158th Rifle Division

158th Rifle Division (September 15, 1939 – August 18, 1941)
158th Rifle Division (January 20, 1942 - June 1945)
158th Rifle Division (September 15, 1939 – August 18, 1941); 158th Rifle Division (January 20, 1942 - June 1945)
Active	1939–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	Operation Barbarossa; Battle of Smolensk (1941); Toropets–Kholm offensive; Battles of Rzhev; Operation Büffel; Smolensk operation; Orsha offensives (1943); Operation Bagration; Baltic offensive; Šiauliai offensive; Kaunas offensive; Courland Pocket; East Pomeranian offensive; Battle of Berlin
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner (2); Order of Suvorov (both 2nd Formation)
Battle honours	Liozno; Vitebsk (both 2nd Formation)
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Col. Vitalii Ivanovich Novozhilov; Col. Stepan Efimovich Isaev; Maj. Gen. Aleksei Ivanovich Zugin; Maj. Gen. Mikhail Mikhailovich Busarov; Maj. Gen. Ivan Semyonovich Bezuglyi; Col. Demyan Ilich Goncharov

The 158th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army on September 15, 1939 in the North Caucasus Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that month.

1st Formation

The division first began forming on September 15, 1939, at Yeysk in the North Caucasus Military District, based on a cadre from the 38th Rifle Division. Its order of battle on June 22, 1941, was as follows:

875th Rifle Regiment
879th Rifle Regiment
881st Rifle Regiment
423rd Artillery Regiment
535th Howitzer Artillery Regiment^[1]
196th Antitank Battalion
167th Antiaircraft Battalion
110th Reconnaissance Battalion
274th Sapper Battalion
284th Signal Battalion
84th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
119th Motor Transport Battalion

Col. Vitalii Ivanovich Novozhilov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. Since October 1937 he had led several regiments of the 77th Mountain Rifle Division, an ethnic Azerbaijani unit. From October 1940 until May 1941 he was furthering his military education at the Frunze Academy, and his deputy commander (since March 1940), Col. Vasilii Petrovich Brynzov, served as acting commander. This officer had been arrested in August 1938 during the Great Purge, but was released in December 1939 and placed at the disposal of Far Eastern Front. When Novozhilov returned, Brynzov went back to his deputy command.

Battle of Smolensk

On June 22 the 158th was en route to Ukraine as part of the 34th Rifle Corps of 19th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command.^[2]

References

Citations

^ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 79
^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10

Bibliography

Grylev, A. N. (1970). Перечень № 5. Стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизии, входивших в состав Действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 гг [List (Perechen) No. 5: Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized divisions, part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. p. 77
Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 179-80

External links

[1] Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 79

[2] Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10

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[2]