204th Infantry Division (1st formation)

The 204th Infantry Division began to form on October 5, 1941 in the village of Cheremkhovo , Ivanovo District, Amur Region, as part of the 2nd Red Banner Army of the Far Eastern Front ^[1] on the basis of the order of the USSR NPO No. 0093 of October 3, 1941 ^[2] .

The division was formed by the state number 04/600 of July 29, 1941, the number of 11,500 people. The main core of the division was the personnel of the 3rd and 12th personnel rifle divisions. The division was formed within a month and for eight months was engaged in combat and political training. On June 11, 1942, the total number of the division was 5370 people ^[3] .

March 1, 1943, for the successful hostilities, resilience and heroism in the fight against the German fascist invaders, the 204th Rifle Division was transformed into the 78th Guards Rifle Division .

The period of entry into the army: July 27, 1942 - February 5, 1943 ^[4] .

On July 10, 1942, the division received an order to mobilize, the first echelons went to the disposal of the Stalingrad Front on the same day. On July 25, after unloading at Orlovka station north-west of Stalingrad, the division received an order to concentrate in the area of ​​the city of Kalach and to occupy one regiment of defense in the state farm Pobeda Ilyich, height 160.4, height 184.2. In carrying out this combat mission, the division made a long march (95-100 km), undergoing continuous attacks by enemy aircraft and arrived in the area of ​​concentration by the evening of July 28. On July 29, units of the division began crossing to the right bank of the Don River and by the end of the next day they occupied the defense area. On the night of July 31, the division received a new order to transfer to the 64th Army and to occupy the line of defense: Tuzovo, Dubovsky, Staromaksimovskiy, Novomaximovskiy . On the morning of August 2, fulfilling the task of taking up defense at the new frontier, the 3rd Battalion of the 730th Infantry Regiment engaged in battle against the numerically superior enemy. The battle lasted for four hours, as a result, the enemy was driven out of the Staromaksimovskiy area and part of the division occupied a defensive zone.

On August 5, 1942, the division received an order to move to the Zetas region, passing through the 74th kilometer of the KE Voroshilov railroad , to deliver a counterattack to the enemy. Having made a 150-kilometer march, by 15.00, units of the division concentrated on the offensive at the turn: MTF, Yurkin State Farm , Kosh (4636), a large Tatar beam and immediately fought. The two 45-mm batteries of the 193rd separate anti-tank division, pushed forward, on August 7 turned into battle formations and engaged in battle with 60 enemy tanks, supporting the Ordzhonikidze Infantry School . The tank attack was repulsed, the enemy left six burned and three destroyed tanks on the battlefield.

On August 9, 1942, after the artillery preparation, the division, together with the 254th tank brigade and the cadet regiment of the Krasnodar school, launched an offensive on part of the 14th tank , 29th motorized infantry and 297th infantry divisions, near the 74th km junction. As a result of two days of fighting, the enemy was driven to a depth of 14–16 km, and the division was able to take up a defensive line on the Myshkov River.

• 700th Infantry Regiment
• 706th Infantry Regiment
• 730th Infantry Regiment
• 657th Artillery Regiment
• 193rd Anti-Tank Division
• 166th zenith battery
• 306th Intelligence Company
• 372rd engineer battalion
• 583rd separate communications battalion
• 358th Medical Battalion
• 194th Separate Chemical Protection Company
• 514th motor transport company
• 356th Field Bakery
• 833rd Divisional Veterinary Infirmary
• 1487th Field Mail Station
• 921st Field Bank of the State Bank ^{[5] [4]}

• Karnov Andrei Pavlovich (10/02/1941-10.07.1942), colonel
•   Skvortsov Alexander Vasilyevich ( ^07/ 11/1942-01.03.1943), colonel, major general ^[7]

For successful hostilities, 1,550 people were presented for awards, 1,443 of them were awarded.

• Feskov V.I., Kalashnikov K.A., Golikov V.I. Chapter 2. Rifle and airborne troops, fortified areas of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War // Red Army in victories and defeats of 1941-1945 .. - Tomsk: Tomsk University Press, 2003. - p. 79. - 619 p. - ISBN 5-7511-1624-0 .

• B. Mutovin. Through all tests . - M .: Military Publishing , 1986. - Vol. 7. - 224 p. - 65 000 copies
• Isaev A. In . Stalingrad. Beyond the Volga there is no land for us. - M .: Eksmo , Yauza , 2008. - 448 p. - (War and we). - 10 000 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-26236-6 .

• 204th Infantry Division (Neopr.) . rkkawwii.ru. The appeal date is April 19, 2018.
• The memory of the people :: The combat log 78 Guards. sd (Neopr.) . pamyat-naroda.ru. The appeal date is April 19, 2018.