175th Rifle Division
The 175th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the North Caucasus Military District in July 1940, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. It was still in that District at the time of the German invasion, and it was soon moved to the Kiev Fortified Region as part of Southwestern Front. It would remain defending the Ukrainian capital into September, eventually as part of 37th Army, when it was deeply encircled and destroyed.
A new 175th was designated in March 1942, based on a 400-series division that had begun forming the previous December in the Siberian Military District. It was soon moved to the Ural Military District, and after a rushed period of training it joined the reformed 28th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, before that Army was assigned to Southwestern Front. In May it formed part of the Front's northern shock group for the offensive intended to liberate Kharkiv. While initially hampered by the failure to take the German strongpoint at Ternovaya it gradually developed momentum in cooperation with 169th Rifle Division and ended up farther into the German positions than any other formation in the northern group, reaching to just north of Lyptsi, before being struck by an armored counterattack on May 20 and being driven back to near its starting line, at considerable cost. In June it was nearly encircled during Operation Wilhelm, but managed to escape, again with serious losses. When the main German summer offensive began later that month the remnants of the 175th were driven back to the Don River, where a relative handful of personnel and equipment were able to cross after fighting out of encirclement. The division was officially written off on September 4.
The final 175th began as the Ural Rifle Division of the NKVD in October in the Ural Military District. It retained the name "Ural" as an honorific. Early in the new year it, and five similar divisions, were transferred to the Red Army and formed as the new 70th Army. The Army was soon assigned to Central Front, where it joined the advance toward Oryol in late February and March 1943, but proved ineffective due to low standards of training and leadership. Over the following months, as these issues were taken in hand, the 175th helped to prepare for the expected German summer offensive against the Kursk salient. When this began the division was in the Army's second echelon and saw some defensive combat on the western fringe of 9th Army's attack on July 8, where it helped fight off a force of up to 200 panzers. A week later it again began advancing against the Oryol salient, reaching the German defenses at its base by late August, at which time it was transferred to 48th Army, still in Central Front. During September it advanced through northeastern Ukraine, across the Dniepr and into eastern Belarus, where it fought into January 1944, mostly near Gomel, Rechytsa and Shatsilki. At this point it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding and reassignment, but returned about a month later, now as part of 47th Army's 125th Rifle Corps on the long left flank of 1st Belorussian Front. It would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. In a preliminary operation on early July the 175th took part in eliminating a German salient around Kovel, and received its name as a battle honor. During the main Lublin–Brest offensive later that month it advanced through western Belarus and into eastern Poland, eventually running up against the German-held fortifications at Praga. After these were finally taken in mid-September the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. During the winter offensive into Poland in January 1945 the 175th, with its Army, outflanked Warsaw from the northeast, and two of its regiments were given battle honors for helping to take the city. Following this, it advanced into East Prussia and East Pomerania where its subunits received several decorations. In the final offensive on Berlin the 47th Army attacked out of the bridgehead over the Oder at Küstrin and as the operation developed swung north of the city, eventually linking up with units of 1st Ukrainian Front on April 25 in the Potsdam area. During the first five days of May, during and after the surrender of Berlin, the 175th, with its Corps, faced and defeated the largest effort to break out to the west. Following the war 47th Army was assigned to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, but it was disbanded in early 1946 and its units returned to the USSR. The 175th had been itself disbanded by June 1.
1st Formation
The division first began forming on July 23, 1940, at Prokhladny and Mozdok in the North Caucasus Military District. Its order of battle on June 22, 1941, was as follows:- 560th Rifle Regiment
- 632nd Rifle Regiment
- 728th Rifle Regiment
- 630th Artillery Regiment
- 171st Antitank Battalion
- 454th Antiaircraft Battalion
- 212th Reconnaissance Company
- 190th Sapper Battalion
- 454th Signal Battalion
- 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
- 515th Chemical Defense Platoon
- 259th Motor Transport Battalion
- 431st Field Bakery
- 157th Field Postal Station
- 55th Field Office of the State Bank
Defense of Kyiv
The 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions reached the Irpin River west of Kyiv on July 11 after breaking through Southwestern Front near Zhytomyr. The German command was divided on plans to directly attack Kyiv to seize its crossings over the Dniepr River, but by July 13 German reconnaissance made it clear that Soviet fortifications and troop concentrations ruled out any possibility of taking the city by surprise. Kyiv would remain in Soviet hands for more than two further months. At about the same time the 64th Corps moved into positions along the Irpin, with the 175th west and southwest of Boiarka, and the 165th further southwest. During the first 10 days of fighting along this line the 175th lost nearly 20 percent of its personnel.During late July and into early August the XXIX Army Corps of German 6th Army made numerous attempts to capture Kyiv, but all of these were foiled. As German forces advanced on Boiarka 64th Corps was split apart, with the 165th pushed across the Dniepr and the 175th falling back by August 11 into the Kiev Fortified Region, defending the city's southwestern sector. As of the beginning of the month the Corps was being disbanded and the 175th came under direct command of Southwestern Front. Later in August it was subordinated to the new 37th Army, which was tasked with continuing the defense of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. By September 10 the remnants of 5th and 37th Armies were grouped north of Kozelets but on September 16 the 2nd Panzers linked up with the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South well to the east and the Army was deeply encircled. Colonel Glovatskii went missing on September 15 and the situation rapidly deteriorated. The remnants of the division managed to get across the Dniepr on September 18, but there was no possibility of breaking through the German lines from so far west. The division was effectively destroyed two days later, but in common with most of the encircled divisions of Southwestern Front it officially remained on the books until December 27, when it was finally written off.
