331rd Infantry Division

It was formed in August-November 1941 in the Tambov Region mainly from the workers of the Bryansk Region as the 331th Rifle Bryansk Proletarian Division ^[1] .

Top secret. State Defense Committee Decision No. GKO-534ss of 08.20.41. Moscow Kremlin.

Meeting the proposals of local party and Soviet organizations, the State Defense Committee decides: 1. 332 p. e. to equip the best people in Ivanovo and the region, working weavers and the best collective farmers. To call the division "332 Ivanovskaya named after M. Frunze s." 2. 331 s. To equip workers of Bryansk and other cities and districts of the Oryol Region with advanced people on collective farms. The division shall be called "331 Bryansk Proletarian SD". To equip these divisions with the best cadres of command and political staff, to arm and provide all types of property in the first place and completely. Chairman of the State Defense Committee I. Stalin.

- RGASPI, fund 644, inventory 1, d.7, l.138

On the initiative of the Bryansk regional committee and city party committee, who asked Stalin to form a union from the Bryansk workers, by order No. 0319 of the People’s Commissar of Defense dated August 20, 1941, 331 Proletarian Bryansk rifle division began to form in Michurinsk on August 27, 1941. As the front approached, it was relocated to the Tambov region in the city of Michurinsk in September 1941, where it continued to form and assemble units. I received the number after the GShKA Directive No. org / 2/539994 dated 08/11/41 for the Oryol Military District ^[2] .

The division was formed on the basis of the reserve of the commanding staff of the Oryol Military District and the Western Front, ascribed to the composition of the Oryol Military District. During the formation, the 331rd Infantry Division consisted mainly of natives of the Oryol Region, as well as the Kursk and Voronezh Regions. The division was formed by September 15, 1941.

Battle Path

On December 1, 1941, the division was included in the 20th Army of the Western Front and entered the battle with the enemy during the Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk defensive operation. In difficult conditions, when enemy troops rushed to Moscow and no more than 30 km remained on the Rogachevskoe highway to the capital, units of the division, in cooperation with the 28th brigade, attacked the 1st tank and 23rd infantry divisions of the enemy, which had the greatest advance on this direction, and under Lobnya they forced them to go on the defensive.

Participating on December 5 in the counter-offensive of the Western Front near Moscow, the division liberated 115 of us. n., including in conjunction with other army units - the city of Krasnaya Polyana (December 8) and Volokolamsk (December 20).

In January-February 1942, the division conducts offensive battles south-west of the city of Shakhovskaya, in March-June as part of the 5th, then again the 20th Army comes on the Gzhat direction.

On August 4, 1942, the division, participating in the Rzhev-Sychev offensive operation, broke through the enemy’s defenses south-east of the town of Pogorelye Gorodishche , on the night of August 11, crossed the Vazuza River in the area of Popsuyevo (13 km north-east of Sychevka), seized a bridgehead on its left shore and for 7 months fought for his retention.

In March 1943, the division took part in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky offensive operation, during which the bridgehead of the Nazi forces closest to Moscow was liquidated, then it was transferred to the 31st Army of the West, from April 24, 1944 the 3rd The Belarusian Front, in which it conducts hostilities until the end of the war.

On June 19, 1943, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for exemplary fulfillment of the tasks of the command and the valor and courage shown by the personnel.

In the Smolensk operation, the division advances in the direction of Yartsevo , Smolensk , forces the Dnieper River and, in collaboration with other formations of the 31st and 5th armies, liberates Smolensk on September 25.

September 25, 1943 for the difference in the battles during the liberation of Smolensk , was awarded the honorary name "Smolenskaya". On October 20, 1943, during the offensive, the division met organized resistance of the enemy in the area of ​​the village of Staraya Tukhinya , and started fighting.

In the fall and winter of 1943, the division participated in a number of private offensive operations in the Orsha direction.

The division was especially successful in the Belarusian operation in the summer of 1944.

On July 2, 1944, for the high combat skill of personnel during the breakthrough of the deeply echeloned defense of the enemy in the Orsha direction and the liberation of Orsha on June 27, 1944, the division was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class . Continuing the offensive, the units of the division crossed the Berezina River on the fly and, in cooperation with other formations of the front, on July 1, stormed the city of Borisov .

During the further offensive, the division on July 3 promotes the liberation of the capital of Belarus, Minsk , for which it was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner on July 23, 1944 .

In pursuit of the retreating enemy, the division immediately crossed the Neman River in the area of Privalka (25 km north of Grodno ) on the 16th of July and conducts offensive battles in the Suvalka direction until 9th ​​of August, and then it is withdrawn to the front reserve.

In October 1944, the division participated in breaking through enemy defensive lines on the outskirts of East Prussia; On October 18, it entered its territory in the area northwest of Lake Shelment and by the end of the offensive it entered the area east of the city of Goldap , where it conducts defensive battles and holds the occupied lines until January 1945.

