228th Rifle Division


The 228th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. After being formed in the Kiev Special Military District it soon took part in the fighting in northern Ukraine where it joined the 5th Army north of Kyiv. The presence of this Army in the fastnesses of the eastern Pripyat area influenced German strategy as it appeared to threaten both the left flank of Army Group South and the right flank of Army Group Center. In September the latter Group was turned south to encircle the Soviet forces defending Kyiv and in the process the 228th was cut off and destroyed.
A new 228th formed in the Siberian Military District in December 1941 based on the 451st Rifle Division. It was soon assigned to 24th Army in Southern Front which was intended as a backstop to the front line armies facing the German summer offensive of 1942, but it was driven back, encircled and destroyed in a matter of weeks.
The third 228th, based on the shtat of December 10, 1942, was created in June 1943 from the cadre of a rifle brigade. It took part in the liberation of eastern Ukraine as part of 1st Guards Army before being moved to 37th Army of 2nd Ukrainian Front during the fighting along the Dniepr. During the advance into western Ukraine in the spring of 1944 it won a battle honor but this advance was halted in April after the German defense crystallised along the west bank of the Dniestr River near Bender. During the next few months the 228th moved to the northwest as a reserve unit but was assigned to 53rd Army shortly after the start of the offensive that drove Romania out of the Axis in August. As part of this Army it advanced into Hungary and Czechoslovakia and would be decorated for its part in the liberation of Brno. It was disbanded in July 1945.

1st Formation

The division began forming on March 14, 1941, at Zhytomyr in the Kiev Special Military District. When completed it had the following order of battle:
  • 767th Rifle Regiment
  • 795th Rifle Regiment
  • 799th Rifle Regiment
  • 669th Light Artillery Regiment
  • 366th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
  • 10th Antitank Battalion
  • 9th Antiaircraft Battalion
  • 304th Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 383rd Sapper Battalion
  • 605th Signal Battalion
  • 378th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 324th Chemical Defense Platoon
  • 701st Motor Transport Battalion
  • 485th Field Bakery
  • 659th Field Postal Station
  • 531st Field Office of the State Bank
Col. Aleksandr Mikhailovich Ilyin was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. On June 22 it was in the 36th Rifle Corps in the reserves of Southwestern Front, and was located at Shepetivka. By the first of July it had left 36th Corps and had been assigned to 5th Army under direct Army command. At this time it was positioned south of Hoshcha fighting against the advancing 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions of III Motorized Corps in cooperation with 19th Mechanized Corps. As the panzers pushed toward Kyiv on July 7 the 228th attempted to hold at Novohrad-Volynskyi but was soon forced to fall back to the southeast. By July 10 it had been returned to 36th Corps which was now in 6th Army of the same Front, but later in the month the division was again assigned to 5th Army. By July 23 it was fighting southwest of Malyn and as of August 11 it was located east of that city near the confluence of the Teteriv and Irsha Rivers. On August 1 Colonel Ilyin was removed from command and replaced by Col. Viktor Georgievich Chernov. Ilyin would take command of the 215th Motorized Division in mid-September and escaped the Kyiv encirclement to later lead the 261st Rifle Division and the 61st Rifle Corps before being killed in action in May 1944. Chernov had previously served as deputy commanding officer of the 62nd Rifle Division.

Battle of Kiev

The presence of 5th Army in the area north of Kyiv had been affecting German strategy for some time as noted in Führer directive No. 33 of July 19: The directive set the task, among others, "to destroy the Soviet 5th Army by means of a closely coordinated offensive by the forces on Army Group Center's southern flank and Army Group South's northern flank."
By August 14 strength returns showed that there were only 2,429 personnel remaining in the 228th, and 11 days later, on August 25 the number had decreased to under 2,000. By the end of the month the 669th Light Artillery Regiment had been detached to 26th Army as a support unit while the remainder of the division was transferred to 37th Army.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. At this time the remnants of the division were attempting to hold positions west of Chernihiv from elements of the XXIII Army Corps outflanking it to the east. 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. While the division was noted as effectively destroyed by October 1, it was not officially removed from the Red Army order of battle until December 27. Colonel Chernov took command of 47th Mountain Rifle Division on October 2 and would go on to lead the 90th Guards and 60th Rifle Divisions and be promoted to the rank of major general before being killed in action on March 17, 1945. On April 6 he was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