2nd Formation
The 444th Rifle Division began forming in December 1941 in the Siberian Military District. In March 1942 it was redesignated as the new 175th Rifle Division. Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 1st formation:- 560th Rifle Regiment
- 632nd Rifle Regiment
- 728th Rifle Regiment
- 630th Artillery Regiment
- 171st Antitank Battalion
- 143rd Antiaircraft Battery
- 113th Mortar Battalion
- 212th Reconnaissance Company
- 190th Sapper Battalion
- 454th Signal Battalion
- 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
- 515th Chemical Defense Platoon
- 259th Motor Transport Company
- 431st Field Bakery
- 896th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
- 1675th Field Postal Station
- 1117th Field Office of the State Bank
Second Battle of Kharkiv
28th Army, under command of Lt. Gen. D. I. Ryabyshev, also contained the 13th Guards, 38th, 162nd, 169th, and 244th Rifle Divisions, plus a cavalry corps and four tank brigades.Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, who now commanded Southwestern Front, planned a new offensive to liberate Kharkiv with two shock groups. 28th Army formed the center of the northern group, with 21st Army to its north and 38th Army to its south. Ryabyshev's Army, located northeast of the city and with the bulk of the armor support, was expected to lead the advance. The offensive opened at 0630 hours on May 12 with a 60-minute artillery preparation, followed by a 15-20 minute air attack against front line strongpoints and artillery positions. The infantry and tanks went over to the attack at 0730, but many German positions remained intact. The 175th's initial objective was the village of Ternovaya in cooperation with the 169th; this was held by elements of the 429th Regiment of the 294th Infantry Division. In the event, 28th Army gained only 2–4km in heavy fighting through the day and German forces continued to hold Varvarovka and Ternovaya, hindering the development of the offensive, even though the former had been encircled.
Overnight, the commander of Army Group South released the 23rd Panzer Division plus two infantry divisions to its 6th Army to join the depleted 3rd Panzer Division as a counterattack force. When combat resumed on the morning of May 13 Ryabyshev decided to develop the offensive on his left flank, taking advantage of the gains made by 38th Army the day before. During the day the garrison of Varvarovka was liquidated but Ternovaya continued to hold out, despite itself being encircled. The left flank regiment of the 175th and the right flank of the 169th were unable to force their way into the village proper. Late in the day the 38th Division was ordered forward to maintain the encirclement while the 175th and 169th continued to advance to the west. By the middle of the day disconcerting intelligence reports were reaching Ryabyshev about large concentrations of German armor and infantry massing east of the city. Early in the afternoon the German grouping struck 38th Army, and 13th Guards was ordered to form a defense facing south.
Despite the growing crisis on his left flank, Ryabyshev urged his divisions onward on May 14. While Ternovaya continued to hold out to the 38th, the 175th and 169th advanced 6-8km, defeating several small units formed from rear-area support troops. By the end of the day the 175th had reached the Murom River, capturing the villages of Bezbozhini, Neskuchnoe, and Petrovskoe. The two divisions were now reaching the German rear defense line running along the west bank of the Kharkiv River. At the same time Ternovaya remained in German hands for several more days, requiring air supply and even reinforcements in the form of paratroops. Meanwhile, the armored attacks against 28th Army's left flank, in which the 13th Guards still held most of their positions, but at the cost of as much as a third of their strength, rendered that wing of the Army incapable of further offensive action.
