243rd Rifle Division
The 243rd Rifle Division was the first of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was largely based on what would become the shtat of July 29, 1941, with several variations. It served as part of 29th Army in the heavy fighting around Smolensk in July and August, then later in the counteroffensive operations around Kalinin, where it helped to clear the first Soviet territory to be permanently liberated. It then saw extensive service in the severe fighting around Rzhev, before being moved south in the winter of 1942-43. During Operation Gallop in February, as part of 3rd Guards Army, it participated in the action that liberated the city of Voroshilovgrad, before attacking into the Donbas during the following summer. In February of 1944 the division was recognized for its role in the liberation of Nikopol, receiving that place name as an honorific, and then was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner after helping to free Odesa. In May it was trapped by German counterattacks in a deep bend on the east bank of the Dniestr River north of Grigoriopol while serving with 5th Shock Army and suffered heavy losses in breaking out to friendly territory. After recovering from this debacle the 243rd advanced into Romania and Hungary, mostly under either 53rd or 7th Guards Armies, and during early 1945 fought through Czechoslovakia; two of its regiments were decorated for their roles in the liberation of Brno just weeks before the German surrender. Along with the rest of 53rd Army it was railed across Siberia to take part in the Soviet offensive against the Japanese forces in Manchuria in August. While the division saw little, if any, actual combat in the far east, it received a second honorific for the sheer accomplishment of advancing through the mountainous terrain. Within months of the Japanese surrender the 243rd was disbanded.
Formation
The 243rd Rifle Division began forming within days of the start of the German invasion on June 29, 1941, at Yaroslavl, in the Moscow Military District. This was based on an NKVD order of that date: Although the initial order for its formation came from the NKVD, when it left for the front in early July it was completely under Red Army administration. Its order of battle was as follows:- 906th Rifle Regiment
- 910th Rifle Regiment
- 912th Rifle Regiment
- 775th Artillery Regiment
- 303rd Antitank Battalion
- 527th Self-propelled Artillery Battalion
- 324th Reconnaissance Company
- 413th Sapper Battalion
- 665th Signal Battalion
- 263rd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
- 244th Chemical Defense Company
- 273rd Auto Transport Company
- 135th Field Bakery
- 125th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
- 808th Field Postal Station
- 710th Field Office of the State Bank
Judging from reports on other NKVD-based divisions, the 243rd was far from complete when it entered combat. The commander of 30th Army, Maj. Gen. V. A. Khomenko, reported on August 5 regarding his 250th and 251st Divisions that they had been required to move up to 350km on foot to their concentration areas and "were taken from their assembly points in the very midst of assembly, and, incomplete, they did not approach being 'knocked together' and went into battle unprepared for combat." In addition, the 251st had only about 400 NKVD cadre soldiers.
Battle of Smolensk
On July 15, the lead elements of 2nd Panzer Group's 29th Motorized Division reached the southern part of Smolensk. Over the following days German pressure mounted against the three armies of Western Front, commanded by Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, which were almost entirely encircled in that region. On July 19 the commander of Reserve Front, Lt. Gen. I. A. Bogdanov, was alerted by the STAVKA to begin preparing an offensive operation with his 29th, 30th and 28th Armies to rescue Timoshenko's force. The 29th, commanded by General Maslennikov, was to advance from the Toropets region toward Velikiye Luki with its 243rd, 256th and 252nd Divisions.At 2125 hours on July 20, on behalf of the STAVKA, Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov sent a directive to Timoshenko, who was now acting a commander of the Western Direction. Four reserve armies, including the 29th, were to launch attacks toward Dukhovshchina and Smolensk along converging axes. Maslennikov was to attack southward from the Staro-Toropa region toward Demidov, reach Chikhachi and Lake Zhizhitskoye at Artemovo Station line by day's end on July 23, protect the Toropets axis, and dispatch a detachment of up to one battalion to protect the Group's flank in the Knyazhovo region. In the event, at 1000 that day the 243rd was still unloading from trains at Skvortsovo Station, 18km west of Toropets, prior to occupying a line from Dubrovka to Zasenovo, 30-40km southwest of that town. In a further report to the STAVKA at 0800 on July 26 Group Maslennikov was reported as having completed concentrating along the ChikhachiLake Zhizhitskoye line, with the division in second echelon, defending the Sementsevo, Ershevo and Ladygovo region. Early the next day Timoshenko reported to Stalin that the offensive had "developed at a slower than desired tempo during the last two days", and stated that Maslennikov had dispatched two divisions to attack the German YartsevoDukhovshchina grouping while also attacking toward Ilyino. However, by July 31 it was clear that this first major counteroffensive in the Smolensk region had failed, although Army Group Center had to commit its last reserves.
Velikiye Luki had fallen to the 19th Panzer Division at nightfall on July 18, but under pressure from forces of 22nd Army was forced to abandon the town three days later. Following this, the 29th Army was sent forward from Toropets to reinforce the Soviet position and allow the 22nd to withdraw to new defenses along the Lovat River. This situation, with a sizeable Soviet force hanging over the left flank of Army Group Center, would continue for another 30 days. In his late-day report on August 3, Timoshenko stated that the 243rd had crossed southward over the Western Dvina River with two regiments and reached the Baevo, Voskresenskoe and Poiarkovo line, 55km south of Toropets against elements of the 14th Motorized Division. Late the next day he issued new attack orders, specifying that the 243rd and 252nd were to make a concentrated attack toward Ilyino, after which they were to send strong covering forces toward Velizh, reach the Olenitsa and Zamoshchitsa front by the end of August 6, and subsequently attack toward Demidov. The following day the 243rd was reported as attacking toward Ilyino and fighting for the Tolkachi, Hill 193.8, Zakhody, Bodnevka and Liubimovo line at 1630 hours.
Dukhovshchina Offensive
Timoshenko began planning for a renewed effort on August 14 which was intended to recapture Dukhovshchina en route to Smolensk. The STAVKA ordered this to be coordinated with Zhukov's Reserve Front on August 17 in order to engulf the entire front from Toropets in the north to Bryansk in the south. In the event, due to the chaotic situation, Timoshenko was forced to conduct the operation in piecemeal fashion and was unable to establish close cooperation with Zhukov. On August 15 General Parkhomenko left the division, but within a month he was appointed to command of the 311th Rifle Division, and he would lead three others before the end of the war. He was replaced the following day by Col. Pavel Petrovich Miroshnichenko, who had been serving as deputy chief of staff of 29th Army.In Western Front's report at 0800 hours on August 18 the offensive's progress during the latter half of the previous day; the 243rd was stated as fighting along a line from 1,000m northeast of Andreevskaia to Malyi Borok, 11-12km northeast of Ilyino. The progress of 29th Army was being retarded by the late arrival of 246th Rifle Division. A further report that evening described the division's activity over the previous 24 hours:Timoshenko considered the day's action successful, but the difficulties both 29th and 30th Armies concentrating and employing their fresh reserves qualified that success.
In Timoshenko's estimation, if Maslennikov's forces could defeat and collapse German 9th Army's relatively weak left wing along and south of the Western Dvina this might spell success for the counteroffensive as a whole. The 26th and 6th Infantry Division of VI Army Corps and the 129th Infantry of V Army Corps, all understrength due to earlier fighting and each defending sectors roughly 30km wide, faced 29th Army. Aware of the vulnerability of this sector, Hitler and the OKH had just ordered Army Group Center to dispatch the bulk of 3rd Panzer Group northward to reinforce Army Group North's flagging offensive toward Leningrad and deal with the situation facing 9th Army's left flank en route. On August 19 the 29th Army essentially stalled, in part due to the laggard 246th Division. At 1900 hours Maslennikov sent a detailed attack order to Western Front, specifying that the 243rd, backed by one battery of its own 303rd Antitank Battalion, was to conduct its main attack along the Novinka Farm, Tselpino Farm, Porosiatnikovo Farm, and Parakhino axis, from 12km east-northeast of Ilyino to reach the Marker 194.3, Tselpino Farm and Tiulki line, and take Ilyino in cooperation with the 246th. The remaining batteries of the 303rd formed the Army's antitank reserve. Maslennikov also reported that the division had captured Pesochek at 1500 despite strong airstrikes and counterattacks, as well as the feat on the previous day of one Sgt. Musenko, a squad leader of the 912th Rifle Regiment, who helped repel a German company attacking from Sokovichino for 18 hours.
The following day Maslennikov began reporting German reinforcements arriving behind the left flank of 9th Army; apparently gained by air reconnaissance these were likely forces of LVII Motorized Corps regrouping toward Velikiye Luki. He also claimed 300 German casualties and two mortar batteries destroyed in the 243rd's sector on August 19, although the Army's positions were generally unchanged. Timoshenko, distracted by his successful actions in the 19th Army sector, even on August 21 failed to appreciate what his right wing forces would soon be facing. At 1745 hours he "somewhat caustically" directed Maslennikov to reorganize his offensive against 9th Army's left wing:However, the next day the full extent of the effort against 22nd Army began to become clear. 29th Army attacked at 1400 but encountered strong resistance, and the division was reported as attacking toward Porosiatnikovo and Parakhino; no gains were noted. On August 23 the Army attempted to continue its attacks but by the end of the day unsettling news from the Velikiye Luki area was forcing Timoshenko to alter his plans significantly. At 1430, Maslennikov informed his own units that "at least an enemy panzer division has penetrated toward Velikie Luki from the west... a threat is being created to 22nd Army's rear and 29th Army's flank." He went on to state that the 246th and 243rd Divisions were attacking decisively southward toward Ilyino, and that a sniper company was protecting the Belianka Farm and Sevastianovo sectors. At 2000 Timoshenko reported much the same while also claiming that the two divisions had destroyed two German infantry battalions the previous day. On the following evening Western Front stated flatly that 22nd Army was "under attack by a large enemy force," while the 243rd and 246th persisted it its crawling advance on Ilyino, with the former capturing the northeastern outskirts of Malyi Borok and enveloping Hill 209.6 from the south. The day's fighting cost 29th Army nearly 1,000 casualties. As the crisis developed Maslennikov was ordered to take control of 22nd Army's sector and he reported back at 0700 on August 25 that, among other measures, the 243rd was emplacing obstacles and mines on the road junctions and roads along the Katkovo and Kanat and the Khalotomino and Prudok axes while blowing up bridges, crossings and roads. It was still 15km east-northeast of Ilyino.