The personnel of the division in the East Prussian offensive operation operate courageously and skillfully. Having broken through the enemy’s heavily fortified defense in the area of ​​the Masurian Lakes and the Heilsberg fortified area, the division, in cooperation with other army units, took possession of the cities of Heilsberg ( Lidzbark-Warminsky ) - January 31, Landsberg ( Gurovo-Ilavecke ) - February 2, Heiligenbayl ( Mamonov ) March 26, went to the Frishes Huff Bay ( Gulf of Wislin ).

In April 1945, a division in the army was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front and took part in the Prague offensive operation.

The division ended the fighting in World War II on the territory of Czechoslovakia. It was disbanded in 1945.

• The King, Fedor Petrovich (08.28.1941 - 02.13.1942), Major General;
• Kutalev, Gavriil Antonovich (02.14.1942 - 03.03.1942), Colonel;
• Klets, Alexander Emelyanovich (03/08/1942 - 04/09/1942), Colonel;
•   Berestov, Pyotr Filippovich (04/10/1942 - 07/16/1945), colonel, from 01/01/1943 major general. ^[3]

• 1104th Infantry Regiment,
• 1106th Infantry Regiment,
• 1108th Infantry Regiment,
• 896 artillery regiment,
• 253 separate anti-tank fighter division (since 1.2.42),
• 298 anti-aircraft artillery battery (619 separate anti-aircraft artillery division) - until 20.4.43,
• 508 mortar division (until 5.10.42 g.),
• 394 separate reconnaissance company,
• 509 (612) separate combat engineer battalion,
• 783 separate communications battalion (783 separate communications company),
• 417 health battalion,
• 410 separate chemical defense company,
• 397 motor company,
• 186 field bakery,
• 756 Division Veterinary Hospital
• 1411 field postal station,
• 773 field office of the State Bank.

Periods of joining the army:

• 12.12.1941 - 1.4.1945
• 04.4.1945 - 11.5.1945.

List No. 5 Rifle, mountain rifle, motor rifle and motorized divisions that were part of the army during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Gylev A. - M .: Ministry of Defense. - 218 p.

• The division included 873 people of the highest, senior and middle command and command staff, 10,600 people of the junior command and rank staff.

  Division Awards:

• 1104th rifle Minsk ^[5] orders of the Suvorov and Kutuzov regiment,
• 1106th Minsk Rifle ^[5] Red Banner Order of Suvorovapolk,
• 1108th Infantry Order of the Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky Regiment,
• 896 artillery Minsk ^[5] orders of the Suvorov and Kutuzov regiment.

During the war years, over 12 thousand division soldiers were awarded orders and medals, and 6 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Heroes of the Soviet Union: ^[6]

• Antonov, Georgy Semenovich , captain, chief of artillery of the 1106th Infantry Regiment. In 1950, he was stripped of this title after he fled with a foreign bride to the American occupation zone in Vienna and then was convicted in absentia by a military tribunal.
•   Berestov, Pyotr Filippovich , major general, division commander.
•   Gagarin, Egor Martynovich , junior sergeant, gunner of the 896th artillery regiment.
•   Klepach, Prokofy Fedorovich , captain, commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 1106th Infantry Regiment.
•   Kuznetsov, Grigory Ilyich , sergeant, commander of the 1106th Infantry Regiment.
•   Nightingale, Vladimir Sergeyevich , major, commander of the 509th separate combat engineer battalion.
•   Fedorenko Stepan Alekseevich , sergeant, commander of the 1106th Infantry Regiment.

  Knights of the Order of Glory of three degrees. ^[7]

• Goryunov, Ivan Alekseevich , private, machine gunner 1104 rifle regiment.

• In the 52nd secondary school (the city of Bryansk), the Museum of the Bryansk Proletarian Smolensk twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov 331 Rifle Division was opened. ^[eight]

• 20th Army
• 5th army
• 31st Army

• Prev Ch. ed. Commission N.V. Ogarkov. Soviet Military Encyclopedia: [In 8 volumes] V.6. = Proletarian Bryansk-Smolensk Infantry Division. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1978. - S. 567.568 p.
• Vasenkov V.I. Ilyitsky B.N. Bryansk proletarian. Documentary story. - Tula: Priokskiy pr. 1982 - 199s.
• Proletarian Bryansk-Smolensk Rifle Division // The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: encyclopedia / editor-in-chief of the army general, professor M. M. Kozlov et al. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1985.-C.585

• 331 cd (inaccessible link)
• Field army. Lists of troops. List No. 5. Rifle, mountain-rifle, motor-rifle and motorized divisions.
• 331 Rifle Proletarian Bryansk-Smolensk twice Red Banner, Order of Suvorov II degree division
• 331 cd
• 331rd Infantry Division
• 331 ARROW DIVISION
• 1104 Minsk Rifle Regiment. Death at Lake Rospuda
• 331 rifle division on the site "Memory of the people 1941-1945"
• The combat characteristic of the 331 rifle division of April 14, 1942 on the site "Memory of the people of 1941-1942"
• A brief combat description of the 331 rifle division in May 1942 on the site "Memory of the People 1941-1945"