The 181th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet

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 ...

during

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 ...

that was active from 1940-1945.

First formation

It was formed in August–September 1940, after the forced annexation of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, based on the

Kurzeme Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

and Vidzeme Divisions of the Latvian Army. The division wore the old uniforms of the Latvian Army with Soviet insignia and were also equipped with weaponry of the former army, which made them stand out from other units of the Red Army. It became part of the

24th Rifle Corps The 24th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army. It was part of the 27th Army and took part in the Great Patriotic War. It appears to have been initially formed in the Kalinin Military District, around what is today Tver, in 1939. In 1940 it wa ...

. It was stationed in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. It was part of the 'operational army' during World War II from 22 June 1941 to 16 October 1941. On June 22, 1941, it was stationed at summer camps in the

Gulbene Gulbene (; ) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is an administrative center of Gulbene Municipality. History Historical documents first mention the 1224 land division act between the Livonian Order, Order of the Sword Brothers and ...

area in an abbreviated format. Here until July 29, the division was expanded to full wartime strength. From the beginning of the war

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

Latvians Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language ...

began, and from June 29, 1941, according to some sources, they began their

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...

. More precisely, Latvians were simply released from house to house, previously disarmed - all more than 2,000 people (mostly from old time required). The division was completed with personnel of the interior regions of the USSR. The main body (about 30% of the total force) came from the central and southern areas of the current

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

. However, the core personnel were Latvian. The combat training level of the Latvian Riflemen was quite high - many of them received awards and honors from the commanders in the war, including for their period of stay in the 181st Division. The division was wiped out at

Staraya Russa Staraya Russa (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...

in September 1941. The division was formally disbanded after defeats during

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 ...

on 16 October 1941.

Second formation

It was briefly recreated at

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, wiped out at Kalach in August 1942.

Third formation

Created again at

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

from the 10th Rifle Division NKVD in February 1943, fought at Demyansk,

Korosten Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...

, and in Poland and Germany. Later the division was assigned to the 6th Army of the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

in May 1945.

Organization in 1941

Organization of the division in 1941: * Headquarters * 186th Rifle Regiment * 195th Rifle Regiment * 243rd Rifle Regiment * 639th Light Artillery Regiment * 640th Howitzer Artillery Regiment * 16th Anti-Tank Battalion * 186th Anti-Aircraft Battalion * 113th Reconnaissance Battalion * 296th Engineer Battalion * 169th Signal Battalion * 202nd Medical Battalion * 29th Supply Battalion * 257th Chemical Defense Company

Notes

References

*Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, ''The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War'', Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. . Poirer and Conner primarily used the wartime files of the German

Foreign Armies East Foreign Armies East (, founded in 1938), operated as a military-intelligence organization of the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH) - the Supreme High Command of the German Army before and during World War II. It focused on analyzing the Soviet Uni ...

('FHO') intelligence section, of which substantial sections are now held by the U.S. National Archives.

External links

Справочник на сайте клуба «Память» Воронежского госуниверситета

Перечень № 5 стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизий, входивших в состав действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны
*

Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence The Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; TsAMO RF) are located in Podolsk, just south of the city of Moscow. As a departmental archive of Russia, it stores documents of different staffs and offices, associatio ...

(TsAMO RF) 873, 3455. * В.Терентьев — История 181-й стрелковой дивизии РККА. СПб; Нестор, 2006. 100 с. * В.Терентьев — Девять дней 1941 года. СПб; Нестор, 2008. 84 с. {{Soviet Union divisions

181 Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 181 for this ye ...

Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner