The 42nd Rifle Division was a unit 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

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

. The division, first formed in 1940, was nearly destroyed in the opening days of the

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

defending the

Brest Fortress Brest Fortress (; ; ; ), formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress, is a 19th-century fortress in Brest, Belarus. In 1965, the title Hero Fortress was given to the fortress to commemorate the defence of the frontier stronghold during the fi ...

. Disbanded in late December 1941 and immediately reformed in the

Volga Military District The Volga Military District (PriVO) was a military district of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation that existed from 1918 to 1989 and 1992 to 2001. The district headquarters was located at Kazan, Saratov and Kuibyshev (Samara) at differen ...

. The division then served on the front until disbanded at the end of the war.

History

1st Formation

The division was formed on 17 January 1940 in the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

from individual infantry and construction battalions in the

Karelian Fortified Region The 22nd Karelian Fortified Region (KaUR; ) is a 60 km wide Soviet defensive fortified district to the north of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) that was built in 1928–1932, 1938–1939, 1941–1944 and 1950–1965 in the Soviet part of ...

. Kombrig Ivan Sidorovich Lazarenko was appointed as commander. In February 1940 it fought 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 ...

as part of the 7th Army's 34th Rifle Corps and on 27 February was assigned to the

10th Rifle Corps The 10th Rifle Corps (Military Unit Number 16058 until June 1956) was an infantry corps of the Red Army, which later became the 10th Army Corps after the Second World War. Interwar period The corps was formed by an order dated 12 July 1922 in ...

Talvisota Soviet infantry crossing Rajajoki

In June 1940 the division was sent to

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

as part of the 8th Army's

19th Rifle Corps The 19th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. The 1st Pacific Rifle Division was shifted into the 19th Rifle Corps of the Siberian Military District in June 1929 after the 5th Army (RSFSR), 5th Red Banner Army of the RSFSR was disband ...

, but was reassigned to the

Western Special Military District Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

to replace the 33rd Rifle Division. In the spring of 1941 the division was ordered to the area of Brest. As part of the 4th Army's

28th Rifle Corps The 28th Rifle Corps was a corps 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 estab ...

, the division was tasked to defend the right wing of the Brest Fortified Region from the mouth of the river to Drohiczyn Pulva. By early June 1941 the division was still not fully manned having about 8,000 assigned out of 14,500 authorized.

Beginning of the War

On 22 June 1941 the units of the division were in several places within the Brest covering region. The 459th Rifle Regiment, 472nd Artillery Regiment, 4th Antitank Battalion, and the 3rd Medical Battalion were in their training area around

Zhabinka Zhabinka is a town in Brest Region, in south-western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Zhabinka District. As of 2025, it has a population of 14,497. History Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Zhabinka was a part of Brest Li ...

. The remaining units were based in the

and the immediate surrounding areas. The massive artillery strike by the German 4th Army's 45th Infantry Division at 0400 on 22 June disrupted many of the division's units located inside the fortress. Many units inside the fortress dispersed into scattered groups and the division lost a significant number of personnel and most of its equipment. The 393rd Separate Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion escaped from the fortress with three of its guns, but no ammunition for them. In the Zhabinka training area the division managed to gather together two battalions of the 44th and 455th Rifle Regiments (mostly without weapons), as well as vehicles from the 7th Motorized Infantry Company of the 84th Reconnaissance Battalion. The rest of the division's surviving members were consolidated into a small number of groups, who either took up the

Defense of Brest Fortress The defense of Brest Fortress was the first battle of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union launched on 22 June 1941. The German Army attacked without warning, expecting to take Brest on the first day, using only infantry ...

or joined the 22nd Tank Division on the outskirts of Zhabenko in an attack to relieve the siege of Brest. The remaining parts of the 42nd Rifle Division, stationed east of Brest attempted a defense in the Kobrin District and the Birch-Kartuzskaya area. During the period 25–27 June the division lost all of its assigned artillery and together with the rest of the Soviet 4th Army attempted a series of delaying actions as they took up positions on the east bank of the

Berezina River The Berezina or Byarezina (, ; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is . The width of the river is 15–20 m, the maximum is 60 m. The ba ...

