2nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

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2nd Rifle Division Formed September 24 1919 Demobilised January 28 1946

The Soviet 2nd Rifle Division was an infantry division that served during The Great Patriotic War. Originally formed in 1919 from the 1st Ryazansk Rifle Division, the division was twice destroyed and reformed during the war. The division contained two or three rifle regiments.

Formed at Moscow, September 1918. Fought at Ufa on the Eastern Front, April-July 1919. Fought against Yudenich with the 7th Army, October-December 1919. Fought in the Polish Campaign in the Western Front, May-August 1920, and against Bulak-Balakhovich, October 1920.

Second World War

During the war there were four distinct formations that bore the title of '2nd Rifle Division'.

1st Formation

Formed in 1919, the division was part of the 10th Army (Soviet Union). It was annihilated by the German army in a pocket west of Minsk on September 19 1941.

The full honorific title of the division was the "2nd Belorussian Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of M.V. Frunze".

*13th Rifle Regiment
*200th Rifle Regiment
*261st Rifle Regiment

2nd Formation

Formed from a Moscow militia division on September 26 1941, the second formation served in the 32nd Army. It was encircled and destroyed by the Germans in the Vyazma pocket in October, 1941. This formation was disbanded on December 27 1941.

*1282nd Rifle Regiment
*1284th Rifle Regiment
*1286th Rifle Regiment

3rd Formation

Formed in the Crimea on November 23 1941 from the 2nd Cavalry Division, this formation served with the Coastal Army and was renamed the 109th Rifle Division on January 29 1942.

*383rd Rifle Regiment
*1330th Rifle Regiment

4th Formation

Commenced forming in Arkhangelsk on December 21 1941, this incarnation of the division served to the end of the war and earned the honorific title of "2nd Masurian Rifle Division". It finished the war as part of the 81st Rifle Corps in the 3rd Belorussian Front. With the 81st Rifle Corps, it was withdrawn to the Eastern Ural Military District immediately after the war, and disbanded soon afterwards.

*13th Rifle Regiment (II)
*200th Rifle Regiment (II)
*261st Rifle Regiment (II)

External links and Sources

*Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, 2004
* [http://www.journalsovietarmy.org Journal of the Soviet Army]