The 105th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. Formed in the 1930s, the division spent

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on the border in Primorye, seeing its only combat in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. It was disbanded shortly after the war ended.

History

The 105th Rifle Division was formed in May 1936 in Primorye. The elements of the division were previously assigned to the Poltavka Fortified Region. On 22 June 1941, the division was a separate unit of the 25th Army of the Far Eastern Front. The division included the following elements: * 53rd Rifle Regiment * 130th Rifle Regiment * 267th Rifle Regiment * 102nd (former 215th) Artillery Regiment * 148th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (until January 1942) * 17th Reconnaissance Company * 57th Separate Anti-Tank Battalion * 464th Separate Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion (from 1942) * 88th Sapper Battalion * 55th Separate Signals Battalion (former 55th Separate Signals Company) * 498th Auto Transport Battalion (former 358th Auto Transport Company) * 92nd Medical-Sanitary Battalion * 100th Separate Chemical Defense Company * 36th Field Bakery The division spent most of

covering the border east of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. Colonel Vsevolod Seber commanded the division from 9 July 1943 and was promoted to major general on 22 April 1945. The 105th did not see action until August 1945, when it fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria as part of the 25th Army. With the army, the 105th became part of the 1st Far Eastern Front on 5 August and by 8 August concentrated in the area of Aleksey-Nikolskoye, Bogatyrka, and Ulitikha, with the task of covering the approaches to Voroshilov and securing the flank of the 25th Army. After the war began, the division was in the army reserve and from 14 to 18 August carried out a 140-kilometer march in difficult mountain and forest conditions to concentrate in the area of Sanchakou, Dulin, Laoheishan, and Shitoukhentsy. During the march the division was subjected to repeated attacks of Japanese sabotage groups, losing four killed and twelve wounded while being credited with killing 42 Japanese saboteurs. The division then conducted a 72 kilometer march to the area of Wangqing between 18 and 28 August. During the invasion, the division captured 4,925 Japanese soldiers and officers, 22 light and nine heavy machine guns, and 220 horses. The division was ordered disbanded by the 10 September order forming the Primorsky Military District from the 1st Far Eastern Front. The disbandment of the division was carried out during July 1946.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division: * Colonel Ivan Chistyakov (June 1938–July 1939) * Colonel Afanasy Kopychko (23 March 1941–7 August 1942) * Major General Yudel Leontyevich Gorodinsky (10–28 August 1942) * Colonel Vladimir Vasilievich Baranov (6 September 1942–2 March 1943) * Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Grigoryevich Smirnov (10 March–8 July 1943) * Colonel Vsevolod Ivanovich Seber (7 July 1943–March 1946, major general 22 April 1945)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1936 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946