152nd Rifle Division

The 152nd Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in October 1939 in the Transbaikal Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of the previous month. After remaining in that District through 1940 it was moving to the west in June 1941 as part of 16th Army when the German invasion began. Shortly after arriving at the fighting front it was pocketed by forces of Army Group Center west of Smolensk, along with most of its Army. The division fought in semi-encirclement through the latter half of July under this command, mostly in abortive efforts to recapture the city, suffering heavy casualties, before its remnants were able to withdraw across the Dniepr River in the first days of August. After several weeks rebuilding in reserve it rejoined 16th Army for an abortive offensive toward Dukhovshchina in early September. In anticipation of a further German offensive on Moscow the 152nd was again moved to the reserve as part of Group Boldin, but was badly placed to intervene effectively against the penetration of 3rd Panzer Group. With the fall of Vyazma on October 7 it was encircled and attempted to break out over the following days, but only remnants were successful, and on November 10 it was disbanded.

A new 152nd was designated in January 1942 in the South Ural Military District. Once formed it was moved by rail to Karelian Front, arriving as an offensive was launched against German/Finnish forces west of Murmansk. In the process of joining 14th Army it was caught by extreme weather on the open tundra and suffered heavy casualties from exposure. It remained on this sector until January 1943 when it made another long-distance move, now to 6th Army in Southwestern Front. It remained on the defense east of the Donets River into August, when it took part in the offensive that retook the Donbas region before heading toward the Dniepr in the Dnipro area. In mid-October it staged a successful crossing of the river and soon received the name of that city as a battle honor, as well as the Order of the Red Banner, while several men, including the division's commander, became Heroes of the Soviet Union. After a couple of months in 1st Guards Army it was reassigned to 46th Army in the renamed 3rd Ukrainian Front for the winter battles in the great bend of the Dniepr. After advancing toward the estuary of the Dniestr River in March as part of 8th Guards Army it was sent north to Belarus to join 28th Army in 1st Belorussian Front for the summer offensive. During Operation Bagration it was on the extreme left flank of the initial offensive and fought into the Pinsk Marshes, separating the German 9th and 2nd Armies, and advancing on Baranavichy, winning the Order of Suvorov in the process. After the capture of Brest it moved with its Army back to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and then to 3rd Belorussian Front on the border of East Prussia. During the offensive in January 1945 it forced its way through the strong German defenses, helping to cut off the capital city of Königsberg. In March it played a major role in eliminating the group of German forces pocketed southwest of that city and was given the rare award of the Order of Lenin. 28th Army again entered the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and was now transferred to 1st Ukrainian Front, arriving as the final campaign was reaching its climax. The 152nd helped complete the encirclement of German 9th Army south of Berlin, and then pushed into the city itself in the last days of the battle. After a unique and distinguished combat path that moved from the Arctic to the south of Ukraine and all the way to Berlin the division was moved to Belarus, where it was disbanded in February 1947.

1st Formation The 152nd began forming in October 1939, at Chita in the Transbaikal Military District. In early June 1941 it began moving west by rail, intended to reach the areas of Shepetivka and Berdychiv in the Kiev Special Military District. At this time its order of battle was as follows: 480th Rifle Regiment 544th Rifle Regiment 646th Rifle Regiment 333rd Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 75 492nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment 257th Antitank Battalion 117th Antiaircraft Battalion 112th Reconnaissance Company 228th Sapper Battalion 220th Signal Battalion 274th Medical/Sanitation Battalion (later 50th) 212th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 200th Motor Transport Battalion 130th Field Bakery 613th Field Postal Station 291st Field Office of the State Bank Col. Pyotr Nikolaevich Chernyshev had been appointed to command on March 22 and would lead the division through its entire first formation. At the outbreak of the war it was in 16th Army's 32nd Rifle Corps, along with the 46th Rifle Division.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10 On June 26 the Army, under command of Lt. Gen. M. F. Lukin, was diverted northward from Ukraine toward Smolensk,Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 75 which was being threatened by armored forces of Army Group Center. Lukin's chief of staff, Col. M. A. Shalin, would later declare that "[t]he command group with supporting units, 32d Rifle Corps, as well as some units of 5th Mechanized Corps, are [still] at peacetime establishment strength."David M. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1998, p. 207 Given that the 152nd had been established as a half-strength reserve division, its peacetime strength would have been roughly 6,000 personnel.

