233rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 233rd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the ''shtat'' (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. As part of 20th Army it was moved from the Moscow Military District to the front west of Orsha by July 2. Serving under Western Front the 20th was soon pocketed in the Smolensk region and although remnants of the 233rd were able to escape the division was no longer combat-effective and was broken up for replacements in early August.

A new 233rd began forming between February and May 1942 in the Ural Military District, based on a rifle brigade, and largely from Azerbaijani nationals. After a fairly lengthy forming-up period near Moscow was sent south in August, eventually to Stalingrad Front, where it took part in the futile efforts to break through the German corridor to the city. After the Axis forces there were encircled the division fought as part of 65th Army into the factory district during Operation Koltso. Following the liquidation of the pocket it was moved north, eventually joining the 53rd Army of Steppe Front. Under these commands the 233rd advanced through eastern Ukraine to the Dniepr and won two battle honors in the fighting on both banks of the river, mostly as part of 75th Rifle Corps. In February 1944 it moved with its Corps to 4th Guards Army, in 2nd Ukrainian Front, serving under those commands during the first failed offensive into Moldavia. When the advance resumed in late August it was still with 75th Corps, now in 57th Army of 3rd Ukrainian Front, and took part in the operations that captured Bucharest and Belgrade. The division won the Order of the Red Banner for successfully crossing the Danube at Batina, but took heavy losses in fighting south of the Drava River in late December. During 1945 the 233rd helped defend against the German efforts to break the siege of Budapest and then advanced across Hungary into Austria as part of the 135th Rifle Corps in 26th Army. It was disbanded in the Balkans in October.

1st Formation

The division began forming on March 14, 1941, at Zvenigorod in the Moscow Military District. When completed it had the following order of battle:
* 703rd Rifle Regiment
* 724th Rifle Regiment
* 734th Rifle Regiment
* 684th Light Artillery Regiment
* 681st Howitzer Artillery Regiment
* 68th Antitank Battalion
* 429th Antiaircraft Battalion
* 275th Reconnaissance Battalion
* 384th Sapper Battalion
* 577th Signal Battalion
* 383rd Medical/Sanitation Battalion
* 328th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
* 298th Motor Transport Battalion
* 451st Field Bakery
* 675th Field Postal Station
* 545th Field Office of the State Bank
Col. Georgii Fyodorovich Kotov was appointed to command the division on the day it began forming and would lead it for the duration of the 1st formation. The 229th Rifle Division began forming the same day, also in the Moscow District, and the two could be considered "sister" divisions, sharing much the same combat path until the 233rd was disbanded.

Battle of Smolensk

On June 22 the 233rd was assigned to the 69th Rifle Corps, as part of 20th Army, in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and on July 1 it was still under this Corps and Army, officially joining the fighting front the following day to the west of Smolensk. At this time the Army was under the command of Lt. Gen. P. A. Kurochkin and the Corps also contained the 229th and 153rd Rifle Divisions. 20th Army was now part of the Group of Reserve Armies which had been assigned to Western Front and it had been ordered to prepare defenses along a sector on the approaches to Orsha. The Front was now under command of Marshal S. K. Timoshenko; he quickly assigned the 5th and 7th Mechanized Corps, with a total of over 1,500 tanks, to the support of the Army. It was more or less in place on July 2 when it was struck by elements of German 4th Army. By the end of July 5 the 233rd and 153rd were dug in in the Syanno region and were offering stiff resistance to the XXXIX Motorized Corps, imposing significant delays in difficult terrain south of the Western Dvina River, particularly against 7th Panzer Division.

At 0030 hours on July 5, as directed by Timoshenko, General Kurochkin ordered his Army to "prepare and conduct an attack against the flank and rear of the enemy grouping operating along the Polotsk axis." 7th Mechanized was to attack toward Beshankovichy and Lyepyel at 0600 hours and 69th Corps was to be prepared to follow. This counterblow effectively came to nothing apart heavy losses in tanks. By 2000 hours on July 13 the 233rd was reported as defending along a line from Kolenki to Staiki Station after helping to throw back German infantry from Bogushevskoe. Meanwhile, Timoshenko was planning a massive counteroffensive scheduled to begin that same day in which 20th Army would destroy the German forces that had crossed the Dniepr River near Astroŭna. Given the actual situation, no part of Timoshenko's plan was even remotely feasible. The next day the Marshal modified his directions to the Army; it was now to liquidate the penetrations in the Orsha and Shklow areas by the end of July 16 but this was no more realistic.

In heavy fighting on July 15 the 17th Panzer Division captured Orsha and, together with much of the rest of 2nd Panzer Group, drove the bulk of 20th and 19th Armies, including the 233rd and up to 19 other divisions of various types, into an elongated pocket along and north of the Dniepr west of Smolensk. During the prolonged struggle for the pocket the 20th and 19th Armies frequently shifted their forces to counter the German's blows. Specifically, 69th Corps defended the western and northwestern flanks from the BarysawSmolensk road northward to the Rudnya region. Timoshenko reported on July 18 that the 229th and 233rd were defending south and southeast of Dobromysl "against a concentration of enemy motorized infantry with 2,000 vehicles, which have apparently run out of fuel, and elements of 17th PzD and 35th ID in the Bogushevskoe region." In a report made late on July 23 the 233rd was said to be fighting along a line 45 km northwest of Smolensk. By July 25 the division had left 69th Corps and was holding its existing positions along with the 73rd Rifle Division and the remnants of 5th Mechanised. As of noon on July 27 it was reported as:At this time the division was reported as having just 18 antitank guns on hand, only a third of the number authorized; its overall strength was roughly in the same proportion. By August 1 it had returned to 69th Corps, joining the 73rd and 144th Rifle Divisions.

The headquarters of Western Front was now proposing an attack toward Yartsevo in order to assist Group Rokossovsky in reestablishing supply lines to 16th and 20th Armies. At this time the pocket was located northeast and east of Smolensk and had shrunken in size to 20 km east to west and 28 km north to south and contained fewer than 100,000 men who were running out of food, fuel and ammunition. Late on August 2 the 5th Mechanized, backed by the remnants of the 229th and 233rd Divisions, were ordered to cross to the south bank of the Dniepr beginning at dawn the next day and take up new defenses from the mouth of the Vop River

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