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170th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

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170th Rifle Division (September 15, 1939 – October 4, 1941)
170th Rifle Division (January 31, 1942 – July 1945)
Active1939–1945
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsBattle of Smolensk (1941)
Operation Typhoon
Battle of Demyansk Pocket
Battle of Kursk
Lower Dnieper offensive
Operation Bagration
Lublin-Brest offensive
Vistula-Oder offensive
East Prussian offensive
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner (2nd Formation)
Order of Suvorov 2nd Class Order of Suvorov (2nd Formation)
Battle honoursRechytsa (2nd Formation)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Maj. Gen. Tikhon Konstantinovich Silkin
Col. Nikolai Matveevich Laskin
Col. Ivan Vladimirovich Panchuk
Col. Stepan Ignatevich Ushakov
Col. Abram Mikhailovich Cheryak
Col. Semyon Grigorovich Tsiplenkov

The 170th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the Ural Military District in September 1939, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that same month. It was still in this District at the time of the German invasion as part of 22nd Army and began moving west by rail, joining Western Front when it arrived at the fighting front well to the north of Polotsk. During early July 1941 it was encircled along with its 51st Rifle Corps near the town of Nevel and struggled to break out at the cost of considerable losses in personnel and equipment. After the first battles around Velikiye Luki it was partly rebuilt with the escaped elements the other divisions of its former Corps, but during Operation Typhoon it was so severely depleted that it had to be disbanded.

A new 170th was formed between December 1941 and January 1942. From this point the division had a distinguished but relatively uncomplicated combat path, fighting in the central part of the Soviet-German front. It was given credit for the liberation of Rechytsa in late 1943, and ended the war in the conquest of East Prussia.

1st Formation[edit]

The division was first organized at Sterlitamak in the Ural Military District in September 1939, based on a cadre from the 98th Rifle Division, as part of the major pre-World War II mobilization of the Red Army. The division was mostly composed of Bashkir soldiers and was commanded by Kombrig Tikhon Konstantinovich Silkin; this officer would have his rank modernized to major general on June 4, 1940. Divisional headquarters and most units were based at Sterlitamak. The 422nd Rifle and 512th Howitzer Regiments were at Belebey, and the 717th Rifle Regiment was at Davlekanovo. The 294th Light Artillery Regiment was based at Miass.[1]

On June 22, 1941, its order of battle was as follows:

  • 391st Rifle Regiment
  • 422nd Rifle Regiment
  • 717th Rifle Regiment
  • 294th Light Artillery Regiment
  • 512th Howitzer Regiment
  • 210th Antitank Battalion[2]
  • 286th Antiaircraft Battalion
  • 134th Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 182nd Sapper Battalion
  • 210th Signal Battalion
  • 154th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 140th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 49th Motor Transport Battalion
  • 132nd Field Bakery
  • 481st Field Postal Station
  • 366th Field Office of the State Bank

Battle of Smolensk[edit]

As the German invasion began on June 22, 1941, the 170th was moving west from the Urals as part of 22nd Army's 62nd Rifle Corps,[3] to take up positions in the vicinity of Polotsk and Vitebsk.[4][5] This Army was under the command of Lt. Gen. F. A. Yershakov. By the beginning of July the division had been reassigned to 51st Rifle Corps, still in 22nd Army, joining the 98th and 112th Rifle Divisions. By July 10 the Army had been assigned to Western Front,[6] where it took up positions on the Front's far right (north) flank.

Late on July 11 it was reported that the Front's forces:

fought with attacking enemy units in the Sebezh, Osveia, Borkovichi, Gorodok, Vitebsk, Barsuki Station, and Borkolobovo region, while directing its main efforts at liquidating the enemy's advancing Vitebsk grouping.

