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
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 ...
,
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
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 ...
, 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
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{{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