333rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
The 333rd Rifle Division began forming in the North Caucasus Military District in August, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, as part of the massive mobilization of reserve forces very shortly after the German invasion. In 1942 it served in the late winter and early spring fighting near Kharkov, taking a beating both then and during the opening stages of the German summer offensive. Withdrawn into the reserves, the division was rebuilt in time to take part in the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad in November, and played an important role in driving the German forces out of the Caucasus region during the winter. In the autumn of 1943 the division shared credit with the 25th Guards Rifle Division for the liberation of Sinelnikovo in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, receiving that place name as an honorific. After battling through Ukraine and into the Balkan states, the 333rd completed its combat path on a relatively quiet note doing garrison duties in the Balkans.
Formation
The 333rd Rifle Division began forming at Kamyshin on the Volga, on August 20, 1941, in the North Caucasus Military District. Although the division received its first commander, Col. Ivan Mikhailovich Afonin, in late August, it was almost a month later before enough of a division had been organized that the Soviet general staff began to carry it even as a "forming" division. Its full order of battle was as follows:- 1116th Rifle Regiment
- 1118th Rifle Regiment
- 1120th Rifle Regiment
- 897th Artillery Regiment
- 1st Antitank Battalion
- 396th Reconnaissance Company
- 614th Sapper Battalion
- 785th Signal Battalion
- 419th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
- 412th Chemical Defense Company
- 162nd Motor Transport Company
- 188th Field Bakery
- 757th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
- 361st Field Postal Station
- 789th Field Office of the State Bank
Combat service
In January, 1942, during the Soviet winter counteroffensive, the 333rd was transferred to 9th Army in Southern Front. It joined in attacks which broke into the German front on the northern Donets River, reaching the vicinity of Slavyansk before being halted by German counterattacks.Second Battle of Kharkov
9th Army, and Southern Front in general, had no direct role in the Soviet offensive to liberate Kharkov in May, but still suffered significant casualties in the German counteroffensive against the salient based at Izium and Barvenkovo. As of May 11 the 333rd had two rifle regiments and most of its artillery regiment at the south shoulder of the salient near the German strongpoint of Maiaki, north of Slavyansk; the 1118th Rifle Regiment and a battalion of the artillery regiment was serving as 9th Army's reserve at Barvenkovo. From May 7–15, Southern Front made an unsuccessful attempt to take Maiaki using most of the 333rd plus much of the remaining 9th Army reserves, including 5th Cavalry Corps. Lt. Gen. I. K. Bagramyan, chief of staff of Southwestern Front, would later blame this action for the ensuing failure and disaster of the Kharkov offensive because it put those reserves in a position where they were unable to immediately react to the German counteroffensive which struck 9th Army on May 17.This attack pierced the lines well west of Maiaki, and by the end of the day had captured most of Barvenkovo from the 1118th Regiment and units of the 34th Cavalry Division. The gunners of 897th Artillery Regiment showed considerable heroism on the approaches to the town. As enemy tanks neared, Senior Lieutenant Parokhin's battery opened fire. The lead tank was destroyed, which forced the tank column to halt. The battery then opened very heavy fire and put another nine tanks out of action. When the fighting reached the town, Sergeant Sukhonos' gun team destroyed four tanks by direct fire and forced the rest to retreat. Under cover of this antitank action by field artillery, the remnants of the 1118th Regiment withdrew to the northwest part of the town, which was shielded by the Sukhoi Torets River, and were supported by units of the 341st Rifle Division. Meanwhile, the main forces of the division, along with 51st Rifle Division, repelled enemy attacks aimed at crossings over the Northern Donets River in their sectors. Despite such local successes, by day's end the 9th Army had been shattered, with many elements partly or completely encircled.
On May 18, German mobile forces penetrated the 5th Cavalry Corps' positions at the juncture of 30th and 60th Cavalry Divisions and moved north towards Izium, leaving the 333rd in their wake. On the following day the 1118th Regiment, now backed by elements of 23rd Tank Corps, continued to resist at the junction of 9th and 57th Armies northwest of Barvenkovo, while main forces concentrated just west of Izium. The division was still in these positions on May 22 when the German forces closed the pocket, leaving the 1118th Regiment hopelessly encircled while the 1116th and 1120th Regiments remained in relative safety outside. On the 24th the latter regiments took up positions along the Donets to try to assist any Soviet troops trying to break through the corridor, but only small numbers were able to do so over the next several days.
