The 77th Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

during World War II.

World War II and Stalingrad

The division traces its history to the 21st Division of the Moscow People's Militia, formed in July 1941. In August–September 1941 the division became the 173rd Rifle Division (2nd Formation). The first formation of the division had been destroyed in the Battle of Uman in early August 1941.
From the autumn of 1942, the 173rd Rifle Division participated in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, leading the defensive and offensive operations north-west of Stalingrad and in the city. In accordance with Order of the NKO number 104 dated March 1, 1943 173rd Rifle Division was converted to 77th Guards Rifle Division – for successful combat operations on the Stalingrad front. It was part of the 61st Army (June 1943 - February 1944) and the

69th Army The 69th Army (russian: 69-я армия) was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. History Formation, Operation Star, and Third Battle of Kharkov The army was formed in February 1943 with the ...

(April 1945 - May 1945).

After World War II

Reduced to 10th Brigade 1946–52, became 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division 1957 at Arkhangelsk. In the northern autumn of 1989 transferred to the Northern Fleet and became a coastal defence division. Reduced to 163rd Separate Coastal Defence Brigade on 1 December 1994. Brigade disbanded 1 March 1996. On November 28, 1998, the divisional banner and other regalia was given to the 332nd Naval Infantry Battalion of the

Caspian Flotilla Kaspiyskaya flotiliya , image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla , dates = No ...

, which became the 600th Moscow-Chernigov Naval Infantry Battalion. Reformed as 77th Brigade in December 2000, but disbanded in March 2009, though it appears the two separate subordinate Naval Infantry battalions remained.Warfare.be

References

*Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA., 2005. *Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. . {{Soviet Union divisions G077 Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1957 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner