304th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

38th Army was directly in the path when the second phase of this offensive began on July 7, and by the 9th was in deep trouble. Maj. Gen. Kirill Moskalenko, the Army's commander, sent urgent messages to the STAVKA requesting permission to withdraw well east of the Aidar River to prevent his forces being entirely cut off. When no reply was forthcoming, he ordered the retreat on his own authority. While the 304th suffered significant casualties in this retreat, and German intelligence counted it as one of the divisions that had been "bagged", Moskalenko's order saved enough to allow it to be rebuilt.[7]

On July 31, Col. Serafim Petrovich Merkulov took command of the division, and would hold it for the remainder of the 1st Formation's existence. Shortly before this the 304th was moved to the 21st Army, under the newly formed Stalingrad Front. In August, as the defense of Stalingrad was being planned, the division was assigned to hold part of its Army's 140 km-wide sector from the mouth of the Khoper River as far as Melo-Kletsky.[8]

In mid-August, after German 6th Army had cleared the great bend of the Don River and was clearly preparing for an advance on Stalingrad, Col. Gen. Andrey Yeryomenko conceived a plan to distract the German forces from this objective. On August 19 he issued an attack order to 21st and 63rd Armies to cross the Don southwards in the 30 km sector west of Serafimovich. Most of this sector had been taken up by elements of the Italian 8th Army within the past week, although they still had some backup from the Germans. The 304th, along with the 96th Rifle Division, were to play 21st Army's part in this offensive, attacking on a 15 km sector from Serafimovich to the Khoper. In the event, the 96th had no success against the German forces in Serafimovich itself in the early going, but the 304th managed to establish a small bridgehead, and over the following days pushed forwards 7 km and began digging in on August 27, while the 96th liberated Serafimovich. The gains made by 63rd Army were more extensive, and together these created one of the bridgeheads across the Don which would play an important role in Operation Uranus.[9] The division, in company with the 124th Rifle Division, launched a heavy diversionary attack against the 79th Infantry Division on September 4 with the objective of tying down German forces in the region.[10]

In October the division was reassigned to 65th Army in Don Front as that Army was being organized.[11] In Maj. Gen. P.I. Batov's plan for the offensive in November, the 304th formed half of the Army's shock group, alongside the 27th Guards Rifle Division, on a 6 km-wide sector on the south bank of the Don between Kletskaia and Melo-Kletskii. This bridgehead had been won from the Germans by the 1st Guards Army in August. The attack began on the morning of November 19 with a massive artillery barrage. Between 0848 and 0850 hrs. Moscow time, riflemen and sappers of the leading battalions, bolstered by 49 tanks of the 91st Tank Brigade, commenced the assault, aimed at the boundary between 1st Romanian Cavalry and the German 376th Infantry Divisions. The immediate objective was to smash the Romanian cavalry, then attack southeastward to turn the flank of 6th Army's XI Corps and protect the left flank of 21st Army's mobile group as it exploited southwards. General Batov recorded:

"The first two trench lines on the high ground on the [southern] bank were taken immediately. Fighting then developed on the nearby heights... The guardsmen [27th Guards] on the right, which were pressed up against the neighboring 76th Division, advanced well. In the center it was worse: Merkulov [304th Rifle Division] was forced to the ground in front of Melo-Kletskaia."

The 304th had encountered skillfully fortified strongpoints manned by German troops that they could not overcome. Further, they faced nearly constant counterattacks from 376th Infantry, supported later in the day by elements of 14th Panzer Division.[12]

One of these strongpoints was the village of Orekhovsky, which was attacked repeatedly through the day with tank support with only minimal success. However, a single battalion of the 807th Rifle Regiment, commanded by Major Chebotaev, managed to capture Marker 202.2 on the high ground just 2 km west of the village's center. Overnight, Batov and his staff worked out a new plan to exploit this limited success. A mobile group was formed, made up of about 45 T-34 and KV tanks from 91st Brigade, with submachine gunners riding on their decks, accompanied by motorized infantry and artillery. This force came under the command of Col. G.I. Anisimov on the morning of November 20 and was ready to advance in the early afternoon, following the rifle forces that were developing the 807th Regiment's penetration. Diversionary attacks were made by 65th Army's left-flank forces, while the 304th continued its assault on Orekhovsky and another strongpoint at Logovsky. This would be assisted by the fresh 252nd Rifle Division entering the battle at the boundary between the 304th and the 27th Guards. During the morning these two divisions pushed deeply into the Romanian defenses, after which the 252nd created a breach which Anisimov's mobile group entered and began its exploitation, advancing 23 km into XI Corps' left rear by nightfall, sowing panic and helping convince the German Corps that its position was becoming untenable. Meanwhile, the three rifle divisions advanced 2 to 4 km to the southeast, and on the following day completed the liberation of Orekhovsky, as well as Logovsky and Osinki.[13]

