The 64th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's
Red Army which existed between 1942 and 1945.
History
The new 64th Rifle Division was formed in early 1942 in
Serpukhov
Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow— T ...
from the 7th Sapper Brigade, part of the
Moscow Military District. In June 1942 the division joined the 8th Reserve Army. The division included the following elements:
* 433rd Rifle Regiment
* 440th Rifle Regiment
* 451st Rifle Regiment
* 1029th Artillery Regiment
* 180th Reconnaissance Company
* 406th Separate Destroyer Anti-Tank Battalion
* 167th Sapper Battalion
* 613th Separate Signals Battalion
* 528th Auto Transport Company
* 109th Medical Battalion
* 124th Separate Chemical Defense Company
* 372nd Field Bakery
On 16 August, the division was moved to the front and took up defensive positions in the area of the settlement of Spartak, on the northern outskirts of
Pichuga with the task of preventing the enemy from moving north along the right bank of the
Volga River. In sustained and bloody battles, the division suffered heavy losses, but stopped the Axis advance. The 8th Reserve Army became the
66th Army
The 66th Army was a field army of the Red Army. It was established in August 1942 from the 8th Reserve Army. The 66th Army fought to break through to the Volga to the north of Stalingrad during September and October 1942. During Operation Uranus, ...
on 27 August 1942 after being sent to the
Southwestern Front (the
Don Front from 28 September). During September and October the division fought northwest of Stalingrad. From late November, the division participated in the encirclement and defeat of Axis troops at Stalingrad,
Operation Uranus. By the end of the month, it had established itself on the bend in the railway, northeast of the village of
Orlovka, where it fought until January 1943, after which it was withdrawn to the army reserve. From 20 January, the division was sent back into action during
Operation Koltso, in which it ended the battle in the area of the
Stalingrad Tractor Factory
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. In total, during the Battle of Stalingrad, the division was credited with destroying 68 tanks, four armored vehicles, 23 other vehicles, 46 guns and mortars, 125 heavy machine guns, and killing and wounding over 2,500 German soldiers and officers, as well as downing four German aircraft with rifle fire.
From 27 January to 3 February 1943, the division was transferred to the area around
Sukhinichi in the Smolensk region, where it was included in the
16th Army and fought on the right bank of the Zhizdra River. From the end of April, she was part of the
50th Army and fought defensive battles in the area of the settlement of Shchigry in the
Zhizdrinsky District of the
Kaluga Oblast. Then the division marched to the area of the city of
Serpeysk, where it became part of the 38th Rifle Corps of the
10th Army and until November fought offensive battles in the
Roslavl and
Mogilev directions.
At the end of April 1944, it became part of the
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 ...
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 ...
and fought defensive battles near the settlements of Ustye and Lapeni in the
Kastsyukovichy District
Kastsyukovichy' District ( be, Касцюковіцкі раён, russian: Костюковичский район, Kostyukovichsky raion) is a raion (district) in Mogilev Region, Belarus, the administrative center is the town of Kastsyukovichy. A ...
of the
Mogilev Oblast
Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region (''oblast'' ...
. At the end of June, during
Operation Bagration, as part of the 38th Rifle Corps, the division crossed the Basya, Resta and Rudya rivers, and participated in the liberation of the city of
Mogilev on 28 June. For this it received the Mogilev honorific. In July, it crossed the
Neman River near the town of Belitsa, and in August it took part in the capture of the
Osowiec Fortress, for which she was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree on 1 September 1944. From September 1944 to January 1945, the division was in the reserve and then joined the
33rd 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 ...
and participated in the
Vistula-Oder offensive. During the
Berlin Offensive, the division was part of the
33rd Army of the front, and from 15 April 1945 as part of the
3rd Shock Army
The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...
fought in Berlin itself during the last weeks of the war. For its actions in the latter, the division was awarded the
Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, on 11 June 1945.
The division was disbanded in mid-1945 in accordance with the order that created the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
Commanders
* Colonel Aleksandr Ignatov (5 March 1942–1 June 1943)
* Colonel Ivan Yaremenko (13 June 1943–3 June 1944)
* Major General Timofey Shkrylyov (from 4 June 1944)
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945
064
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Military units and formations established in 1942