372nd Infantry Division

It was formed on September 25, 1941 in the Altai Territory ( Siberian Military District (Siberian Military District, Siberian Military District)) as part of the implementation of the resolution of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR SSR No. 459ss, dated August 11, 1941 ^[1] .

As part of the army :

• from December 18, 1941 to September 30, 1944;
• from October 16, 1944 to May 9, 1945.

Upon completion of the formation of the Supreme High Command Headquarters Directive No. 004276, dated November 2, 1941, the compound was included in the 59th Reserve Army and received an order to relocate from Barnaul to the Sokol station in the Vologda Region.

After the redeployment of the formation to the territory of the Arkhangelsk Military District (ArkhVO), until the end of the first half of December 1941, the division participated in the construction of the Cherepovets fortified area and in strengthening the defensive line along the shore of Lake Beloe and the Sheksna River to the settlement of Myaks .

Directive of the SVKK No. 005581 of December 11, 1941, sd included in the 59th Army of the Volkhov Front (entered the army on 12/18/1941), with which it participated in the Malovishersky offensive operation (11 - 12/30/1941), during which the enemy , which erupted in October 1941 in the Tikhvin direction, was forced out onto the eastern shore of Volkhov . Immediately after the end of this operation, the formation participated in the Luban offensive operation (07.01 - 04.30.1942), but mainly at its initial stage, since the main events unfolded in the zone of the neighboring 2nd strike army . After encircling the 2nd Shock Army in March 1942, the division also took part in the releasing counterattacks of the Volkhov Front. Also, the 372nd Infantry Division was also involved in the operation to withdraw from the encirclement of the 2nd strike army , which was carried out from 13.05 to 07.10.1942.

In the fall of 1942, the unit was transferred to the Sinyavino area, where, having joined the 2nd shock army, it took part in the Sinyavino offensive operation (at the final stage). After the completion of this operation, it continued to operate on the external front of the Leningrad blockade.

As part of the 2nd shock army of the Volkhov Front, the division participated in the offensive operation "Iskra" (01/14/19/1943). Acting on the edge of the advancing group of the Volkhov Front, soldiers of the 372nd Division (1st battalion of the 1240th Infantry Regiment) January 18, 1943 at 09.30 on the eastern outskirts of the Workers' Village No. 1 met with the soldiers advancing from the west of the 123rd Infantry Brigade (1 -th battalion), thereby completing the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad - thus, it was this division that became the first military unit to meet with troops surrounded in Leningrad. After the completion of the Iskra, the 372nd division was transferred to the area of ​​the Smerdynia settlement as part of the 54th army of the Volkhov Front, where it participated in the Mginsko-Shapkinsky offensive operation, which, however, was unsuccessful. After the end of the winter offensive near Leningrad, the division continued to operate as part of the 8th Army of the Volkhov Front, taking part in the Mginsky offensive operation (07.22-22.08.1943).

In November 1943, the division was redeployed to the Volkhov line (in the upper reaches of the river) and became part of the 59th Army of the Volkhov Front.

... The 372nd Infantry Division from November 1, 1943 to January 14, 1944 was in the second echelon of the 112th Infantry Corps and was preparing for offensive battles . The troops were engaged in combat training and replenished with personnel and equipment. ...

- “The fighting of the rifle battalion. A collection of military examples from the Great Patriotic War. ", The collection was compiled and prepared for publication by teachers of the Central Rifle and Tactical Order of Lenin of the Red Banner Officer Courses" Shot "named after Marshal of the Soviet Union B. M. Shaposhnikov and employees of the Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR Colonels A. Annenkov V. ., Vershinin I.V., Ivanov A.V., Sofonov S.S., Sedykh M.V., Tyazhkikh M.I., Lieutenant Colonels Borlyuk A.I., Gorbatyuk G.M. and Prokopenko under the leadership of Colonel Sofonov S. S .. Executive Editor-General Yor Vasilevsky D.V., - M .: Military Publishing House, 1957. - 192 p., 24 stickers.

With this army, as part of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the division participated in the Novgorod-Luga operation (01/14/15/02/1944). During the offensive, the division, together with other forces of the Volkhov Front, liberated Novgorod on January 20, 1944, for which the division was given the honorary name Novgorod. Continuing the offensive, the division took possession of the Peredolsky area. After the completion of the Novgorod-Luga operation, the formation of the 59th Army was transferred to the eastern shore of Lake Peipsi and defended it until the end of April.

By the directive of the Supreme High Command, April 28, 1944, the division was redeployed to the Karelian Isthmus and included in the 23rd Army of the Leningrad Front . Participated in the Vyborg offensive operation (10 - 06/20/1944), with the participation of the 372nd Infantry Division on June 20, 1944, Vyborg was liberated.

After the battles on the Karelian Isthmus ended, the division was transferred to the Narva bridgehead in August 1944, where the 8th Army participated in the Tallinn offensive operation as a part of the 108th Rifle Corps (until the end of the war) (September 8-30, 1944). During this offensive, units of the division liberated the cities of Türi (09/22/1944) and Pärnu (09/23/1944), leaving the coast of the Gulf of Riga .