Battle of Smolensk As of July 1 Lukin's force was an army in name only, consisting of the two divisions of 32nd Corps, the 126th Cannon Artillery Regiment, 112th Antiaircraft Battalion, and 5th Mechanized,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 18 which would lose most of its strength due to breakdowns and fighting with XXXXVII Motorized Corps near Lyepyel during July 6-10. By the latter date 5th Mechanized had been reassigned and 16th Army had received the 57th Tank Division.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 26 On July 14 the Army officially entered the fighting front as it was assigned to Western Front, commanded by Marshal S. K. Timoshenko. He immediately assigned it the mission of creating an "antitank region" to prevent the German grouping around Velizh from "attacking southward from the Demidov and Dukhovshchina regions to reach the Smolensk and Iartsevo road" while also attacking toward Gorki with 32nd Rifle and 17th Mechanized Corps to destroy the German panzers in cooperation with 13th and 4th Armies, both of which were badly battered from the frontier battles.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., ch. 3

Lukin attempted to put this into action with an attack by his advance guard, consisting of part of the 152nd, two platoons of BT-7 tanks of the 57th Division, a mobile motorized detachment, and a brigade of four militia battalions from Smolensk. At 2300 hours on July 17 the 16th Army staff reported in detail on the division's progress:The advance force managed to halt the advance of the 18th Panzer Division for three days and went on to join the encirclement battle north and west of the city. The 18th had been badly depleted since Barbarossa began and would soon be reduced to just 12 operable panzers. However, during this time the 29th Motorized Division reached Smolensk's southern outskirts, and on July 16 began a three-day fight for the city center and its important railway bridge with the 152nd and the recently arrived 129th Rifle Division, which had been part of 19th Army. By day's end on July 18 Smolensk was mostly in German hands, and 16th Army was partially encircled, along with the remnants of the 19th and other formations retreating from the frontier.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 3, 4

Despite this success, it was increasingly clear that 29th Motorized and 18th Panzer were incapable of linking up with XXXIX Motorized Corps' 7th Panzer Division advancing from the north to complete the encirclement. Soviet forces were continuing to resist strongly, and the German mobile forces did not have sufficient infantry to seal the gaps. As the V Army Corps and IX Army Corps closed on Smolensk from northwest and southwest respectively to relieve the motorized troops the 152nd and 129th incorporated many company and battalion-size groups from defeated divisions and put them into action in a battle that continued for ten days. Timoshenko had received orders from the STAVKA to hold (or retake) the city "at all cost." On July 19 Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko took over Western Front, while Timoshenko remained in command of the Western Direction. By this time Lukin had begun moving his two divisions from the west and southwest part of the pocket to concentrate them for the recapture of Smolensk. The 129th still had a foothold in the northern part of the city.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4

At 2000 hours that day Lukin was finally able to report to Front headquarters on his Army's situation, which included:By now the armies in the pocket were under control of the commander of 20th Army, Lt. Gen. P. A. Kurochkin. Under his orders Lukin handed his sector west and north of the city to Kurochkin's army and sent the 152nd and 46th to reinforce the 129th. The 152nd entered the fight for Smolensk on July 20 after regrouping to Muk and Iatsinino some 5-7km to the northwest. In the course of this move it engaged a number of small German reconnaissance groups on its right wing as well as a pair of motorized infantry battalions backed by a battalion of artillery firing over the Dniepr from the Borovaia area. Lukin also reported shortages of food, ammunition, and radios, and disorganization in the medical services.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4 The fight for the city 16th Army attacked from the north toward Smolensk beginning at 0100 hours on July 21. This led to protracted street fighting through the day in the northern part of the city. The 480th Regiment, less one battalion, retook Smolensk Station and advanced another 1,000m toward the city center, while the 544th Regiment reached the Dniepr. 29th Motorized was forced to withdraw most of its forces from the part of the city north of the river. However, Lukin reported that the personnel losses among his forces had reached 40 percent. The fighting continued the next day, as the 34th Rifle Corps joined the attack from the southeast; although this was unsuccessful the XXXXVII Motorized Corps was forced to send the 17th Panzer Division to assist 29th Motorized, which in turn helped prevent the closing of the pocket. On the evening of July 23, Western Front reported, in part, that the 152nd had retaken the northwestern part of the city. However, early the next day Lukin's headquarters was forced to report that the Army had failed to completely clear the northern part of Smolensk, and the 152nd was hindered by the absence of two battalions that had been "loaned" to 20th Army. The attack was to be renewed with the addition of the 46th Division. Through this entire battle Army Group Center was making every effort to disengage its motorized and panzer forces in order to renew the advance toward Moscow, but the infantry was slow to move up.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4