91st Infantry Division (2nd formation)

Formed on December 5, 1941 as the 464th Infantry Division ^[2] on the territory of Dagestan of the North Caucasus Military District , in the region of the cities of Makhachkala - Buinaksk .

On January 27, 1942 it was renamed the 91st Infantry Division subordinated to the Transcaucasian Military District . He arrived in Tikhoretsk on April 14, 1942, at the end of April the division took up defense on the Don River , at the Manychskaya - Bataisk - Azov line , received a baptism of fire here. April 17 sent to Novocherkassk , from April 30, participated in the protection of the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov from Semibalka to Azov.

On May 13, 1942, it became part of the 51st Army (in which it fought until the end of the war) of the North Caucasian Front, when the German offensive began in the direction of Stalingrad, the division was transferred to the Tsimlyanskaya-Konstantinovskaya line, where it participated in battles with the enemy at the crossing to the left Don riverbank.

Since August 1942, as part of the Stalingrad Front , although the division was forced to retreat to new lines of defense, it inflicted great damage on the enemy. From July 30 to August 8, division soldiers destroyed over 3 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, 10 tanks, 24 armored vehicles, and 5 guns. 21 motorcycles, 12 easel machine guns, 11 mortars. The artillery fire scattered the infantry regiment, 2 cavalry squadrons, crushed 7 mortar batteries, 3 artillery batteries, destroyed 2 crossings, destroyed a wagon train of 35 wagons and 2 command posts. From the middle of August until the troops of the Stalingrad Front began a counterattack, the division carried out maneuver defense on the approaches to Stalingrad and in the Kalmyk steppes.

From August 15 to November 20, 1942, the division launched military operations behind enemy lines and fought at Dede - Lamin, Umantsevo, Sadovaya, where the regiment of the 5th Romanian cavalry division was defeated. On November 20, the division, together with units of the Stalingrad Front, launched a counterattack, conducted offensive battles in the direction of Umantsevo - Kanukovo - Kenkrya - Iki - Zorgakin - Ostrovyanka . Having captured Umantsev fought fierce battles with erupted tanks of the 23rd German Panzer Division.

On November 26, in cooperation with the 4th Panzer Corps and the 61st Cavalry Division, she entered the Zavetnaya district, having up to 2 thousand prisoners and large trophies, including Romanian cavalry horses and artillery. Since January 1943, the division as part of the Southern Front, from May 1943 - the 3rd Guards Rifle Corps, in September - the 63rd Rifle Corps, from October, as part of the 54th Rifle Corps, participated in the destruction of the Elist group of the enemy, in the battles for Kotelnikovo , in the liberation of Kalmykia and Donbass .

From October 13 to October 23, 1943, the division took part in breaking through the heavily fortified enemy strip and in capturing the city of Melitopol . Clearly interacting with all branches of the army, the division broke the enemy’s resistance with a swift blow and was the first to break into the city and take control of the southern outskirts, waging fierce battles and destroyed over 2,000 enemy soldiers and officers, 32 guns and 13 tanks.

On October 23, 1943, the division was awarded the honorary name "Melitopol" for the participation in the battles to take possession of the city of Melitopol by the Order of the People's Commissar of Defense. From November 1943, as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front, in February 1944 - the 10th Rifle Corps, from March as part of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps, from May to the end of the war as part of the 10th Rifle Corps .

Being in active defense at the Sivash bridgehead in the Crimea , the division was preparing for offensive operations, to break through the enemy’s heavily fortified defense. On April 8, 1944, the division launched an offensive on a narrow section of the front, in difficult terrain (intergranular defile of the bridgehead), in the general direction of Art. The warrior of the Dzhankoy region, in the area of ​​which she reached the morning of April 14. Then she took part in the liberation of the Crimean peninsula and the cities of Armyansk - on April 11, Simferopol - on April 13, Sevastopol - on May 10. In June, it was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme Command.

Since June 1944, as part of the 10th Rifle Corps of the 51st Army of the 1st Baltic Front, he took part in the liberation of the Baltic states, the cities of Panevezys - July 22, Šiauliai - July 27.

On June 29, 1944, in pursuance of the combat order of the headquarters of the 51st Army of the division, the task was set, in cooperation with the units of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps, to capture the city of Jelgava ( Mitava ), a heavily fortified resistance node and the main communications node connecting East Prussia with the Baltic . Parts of the division swiftly pursuing the retreating enemy with battles on July 30 approached the vicinity of the city of Mitava and started a battle. Operating 561st SP from the north-east and 503rd SP from the south, breaking the stubborn resistance of superior enemy forces, units broke into the outskirts of the city, and by 21.30 the same day captured the Mitava station, breaking the enemy’s firepower by the end of the day on July 31 divisions took possession of the city.

At the beginning of 1945, she occupied the defense in the Libyan direction, in the area of Danica . In February 1945, it was part of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps, in March, part of the 2nd Baltic Front. Since March 1945, as part of the Courland Group of Forces of the Leningrad Front.

