The 58th Rifle Division was 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, afte ...

formed during the interwar period. Its second formation 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 ...

gained the Oder honorific.

History

The 58th Rifle Division, as it was first known, was formed in 1932 as a result of Mikhail Tukhachevsky's army reforms which established a number of new divisions. Its first recorded commander and commissar was Vasily Polyakov, who took the position in April 1932. Polyakov transferred to command the

96th Rifle Division The 96th Rifle Division, also designated the 96th Mountain Division, was a division of the Red Army, active from 1923. First formation In December 1923, in the Ukrainian Military District in Vinnytsia the 96th Podolsky Territorial Rifle Divis ...

in December 1933, and was replaced by assistant division commander

Grigory Kaptsevich Grigory, Grigori and Grigoriy are Russian masculine given names. It may refer to watcher angels or more specifically to the egrḗgoroi or Watcher angels. Grigory * Grigory Baklanov (1923–2009), Russian novelist * Grigory Barenblatt (192720 ...

(who received the rank of

kombrig (russian: комбриг) is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (russian: командир бригады, komandir brigady; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the ...

in 1935 when the Red Army introduced personal ranks). During the 1935 Kiev Military District maneuvers, the division took on the role of an airborne division as a demonstration as the Red Army did not yet include airborne divisions. Kaptsevich was arrested during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...

on 13 August 1937 and ultimately executed. The division was headquartered at

Cherkasy Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the capital of Cherkasy Oblast ( province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city has a population of C ...

as part of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exis ...

. It participated in 1940 in the

Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina The Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina took place from June 28 to July 3, 1940, as a result of an ultimatum by the Soviet Union to Romania on June 26, 1940, that threatened the use of force. Bessarabia had been part of the Kin ...

. After that, it remained at peacetime strength until January 1941 when it was re-formed as the 58th Mountain Rifle Division. The 58th Mountain Rifle Division was surrounded and destroyed along with other parts of the 6th and 12th armies. Its commander, Major General Nikolay Proshkin, was captured and died in January 1942 in a prisoner of war camp, Commissar M. Pozhidaev disappeared without a trace. The division was disbanded on September 19, 1941.

Organization on Formation

The division was first formed in 1932 as the 58th Rifle Division. In

the division had the following structure: * 170th Rifle Regiment * 279th Rifle Regiment * 335th Rifle Regiment * 244th Artillery Regiment *138th Howitzer Regiment

Organization on Disbandment

Organization of the division before it was destroyed during the

Uman pocket The Battle of Uman (15 July – 8 August 1941) was the World War II German offensive in Uman, Ukraine against the 6th and 12th Soviet Armies. In a three-week period, the Wehrmacht encircled and annihilated the two Soviet armies. The battle occ ...

: * Headquarters ** 170th Rifle Regiment ** 279th Rifle Regiment ** 335th Rifle Regiment ** 368th Rifle Regiment ** 244th Artillery Regiment ** 258th Howitzer Regiment ** 138th Anti-Tank Battalion ** 125th Anti-Aircraft Battalion ** 81st Reconnaissance Battalion ** 126th Engineer Battalion ** 100th Signal Battalion ** 114th Medical Battalion ** 132nd Supply Battalion ** 105th Chemical Defense Company * ''Also Attached'' **59th Field Bakery **258th Field Post Station **353rd Field Ticket Officer of the State Bank ***

Commanders

The division had a number of divisional commanders, including: *

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Nikolay Ignatevich Proshkin *

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Nikolay Nikolayevich Shkodunovich *

Vasiliy Akimovich Samsonov

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II