339 Rifle division played a significant role in the victory over Nazi Germany. This unit was one of the most combat-ready on the Crimean and other fronts. The soldiers took part in many decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War.
They liberated Soviet soil from the Caucasus to Lvov and invaded Germany. For military merit, the division bears the honorary title "Red Banner".
Creation
339 rifle division was created at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Immediately after the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union, mobilization began in the country. New units were created, which after often immediately rushed into battle. In September, the mobilization point of the new division, under the command of the ninth army, moved to Rostov. The 339th rifle division was assigned the role of a reserve unit. The fighters were trained in Novocherkassk. Most of the recruits were from the local population. Therefore, the division was supposed to stand in Rostov-on-Don. The command of the military district paid special attention to the formation of units. Armament and some tactical decisions took into account the peculiarities of the steppe terrain.
Composition of the 339 Infantry Division
In total, the division had 16 units. This is taking into account various logistics and service formations. Many combat regiments bore the names of their cities. The core of the division was three infantry regiments. They were armed with rifles, PPSh assault rifles, machine guns, hand grenades and mortars. The cover was provided by an artillery regiment equipped with howitzers and multiple rocket launchers. Also, the 339th Infantry Division included a separate anti-tank division.
There was a reconnaissance battalion, a chemical protection company, sappers. Other units performed auxiliary functions: transportation, delivery of provisions, provision of medicines, and so on. The division was commanded by Alexander Pykhtin.
Baptism of fire
After the failure of the defense of Kyiv, the Germans quickly advanced to the East. By autumn, they had already launched an offensive in the Crimea.
Kharkov was besieged, advanced units went to the Donbass. In early October, the Soviet divisions covering the Rostov direction were surrounded. As a result of the fighting, the eighteenth army suffered a serious defeat. The southern front was liquidated. A catastrophic situation developed in all directions. Rostov-on-Don, Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk) and other settlements were under the threat of occupation. In order to somehow delay the advance of the Nazis, the command threw all the reserves into battle.
As a result to keepThe 339th Rifle Division was introduced to the defense line. At that time, stopping the offensive was an extremely important strategic task. On other fronts, the situation was similar. Therefore, the soldiers of the division were actually thrown into battle from the echelons. Weapons were issued only upon arrival at the front line. But reinforcements slowly approached from the rear. An acute shortage of anti-tank guns forced the command to issue exhibits from museums to the fighters. So, with weapons from the Civil War, the 339th Infantry Division went into battle.
Protection of Donbass
After occupying the line of defense along the Mius River, the soldiers began to prepare for the enemy's offensive. At the end of September, the Germans launched an offensive. The enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops by several times in terms of the number of aircraft, manpower, and guns. The heaviest blow fell on the "junction of the two armies". The German motorized division immediately broke through the front, a significant number of Soviet units were surrounded.
At the same time, the threat of a breakthrough is looming near Pavlograd. In order to protect the Rostov direction and prevent the Nazis from reaching the rear, the Soviet leadership creates a special section. The 339th division is included in it. The task of the fighters is to defend the front along the river and cover the road to Rostov.
On the twelfth of October, the fighters of the division were the first to meet Kleist's forward detachments. Despite the lack of anti-tank weapons, the 1st German strike group was unable to suppress the enemy defenses. And the very next day the division launched a counteroffensive. HeadlongThe Germans who rushed forward suffered losses and were forced to retreat. The division advanced fifteen kilometers. However, four days later, reserves approached the Germans. A backlash has begun. By October 20, the division suffered huge losses (the personnel of two regiments were almost completely killed) and was forced to retreat. As a result, the front collapsed. Most of the Donbass was occupied. The Germans opened the road to the Crimea.
Counterstrike
After breaking through the front, the Soviet troops rapidly retreated. The command ordered to cover Rostov-on-Don. The 339th Rifle Division was ordered to entrench itself in the suburbs. However, the situation developed rapidly. Inspired by the Germans, they attacked the city with huge forces. Therefore, the command decided to leave Rostov. A few days later the Germans entered it.
On November 5th, the counter-offensive of the Red Army began.
From several fronts, with the forces of three armies, Soviet troops launched an offensive against Rostov. The 339th division stormed the city with particular zeal, since a significant part of the personnel came from these places. On the twenty-seventh of November, the German defenses were broken through. The forces of the two fronts struck towards each other, trying to surround the German grouping. The city was liberated two days later. The success of the operation greatly encouraged Soviet soldiers throughout the country, as it was one of the first successful offensives. Soldiers of the 339th again took up defense along the Mius River.
Retreat
At the front near the riverThe Mius calm lasted the longest. The Soviet troops did not have the strength to attack, and the Germans did not dare to go forward. Soldiers of the Rostov division occupied positions near the village of Matveev Kurgan. Artillery duels and attacks by sabotage groups - that's all the fighting. However, everything changed in July 1942. The Germans launched a massive offensive. The division began to retreat. After the defeat of the Southern Front, it is transferred to the submission of the forty-seventh army. By the end of the summer, the division took up defensive positions in the Caucasus.
Fights took place in extremely difficult mountainous conditions. Although the personnel of the Rostov division was located on a relatively flat area, the new climate affected the he alth of some fighters. The German offensive continued until winter. All this time, the soldiers held a stubborn defense.
But the fate of the front was decided not here, but near Stalingrad. After the defeat there, the German troops began to retreat rapidly. Fearing encirclement, they left the Caucasus and the Kuban. After that, a large-scale counteroffensive of the Red Army began. Soldiers of the 339th division liberated Taman and Kerch.
Liberation of Crimea
A landing operation was undertaken to transfer to the peninsula. Soviet troops landed in the Kerch port and immediately rushed into battle. As a result, parts of the Wehrmacht and the Romanian armies suffered a crushing defeat and retreated. The distinguished soldiers of the 339th Infantry Division were awarded orders and medals.
After the liberation of the city, preparations began for a large-scale offensive throughout the peninsula. The soldiers of the division participated in the offensive from the first days. In April, Soviet troops encircled Sevastopol and began to prepare for its attack. However, numerous assault attempts were unsuccessful. On May 5, the decisive offensive began. After four days of hard fighting, the Red Army still managed to liberate Sevastopol.
Advance on Germany
After the complete liberation of the Soviet land, the soldiers of the 339th division began to liberate Western Europe.
As part of the Belarusian Front, they participated in the defeat of the German armies that occupied Poland. As Soviet soldiers retreated in the forty-first in the Donbass, so the Germans fled from them in the forty-fifth. Every day the Red Army advanced several tens of kilometers. In less than a month, almost all of Poland was liberated, and advanced units reached the Oder. Some operations were carried out by Soviet fighters jointly with Polish partisans.
Storming Berlin
The division's last operation ended the war.
On the sixteenth of April, Soviet troops went on the offensive. Bloody battles continued for twenty-three days. On May 8, Berlin fell, ending World War II in Europe. The 339th Rifle Division met the end of the war on the Elbe together with the troops of the United States of America.
We must remember the names of those who fought for a brighter future. Among the distinguished soldiers of the 339th Infantry Division:
- Kulakov Teodor Sergeevich - commanderdivision, died in 1943, November 16.
- Aleksey Kirillovich Goloshchapov - Komsomol organizer of the battalion of the 1133rd Infantry Regiment, died in November 1943.
- Starygin Alexander Vasilievich - commander of a rifle platoon.
- Aleksey Stepanovich Nesterov - commander of a platoon of 45-mm cannons of the 1137th Infantry Regiment, died in 1981.
- Aleksey Prokofievich Soroka - deputy battalion commander of the 1133rd Infantry Regiment, died in 1993.
- Gavriil Pavlovich Shchedrov - commander of the sapper platoon of the 1133rd Infantry Regiment, died in 1973.
- Doev David Teboevich - sniper of the 1133rd Infantry Regiment, killed in 1943.
- Shamsula Faizulla oglu (Feyzullaevich) Aliyev - deputy commander of the 2nd battalion of the 1135th rifle regiment, died in 1943.
- Zolotukhin Ivan Panteleevich - scout of the 1137th Infantry Regiment.
- Fesenko Vladimir Akimovich - scout-observer of the battery of 76-mm guns of the 1135th rifle regiment.
A street in Rostov-on-Don is named in memory of the division. The short combat path of the 339th Infantry Division is described in the book "Test of Loy alty".
