252nd Rifle Division

By July 19 the 19th, 20th and 16th Armies were almost entirely encircled in the Smolensk region, and 29th Army was ordered to prepare an attack from the Toropets area towards Velikiye Luki with its 243rd, 256th and 252nd Rifle Divisions.[8] For this attack, the 29th, similarly to the other reserve armies, was designated as an operational group named after its commander – Group Maslennikov – and subordinated to the Western Front on July 20.[9] On July 26 the division was in the Dubrovna, Borodkina and Suslovo region, 20–30 km (12–19 mi) southwest of Toropets.[10] The 252nd entered combat two days later, fighting in the Battle of Smolensk.[2] On August 3 it was reported as "preparing to force the Western Dvina River and organize antitank regions" in several locales about 50 km (31 mi) south of Toropets,[11] and had orders to attack towards Demidov in the second week of the month.[12]

29th Army situation map from 7 August to 9 September 1941

Those plans were temporarily abandoned when the division came under attack on August 7 and its 928th and 932nd Rifle Regiments were forced to withdraw north of the Dvina.[13] After a lull in the fighting, Western Front commander Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launched a new offensive, and the 252nd again attacked across the Dvina on August 18, this time at Klinok.[14] The 924th Regiment reported destroying the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the German 78th Infantry Regiment (26th Infantry Division) and capturing one gun, ammunition and documents. Despite its gains, the division was forced back to its original positions on the northern bank of the river by the end of the next day. By August 20 Timoshenko's forces came under renewed enemy pressure, and the division was forced back on the defensive.[15] It was directed to establish an all-round defense by the end of August 24 north of the river.[16] At the end of August the 252nd had to make a hasty retreat eastwards after the German XL Motorized Corps broke through the 22nd Army and advanced towards Toropets; the 932nd Regiment, with an artillery battalion and a sapper company, served as the rearguard. By September 2 the division was serving as Maslennikov's reserve in the Mukhino, Spiridovo and Novoe Polutino region. On the following day, together with the 126th Rifle Division of the 22nd Army, the division was tasked with the mission of liquidating a tank-supported German infantry regiment that had reached the Dvina in the Suvorovo region. On September 4 the 252nd continued counterattacking, driving back two German regiments with the help of the 243rd.[17]

On October 2 the German forces launched Operation Typhoon, during which the division covered the retreat of the 29th Army. Although the army was too far north to be immediately affected, it was transferred to the new Kalinin Front in the vicinity of that city during the middle of the month. The 252nd was transferred to the newly-arriving 31st Army, and on October 19–20 participated in the counterattacks that defeated the XXXXI Motorized Corps along the Torzhok road northwest of Kalinin.[18] The division continued to fight in what became known as the Kalinin Defense Operation. When the Soviet counter-offensive against Army Group Center – known as the Kalinin Offensive Operation – began in early December, the division reported a strength of 5,800 officers and men, about half of its authorized strength, a good strength given four months of fighting in retreat. During the Kalinin Offensive the 252nd participated in the recapture of the city on December 16, and the recapture of Staritsa on New Year's Day 1942.[2] On the latter date, Zabaluev was replaced by Major General Viktor Urbanovich,[5] taking command by 5 January.[19]

From January 20 the division fought in the Sychyovka–Vyazma and Rzhev–Vyazma Offensives during the Battles of Rzhev as part of the 39th Army. On that day, it attacked towards the Osuga railway station south of Rzhev during the Rzhev–Vyazma Offensive, tasked with reaching the Rzhev-Vyazma railway from the west. During the offensive, the division captured the strongpoints of Monchalovo and Popovka, going on the defensive fifteen kilometers southwest of Osuga station. It was cut off by a German counterattack in the area of Rzhev and Olenino, but fought on in semi-encirclement between February and June, supplied only by a small corridor in the Nesterovo area. During the winter, the 309th Antitank Battalion was removed to Army control (the Howitzer Regiment had been removed earlier) but was replaced by the 110th Antitank Battalion when the division was reorganized in the spring of 1942.[3] Between 2 and 5 July German forces cut off the 39th Army in Operation Seydlitz with converging attacks on Nesterovo from Bely and Karskaya,[19] fully encircling the division northwest of Vyazma. The 252nd managed to break out on July 22 to the northeast of Bely and regrouped near Selizharovo.[2]