After the liberation of the Estonian SSR, on September 30, 1944, the division was transferred to the reserve of the Supreme High Command Headquarters and, together with the management of the 108th Rifle Corps as part of the 2nd Shock Army (which was part of this army until the end of the war), was transferred to northern Poland to the 2nd Belorussian Front (in the army - from 16.10.1944). Here, it initially occupied a positional defense , and then participated in the Mlaw-Elbing operation (the initial phase of the East Prussian operation , January 14–26, 1945), during which it liberated the cities of Ciechanow (January 17, 1945 ), Deutsch-Eylau (January 22, 1945), Saalefeld (01/23/1945), Stum (01/25/1945), Marienburg (01/26/1945). For participating in this offensive, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner . Then the unit took part in the East Pomeranian offensive operation (02/10/04/1945), during which Danzig was liberated with the participation of the 372nd division on 03/30/1945. For these battles, the 1236th Vyborg Red Banner Rifle Regiment was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky , and the 1240th Regiment was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd class .

As part of the Berlin offensive, the 372nd Infantry Division took part in the Stettino-Rostock operation (04.16-08.05.1945). During this operation, the division landed on the island of Rügen and occupied it, freeing the cities of Bergen am Rügen , Harz , Putbus (05/04/1945) and Sassnitz (05/05/1945).

Directive of the Supreme High Command Headquarters No. 11095, dated May 29, 1945, the division, together with its corps and army, was included in the Group of Soviet occupation forces in Germany .

After the war, in connection with the demobilization of the Union, the formation was relocated to the city of Uryupinsk ( Don Military District ), in January 1946, reorganized into the 46th Separate Rifle Brigade ^[2] ( North Caucasian Military District ). At the end of 1953, the brigade was deployed in 372 units, and in the spring of 1955 (in another source from June 25, 1957) it was reorganized and renamed the 68th Motorized Rifle Division , with a new military number, but with the insignia of 372 units. The tragic events in the Far East and Central Asia of the Union, the end of the 1960s, forced to redeploy, in order to strengthen defense, in the Asian part of the state 68 msd.

Full real name, after the war - 372nd Rifle Novgorod Red Banner Division .

• control
• 1236th Rifle Vyborg Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Regiment
• 1238th Vyborg Rifle Regiment
• 1240th Rifle Regiment of Vyborg Kutuzov Order
• 941st artillery regiment
• 381st separate anti-tank fighter division
• 440th Separate Reconnaissance Company
• 658th Separate Engineer Battalion
• 829th separate communications battalion (537th separate communications company)
• 463rd Health Battalion
• 456th Separate Chemical Defense Company
• 493rd Motor Company
• 232nd field bakery
• 801th Division Veterinary Hospital
• 1426th Field Post Station
• 749th box office of the State Bank

• 10/01/1941 - 02/06/1942 - Korkin Nikolay Petrovich ^[3] , lieutenant colonel , colonel
• 02/07/1942 - 02/09/1942 - Popov Aleksey Fedoseevich ^[4] , Colonel
• 02/10/1942 - 03/04/1942 - Khoroshev Pyotr Ivanovich ^[5] , lieutenant colonel
• 03/05/1942 - 07/17/1942 - Dmitry Sorsonovich Sorokin ^{[6] [7]} , lieutenant colonel, colonel from 11/11/1942
• 07/18/1942 - 10/06/1942 - Sinegubko Nikolay Iosifovich ^[8] , Colonel
• 10/07/1942 - 12/19/1942 - Osmanov Mamed Osmanovich ^[9] , lieutenant colonel
• 12.20.1942 - 02.17.1943 - P. I. Radygin ^[10] , Colonel
• 02/18/1943 - 05/17/1943 - P.V. Melnikov ^[11] , lieutenant colonel
• 05/18/1943 - 03/10/1945 - P. I. Radygin ^[12] , colonel, from 22/22/1944 major general
• 03/11/1945 - 04/16/1945 - P.V. Melnikov ^[13] , lieutenant colonel
• 04/17/1945 - 05/09/1945 - M. A. Beloskursky ^[14] , Major General

• VGK Bet Directive No. 005581, dated December 11, 1941, on the formation of the Volkhov Front.
• “Fighting infantry battalion. A collection of military examples from the Great Patriotic War. ", The collection was compiled and prepared for publication by teachers of the Central Rifle and Tactical Order of Lenin of the Red Banner Officer Courses" Shot "named after Marshal of the Soviet Union B. M. Shaposhnikov and employees of the Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR Colonels A. Annenkov V. ., Vershinin I.V., Ivanov A.V., Sofonov S.S., Sedykh M.V., Tyazhkikh M.I., Lieutenant Colonels Borlyuk A.I., Gorbatyuk G.M. and Prokopenko under the leadership of Colonel Sofonov S. S .. Executive Editor-General Yor Vasilevsky D.V., - M .: Military Publishing House, 1957. - 192 p., 24 stickers.

• Site "Memory of the People." 372 cd
• Directories and forum on Soldat.ru
• List No. 5 of the rifle, mountain rifle, motor rifle and motorized divisions that were part of the army during the Great Patriotic War (inaccessible link)
• Luban operation, History of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
• “The blockade of Leningrad in documents,” Part Four.