The 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division was a division of the

Soviet Ground Forces The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. The full name of its predecessor division was the ''10th Guards Rifle Pechengskii, Twice Order of the Red Banner, Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of the Red Star Division''. (''Russian: 10ая гвардейская стрелковая Печенгский, дважды орденом Красного Знамени, орденом Александра Невского, орденом Красной звезда дивизия.'') The 10th Guards Rifle Division was formed from the

52nd Rifle Division The 52nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, the interwar period, World War II, and the Cold War, formed once during the Russian Civil War and three times during the existence of the Soviet Union. ...

in late 1941.

History

In 1939 the 52nd Rifle Division took part in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

, then during the Winter War in the Battle of Petsamo. At the outbreak of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

the division was still in the far north, near

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. As part of 14th Army it defended against the German Mountain Corps Norway's assault towards the port which began on 19 June 1941, and was finally brought to a halt along the Litsa River line on 21 Sept. In recognition of its role in the successful defense of Murmansk, the division was renamed and reorganized as the 10th Guards Rifle Division on 26 Dec, with the following order of battle: * 24th Guards Rifle Regiment * 28th Guards Rifle Regiment * 35th Guards Rifle Regiment * 29th Guards Artillery Regiment It was one of the few Guards formations formed or deployed by the Red Army in the Arctic during the war. During the defense the 10th Guards was engaged in 150 fights of local importance. At the end of April 1942, it began a counterattack which was unsuccessful. The counterattack failed due to severe weather conditions and a strong

snowstorm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, Rain and snow mixed, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In Continental cl ...

on the previous day. Along with most units of the static

Karelian Front The Karelian Front ) was a front (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia. Wartime The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when Northern Front was split into Karelian ...

, during the next two years the division operated at minimal strength in its rifle units in order to conserve manpower for the main front to the south; however it also formed a divisional ski battalion for rear area security.Sharp, ''Red Guards'', p 46 In Sept. – Oct. 1944 the division was subordinated to 131st Rifle Corps, itself reporting to 14th Army. Beginning on 7 October 1944, it participated in the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation and was in the first echelon advancing to the building on Mount Small Karikvayvish and seized a bridgehead on the west bank of the

Titovka River The Titovka (, ) is a river in the north of the Kola Peninsula in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The Titovka originates in the lake Koshkayavr and flows into the Motovsky Gulf of Barents Sea. Its biggest tribut ...

on 8 Oct. After four days of fighting for the Luostari on 14 Oct 10 Guards crossed the

Pechenga River The Pechenga (, ) is a river in Murmansk Oblast, Russia (Kola Peninsula). It is the namesake for the Pechenga settlement, Pechenga Monastery and the Pechenga District. The river discharges into the Pechenga Bay by the Barents Sea coast. The L ...

west of Kakkuri and participated in the liberation of Pechenga. After the liberation of Pechenga the division attacked

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

, supported by the 378th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment. Once the Germans had been forced back into Norway the offensive came to a halt and Karelian Front went into STAVKA reserve. In December the division was reassigned to 19th Army, which in turn was assigned to Gen. K.K. Rokossovski's

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...

. It crossed Poland and was positioned in Ostrow-Mazowiecki in January 1945. On 26 February, during the East Pomeranian Offensive, the division moved from Baldenberg and turned northeast to

Rummelsburg Rummelsburg () is a subdivision or neighborhood (''Ortsteil'') of the Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg, Berlin, Lichtenberg of the German capital, Berlin. History Rummelsburg was founded in 1669. On 30 Jan ...

and on 3 March captured Rummelsburg. On 21 March, 10th Guards was relocated to the right flank of the army – 30 km southwest of and then advanced towards Pustkovits-Gdynia. After helping to take

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

on 31 March the division joined forces with 1st Polish Tank Brigade and attacked Zagorje, east of Janowo, located on the peninsula formed by the Gulf Puttsger Vic and the river Rod. By the end of April, the 10th Guards was positioned in the forests northeast of

Treptow Treptow () was a former borough in the southeast of Berlin. It merged with Köpenick to form Treptow-Köpenick in 2001. Geography The district was composed by the localities of Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald, Baumschulenweg, Niederschönewei ...

and covered the coast of

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

from Kohlberg to Valddivinov. The division mopped-up the forests, eliminating small scattered groups of German troops. In the last days of the war, the division crossed the delta of the river

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

at Swinemünde and was engaged in fighting on the island of

Usedom Usedom ( , ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It lies north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the ...

before the German surrender.

Postwar Service

In the postwar period it moved to

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

in the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

, joining the

Transcaucasus Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

. It was active there by 1 January 1947, being converted into a mountain rifle division in 1949. In 1962 it became the 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division, part of 31st Army Corps. The division was disbanded in March 1992, with its lineage, honours and awards transferred to the 67th Motor Rifle Division in the Far East, which was redesignated as the 115th Guards Motor Rifle Division.Michael Holm/V.I. Feskov et al.
10th Guards Motorised Rifle Division
2015.

Subordination September 1944 – May 1945

Order of battle

* 24th Guards Rifle Regiment * 28th Guards Rifle Regiment of the Red Banner * 35th Guards Rifle Regiment * 29th Guards Artillery Regiment * 14th Guards Anti-tank Battalion * 4th Guards Anti-aircraft Battery (up to 4 June 1943) * 21st Guards Mortar Battalion (until 29 October 1942) * 13th Guards Reconnaissance Company * 1st Guards Sapper Battalion * 8th Guards Signal Company * 12th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion * 7th Guards Chemical Protection Company * 5th Guards Truck Company * 6th Guards Field Bakery Company * 3rd Guards Veterinary Company

Commanders

* Finnish, Nicola Nicholas (1941), Major General * Pashkovskii, Michael Kazimirovich (26 December 1941 – 2 March 1942),

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

* Krasilnikov, Daniel Yefimovich (3 March 1942 – 23 July 1942), Major General * Khudalov, Chariton A. (24 July 1942 – 29 November 1943), Colonel, as of 27 November 1942 Major General * Grebenkin, Fedor Alekseevich (30 November 1943 – 23 March 1944), Colonel * Khudalov, Chariton A. (24 March 1944 – 9 May 1945), Major General

Awards and name

Heroes of the Soviet Union

Memory

* Murmansk School-Museum from the School No. 26. * Museum of professional construction school No. 48 of Moscow – Museum "Heroic Path 10th Guards Rifle Division"

References

* * Khudalov J.A., ''At the Edge of the Continent, 2nd Ed.'', Ordzhonikidze, 1978 * Veschezersky G.A., ''At Cold Rocks'', Moscow, 1965 * Rumyantsev N.M., ''The Defeat of the Enemy in the Arctic (1941–1944)'', Moscow, 1963

External links

Directory
* ttp://www.soldat.ru/files/ The Battle membership of the Soviet Army, 1941–1945br>The list No. 5 of rifle, mountain rifle and mechanized divisions as part of the active army in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
{{Soviet Union divisions G010 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner