134th Rifle Division

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134th Rifle Division (September 15, 1939 – December 27, 1941)
134th Rifle Division (January 3, 1942 – July 1945)
Active1939–1945
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army (1939-46)
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsOperation Barbarossa
Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Battle of Moscow
Battles of Rzhev
Smolensk operation
Operation Bagration
Lublin–Brest offensive
Vistula–Oder offensive
Battle of Berlin
DecorationsOrder of Lenin Order of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov 2nd Class Order of Suvorov (All 2nd Formation)
Battle honoursVerdinsk (2nd Formation)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Kombrig Vladimir Kuzmich Bazarov
Col. Mikhail Arsentevich Zashibalov
Col. Pavel Nikolaevich Solovyov
Maj. Gen. Vasilii Nikitich Dalmatov
Col. Aleksandr Petrovich Kvashnin
Maj. Gen. Erofei Vladimirovich Dobrovolskii
Col. Semyon Semyonovich Chernichenko
Col. Evgenii Yakovlevich Birstein
Maj. Gen. Vladimir Nikolaevich Martsinkevich
Col. Aleksandr Gerasimovich Boytsov
Maj. Gen. Vladimir Filippovich Stenin

The 134th Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in early September 1939 in the Kharkov Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13. At the start of the German invasion in June 1941 it was part of 19th Army, located in the Poltava Oblast, but soon began moving by rail toward Vitebsk.

1st Formation

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The first 134th Rifle Division was formed on September 15, 1939, at Kramatorsk in the Kharkov Military District,[1] based on a cadre from the 80th Rifle Division. Kombrig Vladimir Kuzmich Bazarov was immediately assigned to command; this officer had previously led the 40th Rifle Division during the Battle of Lake Khasan. At the time of the German invasion it was part of the 25th Rifle Corps (with the 127th and 162nd Rifle Divisions) of Lt. Gen. I. S. Konev's 19th Army,[2] moving through eastern Ukraine. Its order of battle was as follows:

  • 515th Rifle Regiment
  • 629th Rifle Regiment
  • 738th Rifle Regiment
  • 410th Artillery Regiment[3]
  • 534th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
  • 235th Antitank Battalion
  • 156th Antiaircraft Battalion
  • 156th Reconnaissance Company
  • 249th Sapper Battalion
  • 229th Signal Battalion
  • 231st Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
  • 103rd Motor Transport Battalion
  • 225th MOtorized Field Bakery
  • 878th Field Postal Station
  • 412th Field Office of the State Bank

19th Army was in the High Command Reserve, and was ordered north to the Vitebsk area, to join Western Front. Between July 7 and 10 the 134th offloaded north of Smolensk.[4]

Battle of Vitebsk

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By late on July 9 forces of 3rd Panzer Group had created a serious breach in the Red Army's defenses around Vitebsk. The front commander, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, ordered Konev to counterattack to restore the situation despite the fact his Army was not yet assembled. The 134th took part in the counterattack the next day, which faltered after two days of heavy fighting due to the lack of coordination and reserves. By nightfall on July 12 both motorized corps of the Panzer Group were over the Dvina River and fanning out around Vitebsk. By the end of July 13 the 162nd and 134th were moving into the area east of Smolensk, but the remainder of 19th Army was strung out along the poor roads between that city and the area east of Vitebsk. 25th Corps was fighting in a salient east of Orsha which had been formed by XXXIX and XXXXVI Motorized Corps pushing toward Smolensk. Timoshenko continued to attempt to retake Vitebsk with counterattacks that included the 134th as late as July 16, but these made no progress at all. Adding to the turmoil, the commander of the Corps, Maj. Gen. S. M. Chestokhvalov, had been captured on July 13.[5]

Battle of Smolensk

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Timoshenko was not immediately aware that Army Group Center had taken Orsha and had completed an encirclement of Western Front's forces north of the Dniepr River, east of that city and west of Smolensk. The elongated pocket contained most of 20th Army, what remained of two mechanized corps, and five divisions of 19th Army, including all of 25th Corps, for a total of 20 divisions of several types. However, the rapid advance had taken a toll of the German forces as well, with the 18th Panzer Division, as an example, holding blocking positions with only 12 operable tanks on strength. Furthermore, German infantry divisions were still well to the rear. At 2000 hours on July 18 Timoshenko issued an operational summary to the STAVKA which stated, in part, that 19th Army was "withdrawing in disorder". In the wake of the fall of Vitebsk on July 11 the 134th had joined up with 22nd Army as the 19th Panzer Division and 14th Motorized Division struck north toward Nevel and Velikiye Luki. On the night of July 19/20 the commander of that Army, Lt. Gen. F. A. Yershakov, organized a strike group that overran a sector of the overstretched 14th Motorized to escape encirclement, eventually causing 19th Panzer to withdraw from Velikiye Luki. In his report to the STAVKA early on July 21 Ershakov stated that, while the largest part of his forces had freed themselves and were regrouping, he had lost contact with Bazarov's headquarters, although two of his rifle battalions had been assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.[6]

Postwar

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According to STAVKA Order No. 11095 of May 29, part 6, the 134th was listed as one of those divisions to be "disbanded in place".[7] In accordance with this directive the division was disbanded in July.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 68
  2. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10
  3. ^ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 68
  4. ^ Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 68
  5. ^ David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., chs. 2, 3
  6. ^ Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 3, 6
  7. ^ STAVKA Order No. 11095

Bibliography

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  • Grylev, A. N. (1970). Перечень № 5. Стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизии, входивших в состав Действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 гг [List (Perechen) No. 5: Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized divisions, part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. p. 66
  • Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 165-66
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