The 170th, on the north flank of 22nd Army and therefore the extreme right flank of the Front, was said to have attacked with its right wing at 1000 hours, while continuing to fight along its previous positions with its left wing. The Army was facing the German VIII Army Corps and XXXIX Motorized Corps. At 0300 hours on July 12, Lt. Gen. G. K. Malandin, the Front's chief of staff, sent instructions to Yershakov and to 19th Army to his south to prepare for a counterstroke on Vitebsk, to start at 0800. These plans were completely preempted when the LVII Motorized Corps, with the cooperation of 9th Army's L and XXIII Army Corps, drove 22nd Army out of its defenses along the Western Dvina River northwest of Polotsk, cut it into two parts, and threatened both with encirclement. The German armored units bypassed Polotsk and pushed north toward Nevel. Western Front's commander, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, ordered Yershakov to withdraw to new defenses.[7]

First Battle of Velikiye Luki[edit]

Timoshenko issued new orders on July 14 urging that the German penetrations be cut off and eliminated. Yershakov was to withdraw his 98th and 112th Divisions to "smooth out the front". Over the next two days he became more realistic, and directed his deputy, Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, to establish a new defense line from Nevel south to just north of Smolensk.[8] On July 15, General Silkin was removed from his command and placed at the disposal of 22nd Army, and on July 21, after the recapture of Velikiye Luki, he was made commander of its garrison. His subsequent fate is obscure. According to surviving PoWs, Yershakov stated, prior to his own death in captivity, that Silkin had died in battle when the city was again captured on August 29. German reports say that a Soviet command headquarters blew itself up in a dugout during this fighting. He has been considered missing in action since October 1941.

Col. Nikolai Matveevich Laksin took command of the 170th; he had been serving as chief of 22nd Army's combat training section. After taking Nevel on July 15, following a battle with the 170th and the 48th Tank Division, the LVII Motorized was ordered to capture Velikiye Luki. This was accomplished at nightfall on July 18 with an isolated thrust by 19th Panzer and 14th Motorized Divisions.[9] The loss of Nevel had already pocketed 51st Corps, the 179th Rifle Division of 62nd Corps, plus three divisions of Northwestern Front's 27th Army. The commander of Army Group North believed, from the papers found on a captured courier, that a total of 13 divisions were trapped, but the OKH was less optimistic. The elimination of this pocket would effectively dispose of any threat to the Army Group's right flank as it advanced on Leningrad.[10]

After the loss of Nevel the 170th, 179th and 48th Tanks withdrew toward Velikiye Luki in some disorder but aided by the comparatively good road between these two places. 14th Motorized was especially overextended and vulnerable to counterattack, and the escaping troops pressed against the light screen it had erected south of Nevel and 12th Infantry Division's blocking positions north of that place. On July 19 the STAVKA ordered 29th Army to begin preparing an attack from the Toropets area toward Velikiye Luki with three divisions. Overnight on July 19/20 this force overran a sector lightly held by 14th Motorized and broke into the clear. 19th Panzer sent a battlegroup to intercept but this ran into unexpectedly stiff resistance. It then abandoned the city itself.[11]

Meanwhile, on July 21 Yershakov was ordered to tie down German forces with local attacks beginning the next day. On July 24, Timoshenko reported the liberation of the city, with the attackers taking up defensive positions along the Lovat River to the north and south. In the process of withdrawing from encirclement, 51st Corps had lost its headquarters as well as the bulk of the 98th and 112th Divisions. The 170th was reported as fighting along a line from Stankovo to Lake Udrai with one group at 0600 hours on July 21 while a second group remained in encirclement and was attempting to escape. At 2000 on July 23 Yershakov effectively admitted that only remnants of the Corps had been able to break out; the division had been attacking to the southwest from the Kozhemiachkino area in and effort to assist its corps-mates to escape.[12]

On July 26 the 170th moved to the Dokuhino area, where it absorbed the remnants of the 98th and 112th Divisions. The following day Yershakov reorganized his Army to defend along the Lovat through Velikiye Luki to Lake Dvine, which was 45km to the southeast. He was directed to hold the city "at all cost". German 9th Army now took up the front south of the city from LVII Motorized but made no immediate effort to retake it. Late on August 3, Western Front reported that the 170th, now back under 62nd Rifle Corps, had repelled an attack by a regiment of German infantry. A further report on August 7 stated that the positions of 22nd Army remained unchanged, with limited artillery exchanges and reconnaissance by both sides.[13]

Second Battle of Velikiye Luki[edit]