After some hesitation overnight in the German command, its counterattack proceeded on May 15. A grouping consisting of an infantry regiment and 40 tanks struck from the Nepokrytaia region against the boundary of the 28th and 38th Armies and advanced northeastward toward Peremoga and Ternovaya. One regiment of the 244th Division was driven back 10km in what can only be termed a rout, finally taking up new positions 2–3km southwest of Ternovaya. Meanwhile, the 175th and 169th had received orders from Timoshenko to continue their advance alongside 21st Army. In the event, the two divisions scrambled throughout the day to contain the German breakthrough, and one regiment of the 175th was removed from the front line to deal with the paratroops. With these distractions, and despite weak resistance, the two divisions managed to gain only 5km, reaching the Lipets River. Meanwhile, Ternovaya continued to hold out against 38th Division.
21st Army attempted to continue its offensive on May 16 but ran into stiff resistance and counterattacks. However, its left flank 227th Rifle Division discovered that the main German force it faced had withdrawn to the line of the Kharkiv River. It then joined with the 175th in crossing to the west bank of the Lipets, jointly occupying the villages of Ustinka, Morokhovets, and Bednyi. The division was now nearly due north of Lyptsi, having made a deeper advance than any other division of the northern shock group. However it was also in a deep salient, as the German garrisons of Murom and Ternovaya remained in place. Over the following days efforts were made to revive the offensive of the northern group, including an order from Timoshenko on May 17 that the 169th was to attack westward to join the 175th. In the event, this was forestalled when the 3rd and 23rd Panzers, with the 71st Infantry Division, renewed their drive toward Ternovaya. The remnants of 244th Division were taken by surprise and driven off to the northeast, uncovering the Murom axis. The German garrison was relieved and 38th Division was forced to withdraw 2-3km to the east. The 169th was also forced to pull back 5-8km northward, finally taking up positions with second echelon units of 5th Guards Cavalry Division. This division, along with the regiment of the 175th that had been detached against paratroops, put up a strong defense in the ArapovkaPloskoe area and halted any further advance on Murom. By this time the southern shock group, and indeed all the Soviet forces in the Izium salient, were in danger of encirclement and destruction due to the counteroffensive launched the same day by 1st Panzer Army in the area of Barvinkove.
Overnight the 244th was sent to the rear; it would be disbanded within a few months. Captured documents now convinced Timoshenko that the two panzer divisions would change their attack axis to the southeast in an effort to link up with 1st Panzer Army. In order to prevent this he ordered the 28th and 38th Armies to continue offensive operations on May 18 with all available forces. Despite the danger to the forces of Southwestern and Southern Fronts in the Barvinkove salient, Stalin refused to abandon the offensive on Kharkiv. 38th Army began its attack at 0700 hours, but due to organizational difficulties 28th Army did not get underway until 1130. The 169th Division was nailed down by air attacks and while the 162nd made some initial gains it was soon forced back to its start line. Meanwhile, the shift of German forces allowed 38th Division to again encircle Ternovaya.
On May 19 the Luftwaffe again dropped supplies and paratroops from 11 transport aircraft in and near Ternovaya, but this time the assault force was largely destroyed by the 38th and the detached regiment of the 175th. 28th Army again went over to the attack at 0930 hours, as did the 38th Army, but with no greater success than the day before. In the afternoon in the 21st Army's sector the 168th Infantry Division struck the 293rd Rifle Division and drove it back from Murom. This forced General Ryabyshev to commit scant reserves to cover his flank and rear. Meanwhile, 3rd Panzer was indeed on the move, but contrary to Timoshenko's understanding it had moved through Lyptsi and was concentrating, along with the 57th Infantry Division, to the northwest of the main body of the 175th. Unaware of this, Ryabyshev ordered all his forces, except the 175th, to go over to the attack again at first light on May 20. The advance was initially successful until it ran into the positions of 23rd Panzer near Vesele. At noon a German counterattack was launched against the 175th and 169th. Under pressure of armor, and almost continuous air attacks, the two divisions began to withdraw to the east, uncovering the flank of 21st Army's 227th Division to the north. By the end of the day all the units along the boundary flanks of the two Armies had been forced back 10-15km with heavy losses. The northern shock group was now along a line from Murom to Ternovaya and then south along the west bank of the Bolshaya Babka River.
Having attained this success, 6th Army did not press the offensive on this sector, but instead began to withdraw the two panzer divisions back to Lyptsi as a preliminary to redeployment toward the Barvinkove salient, where the Soviet situation was going from bad to worse. During the following days the 21st, 28th, and 38th Armies were limited to local attacks to improve positions. Timoshenko soon ordered the 175th, 169th and 227th withdrawn from the front for rebuilding, along with all the tank brigades that had supported the northern shock group. On the afternoon of May 22 the encirclement of the southern shock group and two armies of Southern Front was completed, and these forces were reduced and largely destroyed by the end of the month.