The 285th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the

Soviet Union 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 ...

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 ...

. Formed in the summer of 1941, the division entered combat during the fall of that year, fighting in operations attempting to break the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

. The division fought in the same area until the relief of Leningrad in February 1944, when it began advancing into the Baltic states. The division served in the Baltic states until October, when it transferred south to Poland, where it fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and Silesian Offensives in early 1945. The division was disbanded soon after the end of the war in the summer of 1945.

History

The 285th began forming on 2 July 1941 at

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

, part of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

. Its basic order of battle included the 1013th, 1015th, and 1017th Rifle Regiments, as well as the 835th Artillery Regiment. While still forming in early September, the 285th was assigned to the 54th Army, also forming to the east of

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. The division was transferred to the 4th Army for its first combat in the Tikhvin Defensive and Tikhvin Offensive operations between October and December. By the beginning of 1942 the 285th had been transferred back to the 54th Army, which became part of the Volkhov Front, holding positions on the Volkhov River to the east and southeast of Leningrad. In February 1944, the front was disbanded after the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive ended the

, and the 54th Army became part of the

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front () was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately ...

. The division was transferred to the 3rd Baltic Front's 67th Army in April 1944. The division served with the 67th Army or the 1st Shock Army fighting in the Baltic states until October, when it transferred to the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK () or RGK ( comprises reserve military formations and units; the ''Stavka'' ...

. The 285th was subsequently transferred to the 21st 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 ...

, with which it moved south. As part of the 21st Army's 55th Rifle Corps, the division fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the Silesian Offensives in early 1945. The 285th remained with the army until the end of the war. The division was disbanded in the summer of 1945 with the Central Group of Forces.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

285th Division veterans' website
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945