Babruysk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina, Berezina River. Bab ...

. The division fought a series of fierce defense battles in the area. By 1 July the occupied positions near Zhuravichi where it received 1,000 replacements. In early July the Western Front ordered to construct a defensive line along the Berezina River to the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

on the line of: Lyubanichi - Ohotichi - Ozerany - Shapchitsy to a depth of 5 km in order to counter possible enemy actions north of Bobruisk. The division along with local civilian parties built these barriers. Unfortunately these efforts proved worthless as German flank attacks thwarted these plans and the entire 4th Army was surrounded. By 4 July the division was completely unfit for combat, but yet managed to escape from the encirclement and gather in the Gorki- Vydrenka area. At this point the division had about 4,000 members, of which half were reservists who had arrived at the unit just before the war began.

Battle of Smolensk

After resupply the division, still assigned to the 4th Army's 28th Rifle Corps, took up positions, along with the rest of the Corps, in the second tier of the Soviet Western Front near Propoisk. However, the rapid breakthrough of German Panzer groups across the Dnieper line brought the division again under attack. By 15 July its divisions were pushed back from Propoisk and were surrounded, and the German 4th Panzer Division took the town. On 29 July, Colonel M.E. Kozyr with a group from the division headquarters and headquarters of the 44th Infantry Regiment, escaped from the encirclement. On 30 July, the 21st Army ordered the 42nd Division resubordinated to the 21st Rifle Corps, and then reassigned to the 67th Rifle Corps. In early August 1941 the division transferred to the 3rd Army and participated in the battles in the

Pripyat Marshes __NOTOC__ The Pripet Marshes or Pripyat Marshes (), also known as Pinsk Marshes (), the Polesie Marshes, and the Rokitno Marshes, are a vast natural region of wetlands in Polesia, along the forested basin of the Pripyat River and its tributaries f ...

. After leaving the Pripyat Marshes the 42nd Division again became a part of the 67th Corps of the 21st Army, now assigned 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 ...

Battle of Kiev

By 1 September 1941 the 67th Rifle Corps was deployed on the line Obolon - Reymentarovka - Zhadovo - Semenivka front to the east and began an offensive against the units of the

2nd Panzer Group The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Gude ...

. However, on 2 September the Corps came under the flank attack by the Das Reich Motorized Division and the German 1st Cavalry Division and began to withdraw to their original positions . By the end of 12 September, Soviet forces fought along the on line Grigorovka - Hvastovtsy - Nizhin. By 20 September a large group of Soviet troops, including the 42nd Division, was locked in Kiev cauldron. Likely destroyed by the end of September, the division was disbanded 27 December 1941. The 42nd Rifle Division name was assigned to one of the new units being formed at this time in the

Subordinate Units

: 44th Rifle Regiment : 455th Rifle Regiment : 459th Rifle Regiment (formerly 459th Light Motorized Rifle Rgt) : 472nd Artillery Regiment : 17th Howitzer Artillery Regiment : 4th Separate Antitank Artillery Battalion : 393rd Separate Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion : 84th Reconnaissance Company : 262nd Sapper Battalion : 18th Separate Signal Battalion : 3rd Medical Battalion : 35th Separate Chemical Defense Company : 158th Motor Transport Battalion : 9th Field Bakery : 188th Field Office of the State Bank

2nd Formation

Started forming on 27 December 1941 at

Volsk Volsk () is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, opposite the mouth of the Bolshoy Irgiz (a tributary of the Volga), northeast from Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2021 C ...

in the Volga Military District.Sharp and Russian Wiki both have 27 Dec 41 formation dates; Poirer and Connor, acting on FHO information, said January 1942. The division remained in the

until Mar 42 and was assigned to the STAVKA reserves for another two months before being assigned to the front line. Assigned to the

