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193rd Tank Division
The 193rd Tank Division was originally a Red Army infantry division that was reorganised after World War II as a mechanised and then a tank division of the Soviet Army.
The original 193rd Rifle Division was established in the Kharkov Military District on March 14, 1941. By June 22 it was still forming near Kamenka in the Kiev Military District and its order of battle was as follows:
The division, commanded by Colonel A.K. Berestov, joined with the 195th and 200th Rifle Divisions to form the 31st Rifle Corps. At the onset of the German invasion this corps was under direct command of the Kiev Special Military District, soon renamed Southwestern Front, and was positioned in the second echelon southeast of Sarny. On June 28 the Corps was assigned to 5th Army and the 193rd went into battle at Rozhits and Kivertsy. By July 8 it was down to 3,500 men and less than 35 guns and mortars of all types. On August 19, as 5th Army began its retreat, the division had only 600 men remaining; the following week it took in reservists and volunteers to a total of 4,500 men, but was almost completely lacking heavy weapons. In September the 193rd was surrounded with 5th Army in the Kiev Pocket and destroyed. The division's number was officially stricken from the Soviet order of battle on Dec. 27.
The division was reformed at Sorochinsk, in the South Urals Military District, from December 1941 to 3 January 1942. It comprised:
In June the division went to the Voronezh Front reserves, but was still far from complete at that time.
On 17 September the division, commanded by Col. F. N. Smekhotvorov, was assigned to the 62nd Army and fought during the Battle of Stalingrad. On 22 Sept., the 685th Regiment was ferried from the east to the west bank of the Volga into central Stalingrad and five nights later, on the 27th, the other two regiments joined it. The 883rd and 895th were deployed in the Red October factory complex. The following day, the 883rd was attacked by German tanks. Anti-tank rifleman Mikhail Panikakha was attempting to defend his position with Molotov cocktails. A German bullet ignited one of his bombs, setting him alight. He then threw himself against a tank with his remaining bomb and destroyed it, at the cost of his own life. Panikakha was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
The division was mauled and pushed back in a fierce German attack on 1 Oct. A day later, it was defending the western part of the Red October Factory, which included the kitchens, the bath house and workers' flats; it also counter-attacked Hill 107.5. The regiments, down to 200 men, were unequal to the task and were pushed back by German tanks and infantry. Chuikov, writing in 1963, said that between 13 and 20 Nov. the survivors of the 193rd Rifle Division (Smekhotvorov) were consolidated into the 685th Rifle Regiment - the grand total was 250 soldiers. However the historian John Erickson says that by 11 Nov. the division was reduced to 1,000 personnel.
At 2300 hrs. on November 12, Col. Smekhotvorov received orders from Maj. Gen. N.I. Krylov, chief-of-staff of 62nd Army, to withdraw his divisional headquarters and those of its subordinate regiments to the east bank of the Volga. The composite regiment was subordinated to the 138th Rifle Division, and the divisional artillery likewise to the chief of 62nd Army's artillery. This order officially ended the division's participation in the battle.
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193rd Tank Division
The 193rd Tank Division was originally a Red Army infantry division that was reorganised after World War II as a mechanised and then a tank division of the Soviet Army.
The original 193rd Rifle Division was established in the Kharkov Military District on March 14, 1941. By June 22 it was still forming near Kamenka in the Kiev Military District and its order of battle was as follows:
The division, commanded by Colonel A.K. Berestov, joined with the 195th and 200th Rifle Divisions to form the 31st Rifle Corps. At the onset of the German invasion this corps was under direct command of the Kiev Special Military District, soon renamed Southwestern Front, and was positioned in the second echelon southeast of Sarny. On June 28 the Corps was assigned to 5th Army and the 193rd went into battle at Rozhits and Kivertsy. By July 8 it was down to 3,500 men and less than 35 guns and mortars of all types. On August 19, as 5th Army began its retreat, the division had only 600 men remaining; the following week it took in reservists and volunteers to a total of 4,500 men, but was almost completely lacking heavy weapons. In September the 193rd was surrounded with 5th Army in the Kiev Pocket and destroyed. The division's number was officially stricken from the Soviet order of battle on Dec. 27.
The division was reformed at Sorochinsk, in the South Urals Military District, from December 1941 to 3 January 1942. It comprised:
In June the division went to the Voronezh Front reserves, but was still far from complete at that time.
On 17 September the division, commanded by Col. F. N. Smekhotvorov, was assigned to the 62nd Army and fought during the Battle of Stalingrad. On 22 Sept., the 685th Regiment was ferried from the east to the west bank of the Volga into central Stalingrad and five nights later, on the 27th, the other two regiments joined it. The 883rd and 895th were deployed in the Red October factory complex. The following day, the 883rd was attacked by German tanks. Anti-tank rifleman Mikhail Panikakha was attempting to defend his position with Molotov cocktails. A German bullet ignited one of his bombs, setting him alight. He then threw himself against a tank with his remaining bomb and destroyed it, at the cost of his own life. Panikakha was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
The division was mauled and pushed back in a fierce German attack on 1 Oct. A day later, it was defending the western part of the Red October Factory, which included the kitchens, the bath house and workers' flats; it also counter-attacked Hill 107.5. The regiments, down to 200 men, were unequal to the task and were pushed back by German tanks and infantry. Chuikov, writing in 1963, said that between 13 and 20 Nov. the survivors of the 193rd Rifle Division (Smekhotvorov) were consolidated into the 685th Rifle Regiment - the grand total was 250 soldiers. However the historian John Erickson says that by 11 Nov. the division was reduced to 1,000 personnel.
At 2300 hrs. on November 12, Col. Smekhotvorov received orders from Maj. Gen. N.I. Krylov, chief-of-staff of 62nd Army, to withdraw his divisional headquarters and those of its subordinate regiments to the east bank of the Volga. The composite regiment was subordinated to the 138th Rifle Division, and the divisional artillery likewise to the chief of 62nd Army's artillery. This order officially ended the division's participation in the battle.