Operation Blue
In June the division began rebuilding its 1118th Rifle Regiment, under command of Lt. Col. Pavel Mikhailovich Volosatykh; he would remain in command of the regiment for the next year. This had barely got underway when, in preparation for Operation Blue, First Panzer Army launched Operation Fridericus II on June 22. The 333rd was near the right flank of its army, due west of Izium, and within days was partly encircled but managed to extricate most of its forces. As Operation Blue began, the division found itself being chased across the steppes by German armor. By July 10 it was back in the rebuilding 57th Army, attempting to reinforce 38th Army in the Kantemirovka area and help rescue the encircled 28th Army, but its resources weren't close to adequate for this. By the night of July 11–12 the division was falling back to a new line nearer to the lower Don.Not long after this, the much-depleted 333rd was pulled back into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. The division came under the command of Colonel M.I. Matveev on July 26. As of August 31 it was in 4th Reserve Army, about 300 km northwest of Stalingrad; it was later transferred to 10th Reserve Army. On October 1 the STAVKA ordered the division to be assigned to the new Don Front, along with six other rebuilt rifle divisions. On October 22, a new Southwestern Front was formed, west of Don Front, and on the 25th the 333rd was transferred to this Front.
Operation Uranus
As the buildup to Operation Uranus continued, the division was assigned to 21st Army in Southwestern Front, along with the 277th and 293rd Rifle Divisions, also from 10th Reserve Army. 21st Army was assigned to build the inner ring of encirclement of the German forces at Stalingrad from the north, attacking from the bridgehead over the Don at Kletskaya. When the operation began on November 19, the 333rd was on the right flank of the second echelon of its Army, backing the 4th Tank Corps and 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps. The attack struck the Romanian 13th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions, and soon began pushing them aside. On the following day, the division entered the breach and began exploiting to the southwest. On the morning of the 21st, the remaining forces of Romanian 3rd Army, in complete disarray, were formed, in theory, into Group Lascar, but this grouping was already nearly encircled by the right flank forces of 21st Army, in conjunction with the left flank of 5th Tank Army to the west. On November 21, the 333rd linked up with 50th Guards Rifle Division at Golovsky, and the Romanian forces were encircled. During the following days the division was retained to help liquidate Group Lascar, while other infantry elements of 21st Army continued to exploit the breakthrough. A column of about 8,000 Romanian troops, mostly from their 15th Infantry Division, under General Sion, managed to evade the 119th Rifle Division and cross the Tsaritsa River, with about 3,000 eventually linking up with 22nd Panzer Division. Meanwhile, the main Romanian force ceased fighting at 2320 hrs. on November 23, and over the next 12 hours over 27,000 officers and men surrendered.With this duty done, the rifle divisions in the rear of 21st Army began closing up to the area of Kalach from the west to assist the struggling mobile corps in forming the inner ring of encirclement; by nightfall on the 24th the 333rd reached Malogolubaia, 24 km north of that town. However, 5th Tank Army was having difficulty establishing itself at, and crossing, the Chir River in the face of continuing resistance from XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and various scratch German/Romanian forces. 24 hours later, after clearing Romanian forces from the region southwest of Raspopinskaia, the division was reassigned to 5th Tank, and began marching south towards the Chir, reaching that line late on November 26 and joined there by 40th Guards and 321st and 258th Rifle Divisions from 65th Army. The 333rd joined 119th Rifle Division's attack on the German defenses outside the town of Surovikino, which continued until the end of the month. Battalion-sized assaults by the division against Group Schmidt's defenses forced Schmidt to withdraw roughly halfway back to the town. As the day progressed, the division slid one of its rifle regiments southeast towards Golovskii, 10 km southeast of the town, attempting to identify a weak spot in the German defenses and exploit it by pushing southward across the river. On November 29, Col. Matveev concentrated all three of his rifle regiments east of Surovikino and then moved them 8 km southwest along the bank of the Chir overnight. The next day, attacking at dawn, the division liberated Dmitrievka Station, 10 km southeast of Surovikino, and forced their way across the Chir to capture the villages of Golovkii and Ostrovskii, south of the river, from German Group Kortner. These positions were soon fortified, and proved deep enough to bring additional forces across the Chir.
By the beginning of December it had become clear to the STAVKA that the number of enemy troops encircled at Stalingrad was far greater than they had anticipated, that the pocket would not be liquidated quickly, and that attempts to relieve the pocket were likely. The closest German forces to the pocket were on the lower Chir, so Southwestern and Don Fronts were ordered to begin an offensive on December 7 and continue it until those forces were incapable of conducting a relief operation. The most important preliminary task was to enlarge the 333rd's bridgehead so that 1st Tank Corps could be concentrated in it. Accordingly, the division, along with 6th Guards Cavalry Division, liberated the villages of Savinskii and Lisinskii, doubling the width and depth of the bridgehead. When the Chir Offensive began on the 7th, the 333rd was deployed with 1120th Rifle Regiment on the left, facing 1st Battalion of the German 336th Infantry Division's 687th Regiment; 1118th Regiment in the center, opposite 3rd Battalion of 686th Regiment; and 1116th Regiment on the right, facing battalion-sized Battlegroup von Buddenbroch from 7th German Air Force Field Division. 1st Tank Corps and 8th Motorcycle Regiment were formed up directly in the division's rear.