honorifics "Smolensk Red Banner Order of Suvorov". There it served with 5th Red Banner Army with headquarters located at Krasny Kut. The division was disbanded on 25 July 1956.V.I. Feskov et al 2013, Table 4.1.5, pp. 151-152.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Soviet Union divisions 1945{{endash57 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union 033 Military units and formations established in 1922 Military units and formations disestablished in 1956 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Soviet invasion of Poland ru:33-я стрелковая дивизия