The 24th Cavalry Division () was a cavalry 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 ...

during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

and

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 ...

. It was a prewar division assigned to 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 ...

on 22 June 1941. The division was assigned there after participating in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

History

The 24th Cavalry Division was formed in accordance with a directive dated 25 August 1935, part of the 3rd Cavalry Corps of the

Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

. By 1 June 1936 it had been fully formed, manned at cadre strength, with 6,600 personnel. Based at

Lepel Lyepyel or Lepel (; , ; ; ) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus, located near Lyepyel Lake on the Vula River. It serves as the administrative center of Lyepyel District. Its population in the 1998 census was 19,400. As of 2024, it has a pop ...

, it included the 93rd, 94th, 95th, and 96th Cavalry Regiments, the 24th Mechanized Regiment, the 24th Horse Artillery Regiment, the 24th Separate Sapper Squadron, and the 24th Separate Communications Squadron. ''

Kombrig () is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command a brigade sized formation (X ...

'' Pyotr Antonov commanded the division from its formation until his arrest in January 1938 during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

; he was replaced in June of that year by ''Kombrig''

Pyotr Akhlyustin Pyotr Nikolayevich Akhlyustin (; 12 June 1896 – 28 July 1941) was a Red Army major general. Akhlyustin fought in World War I as a cavalryman and joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, becoming a junior commander. He held command pos ...

, who commanded the division until March 1941.

Invasion of Poland

The division participated in the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

during September and October 1939. The division was assigned to the Lepelskaya Group of the Belorussian Front's 3rd Army.

Soviet order of battle for invasion of Poland in 1939 The Soviet order of battle for the invasion of Poland in 1939 details the major combat units arrayed for the Soviet surprise attack on Poland on September 17, 1939. As a result of joining battle after the Germans had already launched their inva ...

Winter War

World War II

The division was awarded the name of

Semyon Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (; ; – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War. Born to a Ukrainian family in Bessarabia, ...

as an honorific on 6 November 1940, becoming the 24th S.K. Timoshenko Cavalry Division (). Assigned as an independent division in the

when the war began. The division lost the 24th Tank Regiment in August 1941. The division was called forward to the

STAVKA The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

Reserves in October 1941. The division first went into action with the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of 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 ...

's 30th Army north and west of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On 1 January 1942 the division was assigned to the 11th Cavalry Corps. Despite being at 30% strength the division went on the offensive. While most of the 11th Cavalry Corps was destroyed in the spring and summer of 1942 the 24th Cavalry managed to survive as a separate division in various armies of the

. The division did send most of the remainder of 1942 in army and front reserves. On 1 January 1943 the division was finally assigned to STAVKA reserves. The division was there for two months. However, it is unclear if the division received any reinforcements during this period. The division was sent to the Western Front where it remained in front reserves, out of combat until June. On 21 June 1943 the division was disbanded and used to reinforce the divisions of the

2nd Guards Cavalry Corps The 3rd Cavalry Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. History As part of the 11th Army, it took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. The Corps was recreated on November 20, 1941 on the basis of the Dovator Cavalry Group. For i ...

Subordinate Units

18th Cavalry Regiment The 18th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. The 1st Squadron, 18th Cavalry Regiment, is the reconnaissance element of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the California Army National Guard. History ...

*56th Cavalry Regiment *70th Cavalry Regiment *135th Cavalry Regiment *24th Tank Regiment

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 024 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 024 Military units and formations of the Soviet invasion of Poland Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War