The 421st Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry 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 served briefly after the German invasion,

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 ...

, in that role. The division was formed from assets of the

Odessa Military District The Odesa Military District (russian: Одесский военный округ, ОВО; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 1998 most of its territory was transformed into the Southern Operat ...

after its namesake city came under siege by a mainly-Romanian force, and it immediately became part of the

Separate Coastal Army The Separate Coastal Army (russian: Приморская армия), also translated to English as Independent Coastal Army, was an army-level unit in the Red Army that fought in World War II. It was established on July 18, 1941, by the order o ...

. It was one of several improvised Soviet formations that saw service in this fighting, and its order of battle changed considerably over the course of its short existence. Prior to the fall of Odessa on October 16 what remained of the division was evacuated to the Crimea. On November 13 it was disbanded to provide replacement troops and equipment for other units defending the fortress of Sevastopol. The 421st was never reformed.

Formation

The 421st began forming on September 1, 1941 in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

in the Odessa Military District. Its order of battle, based on the last prewar ''shtat'' (

table of organization and equipment A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of Military unit, units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as ...

) of April 5, 1941 for rifle divisions, was as follows: * 1327th Rifle Regiment (from October 25) * 1330th Rifle Regiment (until October 26; re-designated as 1331st) * 3rd Naval Rifle Regiment (September 26 – October 15) * 54th Rifle Regiment (until September 26) * 983rd Artillery Regiment * 134th Howitzer Artillery Regiment * 705th Antiaircraft Battalion * 480th Reconnaissance Company * 688th Sapper Battalion (later 247th) * 860th Signal Battalion (later 150th) * 503rd Medical/Sanitation Battalion * 484th Chemical Protection (Anti-gas) Company * 513th Motor Transport Company * 318th Field Bakery * 1474th Field Postal Station * 865th Field Office of the State Bank It was formed on the basis of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Odessa Military District, including militia, border guards and reservists. From September 3 to September 10 it was designated as the Odessa Rifle Division, but then reverted to the 421st. Col. Grigorii Matveevich Kochenov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming and remained in that position until it was disbanded. It immediately came under command of the Separate Coastal Army.

Service

The division was one of the mainstays of the Soviet defense of Odessa from the time it formed. In the

Combat Composition of the Soviet Army ''Boevoi sostav Sovetskoi armii'' ("Combat composition of the Soviet army") is an official Second World War Soviet Army order of battle published in five parts from 1963 through 1990 by the Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff and Voenizdat. ...

for October 1 a "3rd Black Sea Regiment of Naval Infantry" is listed in the Coastal Army along with the 421st; it may be 3rd Naval Rifle Regiment listed above. The division was evacuated to the Crimea prior to the fall of Odessa on October 16, and by November 7 it was at

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

on the Crimean coast, still in Separate Coastal Army. Six days later it was officially disbanded to reinforce other units defending

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, although the Combat Composition for December 1 lists a "1130th Rifle Regiment (421st Rifle Division)" in the Coastal Army. One author identifies the 1330th Rifle Regiment of 421st Infantry (''sic'') Division reaching Yalta on November 7 and continuing to serve in Sector 1 of the Sevastopol defenses at least until January, 1942.Clayton Donnell, ''The Defence of Sevastopol 1941-1942'', Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2016, pp. 67, 80, 95, 99, 105

References

Citations

Bibliography

* p. 164 * p. 296 {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 421 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union 1941 disestablishments in the Soviet Union