During the Great Patriotic War, the 91st Rifle Melitopol Red Banner Division passed a glorious military route from Stalingrad to the Baltic Sea - 7265 km, liberated 1139 settlements and railway stations, destroyed about 260 tanks and self-propelled guns, over 400 guns, 266 mortars, 18 aircraft , more than 550 armored vehicles and many other military equipment, more than 28 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, captured about 2 thousand people. For military operations, courage and skill of the personnel, the division earned the Order of the Red Banner, 6 thanks from the Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin .

Disbanded in the summer of 1945.

• 503rd infantry Mitavsky Order of Suvorov III degree regiment
• 561st Red Banner Rifle Regiment
• 613th Infantry Regiment
• 321st artillery regiment
• 172nd separate anti-tank fighter division
• 124th Separate Reconnaissance Company
• 160th separate combat engineer battalion
• 152nd separate communications battalion (326th separate communications company on 12/14/1944)
• 142nd Separate Health Battalion
• 551st Separate Chemical Defense Company
• 113th Separate Motor Transport Company
• 467th field bakery
• 932th Division Veterinary Hospital
• 1663rd Field Post Station
• 1109th box office of the State Bank

• 01/01/1942 - Caucasus Front - front submission ^[3]
• 02/01/1942 - Transcaucasian Military District - district subordination
• 03/01/1942 - Transcaucasian Military District - district subordination
• 04/01/1942 - Transcaucasian Military District - district subordination
• 05/01/1942 - North Caucasian Military District
• 06/01/1942 - North Caucasus Front - 51 A
• 07/01/1942 - North Caucasus Front - 51 A
• 08/01/1942 - Stalingrad Front - 51 A
• 09/01/1942 - Southeast Front - 51 A
• 10/01/1942 - Stalingrad Front - 51 A
• November 1, 1942 - the Stalingrad Front - 51 A
• 12/01/1942 - Stalingrad Front - 51 A
• 01.01.1943 - the Southern Front - 51 A
• 02/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A
• 03/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A
• 04/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A
• 05/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A - 3 Guards. SC
• 06/01/1943 - the Southern Front - 51 A - 3 Guards. SC
• 07/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A - 3 Guards. SC
• 08/08/1943 - the Southern Front - 51 A - 3 Guards. SC
• on September 1, 1943 - the Southern Front - 51 A - 63 SK
• 10/01/1943 - Southern Front - 51 A - 54 SK
• on November 1, 1943 - the 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 54 SK
• 12/01/1943 - 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 54 SK
• 01/01/1944 -?
• 02/01/1944 - 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• March 1, 1944 - the 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 1 Guards. SC
• 04/01/1944 - 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 1 Guards. SC
• 05/01/1944 - 4th Ukrainian Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 06/01/1944 - Reserve rate VGK - 51 A - 10 SK
• 07/01/1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 08/01/1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• September 1, 1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 10/01/1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• November 1, 1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 12/01/1944 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 01/01/1945 - 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 02/01/1945 - the 1st Baltic Front - 51 A - 1 Guards. SC
• 03/01/1945 - 2nd Baltic Front - 51 A - 10 SK
• 04/01/1945 - Leningrad Front - Courland Group of Forces - 51 A - 10 SK
• 05/01/1945 - Leningrad Front - Courland Group of Forces - 51 A - 10 SK

• Colonel Sorokin, Pyotr Vasilyevich from December 5, 1941 to April 26, 1942
• Colonel Makarchuk, Efrem Fedoseevich from April 28 to July 21, 1942
• Major General Nikolai Kalinin July 22, 1942 to July 4, 1943
• Colonel Vrazhnov, Anton Ivanovich July 5-14, 1943
• Colonel Pashkov, Ilya Mikhailovich from July 15, 1943 to June 21, 1944
• Major General Sobyanin, Evgeny Konstantinovich from June 22, 1944 to May 9, 1945

•   Art. sergeant Abyzov, Grigory Aleksandrovich gun commander of the 321st AP 14.01.1919 - 09.30.1999
•   Lieutenant Colonel Mandrykin, Efim Ivanovich commander of the 613th joint venture 01/15/1915 - 02/11/1998
•   Major Skory, Ivan Antonovich commander of the SB 561st SP 02/12/1912 - 03/05/1980
•   Red Army soldier Khaylo, Vasily Alexandrovich gunner of the 4th battery of the 321st AP 01/18/1924 - 01/17/1953
•   captain Shakhnovich, Moses Davidovich commander of the battery of the 321st AP 05/15/1918 - 10/19/1982

• 51st army

• Directory on the website of the club "Memory" of Voronezh State University (inaccessible link)
• 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)
• 91st Meitopol
• The list of rifle divisions, which included during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. sailors fought. 91st SD (2F)
• No. 5 "Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized Divisions" (inaccessible link)