2nd Formation

The 451st Rifle Division began forming at Kansk in the Siberian Military District in November 1941. Later that month it was redesignated as the 2nd formation of the 228th. Its order of battle was similar to that of the 1st formation:
  • 767th Rifle Regiment
  • 795th Rifle Regiment
  • 799th Rifle Regiment
  • 669th Artillery Regiment
  • 10th Antitank Battalion
  • 129th Antiaircraft Battery
  • 120th Mortar Battalion
  • 236th Reconnaissance Company
  • 383rd Sapper Battalion
  • 605th Signal Battalion
  • 378th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 522nd Chemical Defense Company
  • 585th Motor Transport Company
  • 438th Field Bakery
  • 903rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 1698th Field Postal Station
  • 1068th Field Office of the State Bank
Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Dementev took command on February 18, 1942, and would lead the division until it was disbanded. It arrived at the active front on April 28 where it was placed at the disposal of Southern Front.

Operation Blue

When 1st Panzer and 17th Army launched the German summer offensive on their sectors on July 7, the 228th was still in Southern Front, but now in 24th Army. This newly formed Army, with just four rifle divisions, two of which had been badly damaged in the Second Battle of Kharkov, was attempting to provide a second echelon for the Front behind the 12th and 18th Armies. On July 10 the Front was ordered to form those divisions into a task force along with a special tank group to move northeastward to block the XXXX Panzer Corps in the Chertkovo area. This move availed very little, and the Southern Front commander, Lt. Gen. R. Ya. Malinovsky, soon reported that 24th Army was being driven back to the MillerovoRogalikVishniaki line "under great pressure." By dawn on July 15 the 3rd Panzer Division of 4th Panzer Army had linked up with 14th Panzer of 1st Panzer Army 40 km south of Millerovo. By this time the 228th had been reduced to under 2,500 personnel and although the encirclement was never really closed too few of these men managed to escape for the division to be rebuilt. By the beginning of August the 24th Army had been effectively disbanded and the 228th was no longer in the Red Army order of battle as of July 29 although its headquarters was not officially disbanded until September 1. Colonel Dementev escaped the debacle and on September 6 took over command of the 337th Rifle Division. He was promoted to the rank of major general in January 1943 before being wounded in February and hospitalized for several months; he did not see any further front line service.

3rd Formation

Another new 228th was formed on June 25, 1943, in 6th Army of Southwestern Front, based on the 106th Rifle Brigade.

106th Rifle Brigade

This brigade had formed from December 1941 until April 1942 in the Moscow Military District. By May 1 it was considered ready for front line service and first went to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command before being assigned to 61st Army in Western Front by month's end. It consisted of:
  • 4 rifle battalions
  • 1 artillery battalion
  • 1 mortar battalion
  • 1 antitank rifle company
  • 1 submachine gun company
  • 1 reconnaissance company
  • 1 sapper company
In June it was moved to the reserves of Bryansk Front and in July joined Operational Group on the southern flank of the Front, fighting in direct support of 16th Tank Corps. The 106th took heavy losses during the early stages of Case Blue and returned to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and then Moscow Military District in September for rebuilding. Late in October it returned to the front as part of 13th Army in Bryansk Front. Near the end of the year it was moved to 6th Army in Southwestern Front but after advancing in the wake of the German defeat at Stalingrad it was caught up in the German counteroffensive at Kharkiv. Once the front stabilized in March the brigade was assigned to the 4th Guards Rifle Corps of 6th Army and was again rebuilt, at least in terms of infantry, but remained short of heavy weapons until it was converted to the new 228th.
Once formed the division's order of battle was again very similar to that of the first two formations:
  • 767th Rifle Regiment
  • 795th Rifle Regiment
  • 799th Rifle Regiment
  • 669th Artillery Regiment
  • 10th Antitank Battalion
  • 236th Reconnaissance Company
  • 383rd Sapper Battalion
  • 605th Signal Battalion
  • 378th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
  • 522nd Chemical Defense Company
  • 585th Motor Transport Company
  • 562nd Field Bakery
  • 908th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
  • 1751st Field Postal Station
  • 1831st Field Office of the State Bank
Col. Pavel Grigorevich Kulikov took command on June 29. The new division remained in 4th Guards Corps for several weeks but by the beginning of August it had come under direct Army command.