49th Army The 49th Combined Arms Army () is a combined arms ( field) army (CAA) of the Russian Ground Forces, formed in 2010 and headquartered in Stavropol. Military Unit в/ч 35181. Part of the Southern Military District, the army traces its heritage b ...

in the Western Front. The division had a quiet year with the 49th Army before being reassigned to the 33rd Army in April 43. As the Soviet summer offensive began the division, along with the 33rd Army, Western Front, and the neighboring fronts advanced west. The division participated in the Battle of Smolensk liberating the city in late September 1943. In June 1944, now back with the 49th Army the division took part in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

and the defeat of

Army Group Center Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

. The division fought towards

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, and the liberated

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

. The unit was awarded both the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

and the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...

II Class for it actions during this operation. In 1945 the division participated in the East Prussian Strategic Offensive Operation, fighting at Danzig,Poirer and Connor the East Pomeranian Strategic Offensive Operation, and the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operations. The division ended the war on the

Elbe River The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Germany and flo ...

near Ludwigslust. It was still part of the

of the

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...

. Initially, part of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, the division was ordered to disband in June 1945, and completed disbanding on 12 June 1945. Fought at Lenino, Mogilev.

Subordinate Units

* 44th Rifle Regiment * 455th Rifle Regiment * 459th Rifle Regiment * 472nd Artillery Regiment * 4th Antitank Battalion * 102nd Mortar Battalion (until 14 October 1942) * 84th Reconnaissance Company * 262nd Sapper Battalion * 563rd Separate Signals Battalion (formally 18th Sep. Signals Battalion, 158th Sep. Signals Company) * 3rd Medical Battalion (formally 607th Medical Battalion) * 504th Separate Chemical Defense Company * 166th Auto-Transport Company (formally 158th Auto-Transport Company) * 420th Field Bakery * 885th Veterinary Field Hospital * 1655th Field Postal Station * 1076th Field Cash Office of the

State Bank In Australia and the United States, a state bank in a federated state is usually a financial institution that is chartered by the government of that state, as opposed to one regulated at the federal or national level. In British English, the ter ...

Commanders

* Kombrig Ivan Lazarenko - (31 Jan 1940 - 02 Jul 1941) Major General 4 Jun 1940 * Colonel M.D. Grishin - (24 Jul 1941 - 27 Dec 1941) * Colonel S.L. Sadovskii - (27 Jul 1941 - 14 Jul 1942) * Colonel N.K. Mul'tan - (15 Jul 1942 - 26 Nov 1943) Major General 14 Feb 1943 * Colonel S.M. Moiseyenkov - (27 Nov 1943 - 1 Jan 1944) * Colonel S.M. Moiseyenkov (07 Jan 1944 - 23 Jan 1944) * Colonel A.I. Slits - (24 Jan 1944 - 21 Mar 1944) * Colonel S.I. Stanovskii - (22 Mar 1944 - 29 Mar 1944) * Colonel A.I. Slits - (30 Mar 1944 - 30 Oct 1944) * Colonel N.S. Pachkov - (31 Oct 1944 - 16 Apr 1945) * Colonel S.K Isakov - (17 Apr 1945 - 27 Apr 1945) * Colonel G.I. Yemel'Yanenko - (28 Apr 1945 – after 9 May 1945) (probably until unit disbanded)

References

Sources

*Aliev, Rostislav & Britton, Stuart, The Siege of Brest 1941: A Legend of Red Army Resistance on the Eastern Front, Pen & Sword, October 2013 *Crofoot, Craig, Armies of the Bear, orbat.com, 42nd Rifle Division *Sharp, Charles C., Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Volume VIII, Red Legions: Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, George F. Nafziger, 1996 *Sharp, Charles C., Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Volume X, Red Swarm: Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Frome 1942 to 1945, George F. Nafziger, 1996 {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 042 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War ru:42-я стрелковая дивизия