On November 21 the advance of the division and its neighbors became more difficult as the 376th Infantry consolidated its positions and was gradually reinforced. Despite the slow progress on this sector, over the next two days Southwestern and Stalingrad Fronts completed the encirclement of German 6th Army, and the mission of Don Front changed to that of liquidating the enemy pocket. 65th Army resumed its advance early on November 25. XI Corps, reinforced with elements of XIV Panzer Corps, began to pull back southeast across the Don, giving up its bridgehead in the Great Bend, which was untenable. Batov began a slow pursuit with his 24th, 304th and 252nd Rifle Divisions; the 304th advanced from Rodionov to Kubantseva Balka, with the support of 91st Tank Brigade. By the end of the day the area of the German bridgehead had been reduced by roughly half. The next day the pursuit continued, and the division reached the northern slope of Hill 204.0, 2 km south of Biriuchkov, before being stopped by heavy fire from the hill. Overnight on November 26/27 the last German forces were withdrawn. Batov wrote:

"The 304th Rifle Division's... forward detachments rushed up to the crossings at Petrovatka and, during the day on 27 November, the division's main forces captured Luchenskii, and the forward units on the eastern bank abruptly turned toward the northeast and joined battle on the approaches to Vertiachii. The shock group of 65th Army (with its regimental artillery) was already on that side of the Don."

This shock group was led by two battalions of the 812th Rifle Regiment, which made a night crossing of the ice-covered river under protective fire from 91st Tank Brigade. It was a risky move because the ice was not as firm as Batov would have liked, but with the help of the 14th Engineer Brigade the rest of the 304th made it across safely, and the sappers soon erected a bridge. Within 24 hours Vertiachii was taken, as the German forces continued to withdraw to the defensive line designated by 6th Army command several days earlier. Batov then withdrew the division into 65th Army's reserves.[14]

The 304th re-entered the battle at 0700 hrs. on December 2. A reconnaissance group of 27th Guards had found a small gap in the German lines the day before, and the two divisions were tasked to exploit it. The attack, supported by 12 tanks plus antitank guns of the 52nd Tank Destroyer Regiment, against the German 131st Regiment of 44th Infantry Division defending Hill 124.5 (Chernyi Kurgan), advanced several hundred metres after a full day of intense fighting, but fell short of taking the hill. 24th Rifle Division took the lead in a further attack on December 4. The 304th was to support and protect its right flank as it drove on Hill 113.6 and the village of Baburkin, 3 km beyond. Despite significant artillery support the assault made only limited gains. Chernyi Kurgan was taken, and would be a thorn in the side of 44th Division through the coming weeks, but nearly all other gains were erased by German counterattacks. On December 6, in an effort to restore its main battle line, German VIII Army Corps launched several counterattacks against the hill, which 24th Division had turned into a virtual fortress, as well as the Golaia ravine, defended by the 27th Guards and 304th. In fighting that went on into December 8, these gains were held.[15]

Through most of the rest of the month the lines surrounding 6th Army became relatively quiet as the Soviet Fronts prepared for Operation Ring. One exception to this pattern occurred on December 28/29, when five divisions of 21st and 65th Armies, including the 304th, launched assault groups against the much-reduced 44th and 376th Infantry Divisions. The former lost 177 men over the two days, while the latter lost 130 men on the 28th and 392 in counterattacks the following day.[16]

When Ring formally began on January 10, 1943, the division was one of ten in the first echelon of 21st, 65th and 24th Armies that would make Don Front's main attack, facing 44th Infantry and 29th Motorized Divisions. The 304th and 173rd Rifle Divisions, on the right wing of 65th Army, had a long-range artillery group of three army-level regiments, firing in their direct support. After a 55-minute opening barrage the infantry assault began at 0900 hrs., supported by over 100 tanks, and soon overwhelmed the enemy defenses. The 304th and 24th Divisions, led by the KV tanks of the 5th and 14th Guards Tank Regiments,[17] overran the three weak battalions of 44th Infantry's 134th and 132nd Regiments, plus the battalion-sized Group Weller of 29th Motorized along a 4 km-wide sector. The two Soviet divisions advanced 2 km, shattered all four enemy battalions, and opened a 2 km-wide breach of the German line by day's end.[18]

