76th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

76th K. E. Voroshilov Division
Active

September 5, 1922–1942

1943–45
Country Soviet Union
Branch Infantry
Type Rifle Division
Role Tactical attack and defense combat operations
Engagements First Battle of Kharkov, Battle of Stalingrad, Operation Uranus
Decorations

 Order of the Red Banner (1st and 2nd formations)

 Order of Suvorov (2nd formation)
Battle honours

K. Y. Voroshilov (1st formation)
Yelnya (2nd formation)

Warsaw (2nd formation)

The 76th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division, formed twice.

The division was formed in 1922 and was known also as the 76th Armenian Mountain Division. It was a Soviet infantry fighting unit of the Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The 76th was made up primarily of Armenians from the newly established Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, but also included among its ranks several different nationalities. The division became the 51st Guards Rifle Division on 23 November 1942 for its actions in Operation Uranus.

The division was reformed in 1943 from a rifle brigade. The division's second formation was disbanded in the summer of 1945.

Establishment

The division was officially created on September 5, 1922, at the near end of the Russian military conquests of the southern Caucasus republics.

The 76th was initially formed as a brigade-sized unit and led by several non-Armenian commanders including Major Generals S. V. Chernikov, E. F. Pryakhin, K. E. Goryunov, N. E. Kaladzen, N. T. Tavarkiladze (the latter two were ethnic Georgians), Colonel G. G. Voronin, and subordinate commanders A. P. Melik-Shahnazaryan, H. T. Atoyan (the latter two being Armenians).[1] Instruction was carried out in Armenian and the unit published a military newspaper, The Red Soldier, and a newsletter The Red Fighting Man (both in Armenian). During the Second World War, a third paper, Voroshilovets, under the aegis of Armenian novelist Hrachya Kochar, began publication in Russian.

In 1935, the division was named after Soviet Central Committee member (and later Marshal of the Soviet Union) Kliment Voroshilov. Two years later it was bestowed with the Order of the Red Banner. In 1938, soldiers of other Soviet nationalities began to enter the ranks of the division, though it remained in the Armenian SSR and retained its flag, its number, and traditions.[1]

The Second World War

Iran

In the summer of 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and drove into the large landmass of Russia and Ukraine on three fronts. The southernmost drove through the Caucasus with the objective of capturing the petroleum fields and reserves in Baku, Azerbaijan. By autumn, the German Wehrmacht had pushed far into the regions and was nearing the outlet of the northern Caucasus. In order to prevent a possible link up between Iran, whose leader Reza Shah Pahlavi harbored pro-German leanings, the Allies launched a joint mission to invade and occupy the country. The 76th Division, as part of the 47th Army of the Transcaucasian Front, crossed the Araks River in August at the border town of Julfa, Nakhichevan and settled in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz.[1]

Ukraine, Stalingrad, Don

This section is rather muddled & incorrect.The correct history is as follows from David M.Glantz book "Kharkov 1942" & orbat.com/history/volume 4/76th Rifle Division.

1 76th Rifle Division (I Formation) File Number: 51110076A Last Updated: 1 November 2005 1st Formation: The Division was formed on 9 December 1941 in the Southwestern Front by the reorganization of the 76th Mountain Rifle Division. It had come to be there when the 76th MRD was transferred out of Iran north in September to stem the advance of the German Army Group South then advancing towards Rostov. It took part in the counter-offensive in November 1941, liberating Rostov and pushing Army Group South back to the Mius River. It remained with the 38th Army until May 1942 when it was transferred to the 21st Army. There it suffered the effects of the German “Fall Blau” being pushed back though the northern Donets River region all the way back to the Don River near Stalingrad. Throughout the remainder of the summer and fall of 1942, it fended off attacks or patrols. In November 1942, it took part in “Operatio Uranus”, the Stalingrad Offensive Operation, where it was part of the encirclement of the German 6th Army. For its actions, on 23 November 1942, it was awarded ‘Guards’ status and re-designated the 51st Guards Rifle Division. Active Dates for the Great Patriotic War: 9 December 1941 – 23 November 1942 Division Commanders: 7 December 1941 – 16 May 1942 Colonel Georgii Grigor’evich VORONIN* 17 May 1942 – 2 August 1942 Colonel Valentin Antonovich PEN’KOVSKII 3 August 1942 – 13 August 1942 Unknown 14 August 1942 – 23 November 1942 Colonel Nikolai Tarelovich TAVARTKILADZE

Division. Honors and Awards: (Carried over from the 76th Mountain Rifle Division) 4 December 1935 “in the name of K. Ye. Voroshikov” 29 May 1936 Order of the Red Banner Division Honorific Title: 76th Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of K. Ye. Voroshilov

This is not correct.

With Iran pacified, in September 1942 the division was sent to Ukraine in September and incorporated into the 38th Army. It took part in major fighting in Poltava, Kharkiv and Vovchansk during the First Battle of Kharkov. In February 1942, the division advanced westward and was reassigned and integrated into the 21st Army. In May 1942, the Voroshilov Division was once more on the offensive and advanced toward the Donets River. where it confronted the entrenched German Army Group South. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the division was able to cross the riverbank, and retake a line of towns straddling the Russian-Ukrainian border: Grafovka, Nekhotevka, Shamino and Arkhangelskoye.[1]

In June 1942, the 76th helped close a gap between the 21st and 38th Armies and halt German counter-offensives at Surkovo, Gavrilov-Yam and Pesyano.[1] In July 1942, the division was sent to Stalingrad. After taking part in fighting there until October, it was ordered to weaken Army Group South's defensive lines near the Don River. It overran its lines at the railway terminus in Kletskaya, a feat which earned it the status of a Guards unit (November 23, 1942) and subsequent reorganization as the 51st Guards Rifle Division.[1]

Second Formation

The division was reformed in the Tula area on 20 April 1943 from the 87th Rifle Brigade. The division's final titles were 76th Yelnya-Warsaw Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division.[2] The division was disbanded "in place" during the summer of 1945 with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 (Armenian) Hakobyan, Arshavir M. and K. Harutyunyan, S. Sargsyan and N. Baloyan. «Հայկական դիվիզիաներ» [Armenian divisions]. Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1980, vol. vi, p. 174.
  2. ↑ "76-я Краснознаменная Ельнинско-Варшавская стрелковая дивизия" [76th Red Banner Yelnya-Warsaw Rifle Division]. rkka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 380–381.
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