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The 316th Rifle Division was formed as a
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 ...
division during World War II. The division was initially formed in July 1941, renamed the
8th Guards Rifle Division The 8th Guards Motor Rifle Panfilov Division (; ) originally the 316th Rifle Division, is a motorized infantry division of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic. Formed as a Soviet Red Army division during World War II, it was dissolved in 20 ...
on 18 November 1941. The division was recreated at Vjasniki in July 1942, fought in the early battles around Stalingrad and was disbanded in November 1942. The division was recreated for the third time from the 57th and 131st Rifle Brigades in September 1943. The division ended the war assigned to the 27th Army of the
3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front () was a Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Guards Army, 8th Gua ...
.


History


1st Formation

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front. On 12 July 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was established in Alma Ata, the capital of the
Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...
. Major General
Ivan Panfilov Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov (; – 18 November 1941) was a Soviet Union, Soviet general and a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union, known for his command of the 8th Guards Rifle Division, 316th Rifle Division during the Battle of Moscow, defense of ...
, the military commissar of the
Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR), also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), KySSR or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirgiz SSR), was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of ...
, was appointed its commander. The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics; when formed, the division was noted as being 90 percent Kazakh and Kirgiz, with 10 percent Russians. It consisted of three infantry regiments: the 1073rd, the 1075th and the 1077th. The 316th soldiers' were sworn in on 1 August, and boarded trains to the front from the 18th to the 20th. They arrived in
Borovichi Borovichi () is the second largest town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Msta River in the northern spurs of the Valdai Hills, east of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2010 Census, its populati ...
, near Malaya Vishera, in late August. Intense fighting against the Germans already took place in the region, as part of the campaign to defend Leningrad from the attack of Army Group North. The 316th was involved in several skirmishes, but on 8 September was consigned as the reserve of the 52nd Army. It spent a month in the rear.


Subordinate Units

*1073rd Rifle Regiment *1075th Rifle Regiment *1077th Rifle Regiment *857th Artillery Regiment *597th Sapper Battalion *690th Rifle Regiment (Attached from 126th Rifle Division) 14 October


2nd Formation

Formed in late June to 10 July 1942 at
Vyazniki Vyazniki () is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Vyazniki, Vladimir Oblast, a town in Vyaznikovsky District of Vladimir Oblast ;Rural localities *Vyazniki, Samara Oblast ...
in 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 ...
. The cadre for the unit came from either the 41st, 52nd or 157th Rifle Brigades. The division was assigned to the 9th Reserve Army in the STAVKA reserve and remained there until late August. The division was then assigned to the 8th Reserve Army and remained assigned to the army when it was redesignated as the 66th Army on 24 August and sent south to the Stalingrad Front. From the divisions arrival at the front in September it fought under the 24th, 66th, and 1st Guards Armies. The division was practically destroyed in the fighting and on 4 November 1942 the division headquarters was disbanded and the remnants of the division used to reinforce the 260th Rifle Division.


Subordinate Units

*1073rd Rifle Regiment *1075th Rifle Regiment *1077th Rifle Regiment *857th Artillery Regiment *597th Sapper Battalion


3rd Formation

The third formation of the 316th Rifle Division began on Sept. 3, 1943, based on the 57th Rifle Brigade and the 131st Rifle Brigade in the
11th Rifle Corps The 11th Rifle Corps () was a corps of the Soviet Red Army, Red Army, formed twice. The 11th was first formed in 1922 in the Petrograd area but soon moved to the Belorussian Military District. After fighting in the Soviet invasion of Poland, the c ...
of 9th Army of the
North Caucasus Front The North Caucasus Front, also translated as North Caucasian Front, was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. The North Caucasus Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. First Creation The ...
. Its order of battle remained as previous. Postwar, the division moved to Mogilev-Podolsky with the 37th Rifle Corps. It was disbanded either before or around July 1946 when the corps disbanded.Feskov et al 2013, p. 463


In popular culture

The first formation of the 316th, and specifically one battalion of the 1073rd Rifle Regiment, commanded by Senior Lieutenant Bauyrzhan Momyshuly, in the battles before Moscow, was immortalized in Aleksandr Bek's novel Volokolamsk Highway.


See also

* List of infantry divisions of the Soviet Union 1917–1957


References

* {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 316 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union 1946 disestablishments in the Soviet Union