In the buildup to the November counteroffensive the division was transferred to 65th Army.[26] According to a General Staff report of November 14,

...During the transfer of 252nd... RD to 65th Army the transport means were meager... and the transport of all kinds of supplies is being carried out with interruptions (owing to poor supply, 252nd [has] only 62–63% of [its] required combat load and 3 men... have perished because of the absence of warm clothing).[26]

In the Army's deployment the division was north of the Kletskaya bridgehead south of the Don, in second echelon behind the 304th Rifle Division. They were facing the boundary between the Romanian 1st Cavalry and German 376th Infantry Divisions. The operation began on the morning of November 19. The 304th began its main advance at 08:50 following an 80-minute artillery bombardment which was hampered by low visibility. The Army commander, Lieutenant General Pavel Batov, wrote that this division "was forced to the ground in front of Melo-Kletskaia." It had encountered skillfully fortified strongpoints manned by German troops that it could not overcome. Further, they faced nearly constant counterattacks from 376th Infantry Division, supported later in the day by elements of 14th Panzer Division. However, one battalion of the 807th Rifle Regiment made a limited breakthrough, and overnight Batov devised a plan to exploit this. The 252nd, which had crossed into the bridgehead, was to attack at the boundary of the 304th and 27th Guards Rifle Divisions when the fighting reached its crescendo.[27]

Positions of the division between 19 November 1942 and 2 February 1943, marked in red lines

Shortly after dawn on the 20th those two divisions pushed deeply into the Romanian defenses, and at about 10:00 the 252nd began pushing through at the boundary, soon penetrating the first two enemy defensive positions. Shortly after noon a mobile group, made up of about 45 T-34 and KV tanks from 91st Tank Brigade, with submachine gunners riding on their decks, accompanied by motorized infantry and artillery, all under the command of Colonel Georgy Anisimov, began advancing into this breach. By nightfall it had advanced 23 km (14 mi) into the left rear of German XI Army Corps. Meanwhile, the 252nd advanced 2–4 km (1.2–2.5 mi) southeastward against stiffening Axis resistance. Next day 65th Army had five rifle divisions on the attack, registering gains from 1 to 10 km (0.62 to 6.21 mi). Due to Anisimov's armored raid the German 376th Infantry was forced to withdraw eastwards, and Romanian 1st Cavalry abandoned the town of Orekhovskii.[28]

November 22 saw the division, along with the 27th Guards, attacking elements of the 14th Panzer Division. By the end of the day that division was forced to withdraw eastwards, in spite of being reinforced by the 132nd Infantry Regiment of 44th Infantry Division. The following day the 252nd continued to throw the German armor and supporting infantry back about 5 km (3.1 mi) to the southeast as they evacuated their tenuous salient west of the Don. On November 24, after the Soviet encirclement of the Axis forces at Stalingrad had been achieved, 65th Army pressed on, and the division helped to force the German divisions farther east to new defensive positions, advancing about 10 km (6.2 mi) during the day. At nightfall it had reached positions overlooking the Sukhaia Golubaika ravine. By the morning of November 25 the salient had been reduced to about 18 km² (6.9 sq mi), and now included elements of the 16th Panzer Division and five infantry regiments.[29]

Over the following days Batov continued to reduce the German salient. On November 25 the 252nd reported: "During the day 103 vehicles, 3 aircraft, 52 guns, and 32 antitank guns were seized." By nightfall the bridgehead had been reduced by a further 50 percent in area. Overnight several divisions were transferred from 65th Army to 5th Tank Army, but the pursuit continued at dawn with the 252nd, 304th and 24th Rifle Divisions, with 91st Tank Brigade back in support of the 304th. Both it and the 252nd advanced several kilometres before being halted by enemy fire from Hill 204.0. Meanwhile, the XI Corps' commander systematically withdrew his remaining men to east of the Don, completing the operation and blowing the bridge on the 27th at about 03:40. Later that morning the division reached the river, threw forward detachments across to the east bank, and captured Akimovskii at 09:00. The German corps continued to fall back, abandoning Vertiachii by noon on November 29. However, the next day the pursuit came to an abrupt halt as 65th Army came up to the heavy fire and extensive obstacles of Sixth Army's new main defensive line.[30]

The first test of these defenses came on December 4. The 252nd, with the 24th Rifle and 27th Guards Rifle, backed by the 304th, "tore one gaping hole and several lesser gaps in the defenses of VIII Army Corps' 44th Infantry Division."[31] According to a report from Sixth Army to Army Group Don a break-in 1,000 metres wide and 2,000 metres deep had been made northeast of Dmitrievka, apparently the work of the 252nd. German counterattacks over the next 24 hours drove the division back, with the loss of 200 killed and 20 prisoners. In the end the German line was mostly restored, but the 24th Division clung to Hill 124.5 (Chernyi Kurgan), which remained a thorn in the side of the 44th Infantry during the coming weeks.[31]

Shekhtman was replaced by Anisimov on December 5, who would be promoted to the rank of major general on January 27, 1943.[5] On December 6 and 7 the German counterattacks continued, and the 252nd was directed north to back up the 24th Division on Chernyi Kurgan.[32] During the month the division came under command of the 21st Army.[33] While there were no further major offensive operations during the month, local attacks by the 252nd and several other divisions caused heavy losses to the 44th and 376th Infantry Divisions on December 28 and 29.[34]

As of January, 1943, the division had about 50 percent personnel of Kazakh and Uzbek nationality, while the remainder were split between Yakut and Russian.[22] When Don Front began its offensive to reduce the Stalingrad pocket on January 10 the 252nd had returned to 65th Army and was in the Army's reserves. During the first two days the Army's main forces made steady progress against the much-weakened VIII Corps and XIV Panzer Corps. General Batov committed the division on January 12, to the right of the 304th Division, and it soon found a gap between the two German corps, reaching the west bank of the Rossoshka River and cutting the withdrawal route of the 29th Motorized Division. It also assisted the 173rd Rifle and 51st Guards Rifle Divisions in a southward thrust of 4 km (2.5 mi) which reached to within 1–3 km (0.62–1.86 mi) of Karpovka by nightfall.[35]

Red Army mortarmen firing at German positions during Operation Ring, late January

The following day the 252nd, along with the 173rd, was again transferred to 21st Army, which was facing weaker opposition than the 65th. The immediate mission was to liberate Karpovka, then push eastward to seize Pitomnik airfield, one of the main remaining depots for the Sixth Army airlift. On January 16 this was taken with the help of 51st Guards, and the German forces in the Stalingrad pocket were reduced to using the more distant Gumrak for their inadequate air supplies. Later that day a counterattack by most of the remaining tanks of 14th Panzer Division damaged the division and forced the Army commander to shift fresh forces to its sector.[36]

There was a lull in the fighting from January 18–21 for the refitting of Don Front's forces. When the offensive resumed the 252nd was roughly in the center of the 21st Army's 9 km (5.6 mi)-wide attack sector, about 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Gumrak. By nightfall on January 23 the division had pushed about 4 km (2.5 mi) eastward, clearing the remnants of 29th Motorized from the village strongpoint at Talovoi. Two days later the advance forces of the Army reached to the fringes of Stalingrad proper, while the 252nd helped to seize Hill 122.5, from 2 to 4 km (1.2 to 2.5 mi) northeast of Lesoposadochnaia village. The final advance began on January 26 with six of the Army's rifle divisions advancing into the center of the city from the hills to the west. While elements of the Army linked up with the 13th Guards and 284th Rifle Divisions, the remainder continued advancing against surprisingly strong resistance from the remnants of XIV Panzer Corps. By this time, most of Don Front's rifle divisions were reduced to regimental strength.[37]

The next day the division was rotated out of the line for rest, returning on January 30 for the final act, although it was held back from the immediate front lines to be available against unexpected developments.[38] After the surrender of the German forces in Stalingrad on February 3, the 252nd remained in the region as part of the Stalingrad Group of Forces until March 1,[39] participating in the mopping up of German holdouts.[23]