On January 11, Batov exploited this gap by ordering his 23rd Rifle Division straight into it from second echelon and over that day it advanced, along with the 304th, about 3 km, reaching to within 1 km of the Rossoshka valley and, in the process, rendering VIII Corps' defenses west of the Rossoshka completely untenable. In the course of the next day's fighting the division managed to win a 1- to 2 km- wide bridgehead across this river. On the 13th, the 304th, with two other divisions, continued to attack the remaining defenses of 44th Infantry, but made limited gains. The next day the division, in concert with the 23rd, enveloped the 44th's forces defending Novo-Alekseevsky but failed to capture the town; they were later reinforced by 273rd Rifle Division. From January 15 to 17 the pace of the Soviet advance slowed, and Rokossovsky finally called a halt for rest and replenishment.[19]

Before the offensive was officially set to resume, on January 21 65th Army went back to the attack with four divisions, including the 304th, backed again by 91st Tank Brigade, striking eastward, and penetrating the defenses of VIII Corps' 76th Infantry Division. These attacks finished off the 44th Infantry and did severe damage to the 76th, and also created a 6 km-wide gap in 6th Army's western front, bringing divisional artillery within range of Gumrak airfield. In recognition of the accomplishments of the division, late in the day the 304th Rifle Division was re-designated as the 67th Guards Rifle Division.[20][21]

The second formation of this brigade took place in August, 1942, in the reserves of Transcaucasus Front by mobilizing training units in the Transcaucasus Military District. Early in October it was assigned to the 58th Army in the Northern Group of its Front. 58th Army was acting as a reserve backing the Terek River line, blocking the German advance on Baku and the Caspian oil fields. At the end of the month the 43rd advanced into the 9th Rifle Corps' positions in 44th Army along the Terek. On November 22, the brigade consisted of:

• 4 rifle battalions, each 700-800 men, plus:
  • 1 AT rifle section (2 AT rifles)
  • 1 machine gun company
  • 1 mortar company (6 82mm mortars)
  • 1 AT rifle platoon (6 AT rifles)
• 1 mortar battalion (24 82mm mortars)
• 1 submachine gun company (100-120 men)
• 1 "assault troop" (100-120 men)

The lack of artillery and other heavy weapons was typical of the units formed in the region during the crisis of July to September. As the front began to move north and west towards the Kuban the brigade was reassigned to 9th Army in the North Caucasus Front and served there facing the German 17th Army from February to July, 1943, until it was disbanded.[24]

This brigade was formed in February - March, 1942, in the Moscow Military District.[25] It was in the Moscow Defense Zone from April to August, when it was railed south to the Transcaucasus Military District. When it arrived it consisted of:

• 4 rifle battalions, each:
  • 3 rifle companies (123 men each)
  • 1 submachine gun company (100 men)
  • 1 machine gun company
  • 1 mortar company (82mm mortars)
  • AT rifle, sapper supply platoons
• 1 artillery battalion (20 76mm and 45mm cannon)
• 1 antitank battalion (346 men)
  • 3 companies (108 antitank rifles total)
• 1 sapper company (120 men)
• 1 reconnaissance platoon

The brigade was commanded by Col. V.S. Antonov. It was quickly assigned to 44th Army, then in September to 9th Army along the Terek River defense line. In November, during the last gasps of the German offensive, the 256th became part of 9th Rifle Corps back in 44th Army, and remained there while the enemy retreat began. In January, 1943, that Corps moved to 9th Army in North Caucasus Front, and the brigade served the next six months facing the German positions on the Taman Peninsula until it was disbanded.[26]

The order of battle of the new 304th Rifle Division remained as previous.[27] The first commander assigned was Col. Timofeiy Ustinovich Grinchenko. After just over one month of forming up, the division was assigned to the 11th Rifle Corps of 9th Army.

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• 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. p. 254
• Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть I. 1920 - 1944 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part I. 1920–1944] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow.