299th Rifle Division
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The 299th 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 ...
's
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 twice. The division was first formed in the summer of 1941 and was destroyed during the
Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
in the fall of that year. The division was reformed in June 1942 and fought in the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...
, the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation and the Belgrade Offensive, before being disbanded postwar in the summer of 1945.


History


First Formation

The 299th Division began forming on 10 July 1941 at
Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...
, part of the
Orel Military District The Orel Military District () was a military district of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. Established in 1918 during the Russian Civil War, the district was disbanded after the end of the war in 1922. It was re ...
. Its basic order of battle included the 956th, 958th, and the 960th Rifle Regiments, as well as the 843rd Artillery Regiment and 363rd Reconnaissance Company. In early August, the division moved west to the
Bryansk Front The Bryansk Front () was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the World War II, Second World War. First Formation (August - November 1941) General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it fi ...
, where it was assigned to the 50th Army by the end of August. The 299th was caught up in
Operation Typhoon The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
, the German attack on Moscow, at the end of September. Although it was not trapped in the Bryansk pocket, the division suffered heavy losses in the fighting in October and early November, and on 18 November only 800 men were left in the division. On 3 December, the 299th was officially disbanded, possibly to add replacements to one of the other divisions preparing for the Soviet counteroffensive at Moscow.


Second Formation

The 299th Rifle Division was reformed on 6 June 1942 from a rifle brigade at
Kovrov Kovrov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Oka River, Oka. Kovrov's population as of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census was 132,4 ...
, 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 was the same as the previous formation, and it was quickly assigned to the 10th Reserve Army in 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'' ...
. In August the 299th was transferred to the 8th Reserve Army, which became the 66th Army. The division moved with the army to the Stalingrad Front. As part of the 66th Army, the 299th fought in
Operation Uranus Operation Uranus () was a Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad: the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romani ...
in November, the Soviet counteroffensive which encircled the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. The division then fought in
Operation Ring Operation Ring (; , ), known in Azerbaijan as Operation Chaykand () was the codename for the May 1991 military operation conducted by the Soviet Army, Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union), Ministry of Internal Af ...
during January and February 1943, which eliminated the pocket. While the army was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, the 299th transferred to the 53rd Army in the Steppe Military District (Steppe Front from July). In August the division fought in the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation, during which it was in the second echelon of the 53rd Army attack which broke through to recapture Kharkov on 23 August. For its actions, the 299th was awarded the honorific "Kharkov." In January 1944, the 299th became part of the
5th Guards Army The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition o ...
. The division was transferred back and forth between the 53rd Army, the 5th Guards Army, and
2nd Ukrainian Front The 2nd Ukrainian Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. History On October 20, 1943, the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In mid-May 1944 Malinovsky took over the 2nd Ukrainian Front. During t ...
reserves until September. In September, during the advance into Yugoslavia, the division became part of the 57th Army's 75th Rifle Corps. The division fought in the Belgrade Offensive and then advanced into Hungary south of
Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
and
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. At the end of the war, the division was part of the 64th Rifle Corps, still with the 57th Army. The division was disbanded in the summer of 1945, part of the
Southern Group of Forces The Southern Group of Forces (YUGV) was a Soviet Armed Forces formation formed twice following the Second World War, most notably around the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. First Formation On June 15, 1945, the 26th and 37th Armies (fr ...
.


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Bibliography

* * * {{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