251st Rifle Division
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The 251st Rifle Division was the seventh of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was largely based on what would become the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, with several variations. It served under command of 30th Army in an effort to recover Smolensk in late July and in the Dukhovshchina offensives in August and September, and was quickly reduced to a much-weakened state. It was largely encircled in the initial stages of Operation Typhoon but sufficient men and equipment escaped that it was spared being disbanded. In the following two and a half years the division slogged through the difficult and costly battles around Rzhev and Smolensk as part of 20th Army, and later 31st Army, of Western Front, including several abortive offensives toward Orsha and Vitebsk in late 1943 and early 1944. At the start of Operation Bagration in June the 251st was serving in the 39th Army of 1st Baltic Front and it won a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Vitebsk. Following this victory it advanced into the "Baltic Gap" that had formed between Army Groups North and Center, entering Lithuania and winning the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the fighting for Kaunas. The division was transferred to 43rd Army and then 4th Shock Army as the Front advanced on Riga, and two of its rifle regiments received decorations for the battles for the Latvian capital. In the first days of 1945 the 251st was reassigned yet again, to the 2nd Guards Army of 3rd Belorussian Front, and served under this Army for the duration of the war. It, and several of its subunits, received awards during the East Prussian campaign, and ended the war in East Prussia. After the war the 251st was moved into the Caucasus region, and was finally disbanded in early 1947.
251st Rifle Division (June 26, 1941 – March 1947) | |
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Active | 1941–1947 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | Division |
Engagements | Battle of Smolensk (1941) Operation Typhoon Battle of Moscow Battles of Rzhev Operation Mars Operation Büffel Battle of Smolensk (1943) Orsha offensives (1943) Operation Bagration Vitebsk–Orsha offensive Baltic offensive Operation Doppelkopf Riga offensive (1944) East Prussian offensive Battle of Königsberg Samland offensive |
Decorations | Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov |
Battle honours | Vitebsk |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Filipp Yakovlevich Solovyov Col. Vladimir Filippovich Stenin Col. Sergei Ivanovich Orestov Col. Basan Badminovich Gorodovikov Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Alekseevich Volkhin Col. Evgenii Yakovlevich Birsteyn |