Stalin approved a plan on August 15 by Timoshenko to renew the counteroffensive by Western Front, although the task allotted to 22nd Army was largely to continue to hold its positions. This began on August 17. Two days later Hitler and the OKH ordered Army Group Center to shift the bulk of 3rd Panzer Group to reinforce Army Group North's faltering drive toward Leningrad and also eliminate the perceived threat to Army Group Center's left flank. This set up a cat-and-mouse game between the two sides, with the German immediate objective of crushing 22nd Army and defeating 29th Army into the bargain.[14]

On 28 August the division was reported as having just 300 men with "...no equipment, headquarters or staff". It was transferred to 24th Army in Reserve Front for rebuilding in September, but was far from complete when the Germans launched Operation Typhoon. It was surrounded with its army north of Spas-Demensk by 1 October, and was disbanded on 4 October,[1][15] due to a shortage of equipment.[16]

2nd Formation[edit]

A new 170th Rifle Division was formed at Molotov, once again in the Ural Military District, based on the 439th Rifle Division which was already forming up when re-designated.[17] The order of battle remained mostly the same as the 1st formation:

  • 391st Rifle Regiment
  • 422nd Rifle Regiment
  • 717th Rifle Regiment
  • 294th Artillery Regiment[18]
  • 210th Antitank Battalion
  • 134th Reconnaissance Company (later 124th)
  • 182nd Sapper Battalion
  • 355th Signal Battalion (later 210th Signal Battalion, 353rd Signal Company)
  • 154th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 536th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 49th Motor Transport Company
  • 452nd Field Bakery
  • 917th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 294th Field Postal Station (later 1673rd)
  • 1094th Field Office of the State Bank

In February 1942, the division was deployed to the west, into the 58th Army of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and in April it deployed to the front lines in the 34th Army of Northwestern Front. The 170th took part in the fighting around the Demyansk Pocket during the rest of 1942, either under command of the 34th or the 11th Army. In January 1943, it was reassigned to the 27th Army, and in March was once again in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding and a redeployment to the south.[19]

By the beginning of June, the 170th was assigned to the Central Front in the Kursk salient. The division joined the 48th Army, and remained there for the duration, with the exception of a few months in early 1944.

Advance[edit]

In January 1944, the division became part of the 42nd Rifle Corps, where it would remain for the duration. Belorussian Front was renamed 1st Belorussian in February. During the Soviet summer offensive, Operation Bagration, the 42nd Corps was concentrated north of Rogachev to assist its partner 29th Rifle Corps and units of the 3rd Army to break through the positions of the German 134th and 296th Infantry Divisions. By late on June 24 this had been achieved, with the Germans overwhelmed and the 9th Tank Corps exploiting to the rear. With the defenses of Army Group Center shattered, the division trekked westward towards Poland.

48th Army was transferred to 2nd Belorussian Front in the late autumn of 1944. During the Vistula-Oder Offensive the 170th pushed on through northern Poland before the army was once again transferred to 3rd Belorussian Front. The division fought in the East Prussian Offensive, and ended the war near Elbing.[20]

Five men of the division were named as Heroes of the Soviet Union, two of them posthumously. At the end of the war the men and women of the division carried the full title 170th Rifle, Rechytsa, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division. (Russian: 170-я стрелковая Речицкая Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия.) The division was part of the 42nd Rifle Corps, 48th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front in May 1945.[21] The division was disbanded near Mühlhausen in July 1945.

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Biryuzov, Yuri. "170 СТРЕЛКОВАЯ ДИВИЗИЯ (1-го формирования)" [170th Rifle Division (1st formation)]. www.bashpoisk.ufanet.ru (in Russian). Republic of Bashkortostan Search Teams. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  2. ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 84
  3. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10
  4. ^ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 84
  5. ^ David Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2009, map on p. 238
  6. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 18, 23
  7. ^ David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  8. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  9. ^ Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East, pp. 260-61, and map on p. 265
  10. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
  11. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 6
  12. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 4, 5, 6
  13. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 6, 7
  14. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 9
  15. ^ Sharp, "Red Legions", p 84
  16. ^ Lopukhovsky, Lev (2013-08-01). The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941: The Red Army's Disastrous Stand against Operation Typhoon. Helion and Company. p. 75. ISBN 9781908916501.
  17. ^ Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 99
  18. ^ Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 68
  19. ^ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 68
  20. ^ Sharp, p. 70
  21. ^ Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 May 1945

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]


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