159th Rifle Division (1940–1941)

159th Rifle Division (1st formation) July 1940 – September 1941 Soviet Union 23px Red Army Infantry 9,548 personnel Isaev 2004 60–62 Battle of Kiev (1941) The 159th Rifle Division (ru 159-я стрелковая дивизия)The 159th Rifle Division formed in 1940 was referred to as the 159th Rifle Division (1st formation) by the official list of Red Army units compiled postwar because it was the first of three unrelated units designated the 159th Rifle Division active between 1941 and 1945,Grylev 1970 78 although it was not the first unit of the Red Army designated the 159th Rifle Division. N was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II, active from 1940 to 1941. Formed in Ukraine in mid-1940, the division fought in the Battle of Kiev and was destroyed in encirclement in late September. Formation 159th Rifle Division (1st formation)Grylev 1970 78 1941 *491st Rifle Regiment 558th Rifle Regiment 631st Rifle Regiment 597th Light Artillery Regiment 723rd Howitzer Artillery Regiment 136th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion 474th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion 243rd Reconnaissance Battalion 185th Sapper Battalion 460th Separate Communications Battalion 207th Medical-Sanitary Battalion 139th Degassing Platoon 163rd Auto Transport Company 166th Field Bakery 124th Field Post Office 174th Field Cash Office of the State Bank An unrelated 159th Rifle Division, the first Red Army unit to share the designation, was formed in the Ural Military District in September 1939, but was disbanded in January 1940 to form an officer cadet school.Meltyukhov 2008 491 The designation of the 159th was reused for a division formed in July 1940 in the Kiev Special Military District,Meltyukhov 2008 491 under the command of Colonel Ivan Mashchenko, appointed on the 29th.Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1964 180 It included the 491st, 558th, and 631st Rifle Regiments, and the 597th Light and 723rd Howitzer Artillery Regiments, in addition to smaller support units.Grylev 1970 78 The 159th was assigned to the 5th Army of the district from 5 July to early August, then transferred to the 6th Army of the district between 3 and 17 August. It returned to the 6th Army in early 1941,Dvoinykh Karyaeva Stegantsev 1993 441 assigned to the 6th Rifle Corps of the army. Mashchenko, who had departed for advanced training in July 1940, did not return to the division until 21 May.Tsapayev Goremykin 2015 774–775 World War II The division was at roughly 66% of wartime strength with 9,548 personnel when Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June. They were armed with 8,278 Mosin–Nagant rifles, 3,259 semi-automatic rifles, 305 submachine guns, 391 light machine guns, 173 medium machine guns, 54 45 mm anti-tank guns, 35 76 mm guns, 25 122 mm howitzers, nine 152 mm howitzers, and 147 mortars. Equipment included 395 vehicles and 40 artillery tractors.Isaev 2004 60–62 The division was able to hold its positions briefly, utilizing the defenses of the 6th (Rava-Ruska) Fortified Region. Despite its casualties, the 159th only retreated 1–2 km mi us on the first day of the war. On 23 June, the army commander ordered the division to counterattack the German troops in the gap between the 41st and 97th Rifle Divisions of the corps. In the fighting near Magerov on the same day, Mashchenko was killed by a grenade.Tsapayev Goremykin 2015 774–775 Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Semyonov, deputy commander of another division, was appointed commander of the 159th on 28 June. By this time the division and its corps had been transferred to the 26th Army. Semyonov took command of the 159th as it retreated from the vicinity of Tarnopol. The division was then tasked with moving to Volochysk to defend positions there with a tank unit and slow down the German advance. In five days of fighting there, the 159th suffered heavy losses but was able to accomplish its goal.Tsapayev Goremykin 2014 356–357 The division was subsequently sent to the city of Belaya Tserkov for rebuilding, and was assigned the 91st Border Detachment, a rifle regiment, and a corps artillery regiment. With these forces, it took up defensive positions west of Belaya Tserkov, and defended them for six days. The division was flanked by the German advance and encircled 15–20 km mi us from the city. For two days the 159th fought to break out and managed to accomplish this, reaching the main forces of the 26th Army in the Staritsy (now around the villages of Velyka Starytsya and Mala Starytsya) area.Tsapayev Goremykin 2014 356–357 The 159th was tasked with defending positions west of Rzhyshchiv to prevent a German crossing of the Dnieper. After five days the division handed over its sector to the 45th Tank Division (fighting as infantry) and went to Kaniv to be rebuilt. The division later defended Kaniv for fifteen days against the German advance and covered the crossing of the Dnieper by the 5th Cavalry Corps. The division then crossed the river and defended positions on the opposite bank. In mid-September Semyonov went to the army staff,Tsapayev Goremykin 2014 356–357 and was succeeded on 16 September by Colonel Nikolay Fedotov, deputy commander of another division. In the Battle of Kiev in late September the 159th was destroyed in encirclement with most of the 26th Army, with its commander being reported missing.Tsapayev Goremykin 2014 747–748 According to one of the army's last reports, on 22 September, the 159th was fighting in encirclement at Kandybovka northwest of Orzhytsia, and repeated breakout attempts had failed.Isaev 2004 581–582 On paper, the division, though it had long ceased to exist, was officially disbanded on 27 December 1941.Grylev 1970 78 Footnotes References Citations Bibliography http://guides.eastview.com/browse/guidebook.html?bid=121 Центральный государственный архив Советской армии: Путеводитель Eastview Publications 1993 1879944030 Dvoinykh L.V. 2 Minneapolis Russian A Guide to the Central State Archive of the Soviet Army Karyaeva T.F. Stegantsev M.V. Grylev A. N. http://www.soldat.ru/doc/perechen/ Перечень № 5. Стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизии, входивших в состав Действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 гг. Voenizdat 1970 Moscow Russian List (Perechen) No. 5: Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized divisions, part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 Isaev Alexey http://militera.lib.ru/h/isaev_av3/index.html От Дубно до Ростова AST 2004 5-17-022744-2 Moscow Russian From Dubno to Rostov Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union http://militera.lib.ru/h/sb_komandovanie-korpus-diviziya-vov/index.html Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг. Frunze Military Academy 1964 Moscow Russian Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 19411945 35371247 Meltyukhov Mikhail Упущенный шанс Сталина. Схватка за Европу: 1939-1941 гг. Veche 2008 978-5-9533-2697-1 3rd Moscow Russian Stalin's Missed Chance: The Struggle for Europe, 1939–1941 Tsapayev D.A. Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь Goremykin Viktor Kuchkovo Pole 2014 978-5-9950-0457-8 5 Moscow Russian The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary 1 Tsapayev D. A. Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь Goremykin Viktor Kuchkovo Pole 2015 978-5-9950-0602-2 4 Moscow Russian The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary 1 Category:Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Category:Military units and formations established in 1940 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1941