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237th Rifle Division
The 237th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. At the opening of Operation Barbarossa it was in the Leningrad Military District where it had formed near the Finnish border but was soon moved south to defend against German Army Group North. As part of 16th Rifle Corps in 11th Army it took part in the battle of Soltsy, which imposed a significant delay on the German advance toward Leningrad. In August it was encircled while serving with 48th Army and suffered such heavy losses that it was disbanded on September 17.
A new division, originally numbered as the 455th, began forming in the Siberian Military District in early December and was soon redesignated as the 2nd formation of the 237th. After training and equipping it entered the fighting front northwest of Voronezh in late July as part of a counteroffensive by Bryansk Front against the advancing German Army Group B but suffered heavy losses in just two days of combat and was rendered ineffective. After rebuilding during the autumn the 237th took part in the Voronezh–Kastornoye Offensive in January-February 1943, during which it took part in the destruction of one column of Axis troops attempting to escape the encirclement. It played a minor role in the battle of Kursk, after which it went over to the summer offensive into eastern Ukraine as part of 40th Army, winning a battle honor on its way to the Dniepr River. In this Army, as part of 1st Ukrainian Front, it was involved in the ultimately futile battles for the Bukryn bridgehead. Following the liberation of Kyiv it took part in the defense against the following German counteroffensive and then went over to the offensive itself, winning the Order of the Red Banner for the liberation of Zhmerynka while serving in 38th Army. The division was soon shifted to the 1st Guards Army and played a secondary role in the Lvov–Sandomierz operation, during which its artillery regiment earned a battle honor. With its Army it was reassigned to the 4th Ukrainian Front in August and it would remain in the Front for the duration of the war, serving under a variety of corps and army commands, and winning further distinctions as it fought through the Carpathian Mountains into Czechoslovakia. Despite a solid record as a combat unit the 237th was disbanded within months of the German surrender.
The division began forming on March 14, 1941, at Petrozavodsk in the Leningrad Military District. When the German invasion began it was still there and it had the following order of battle:
Maj. Gen. Dmitrii Fyodorovich Popov had been appointed to command on the day the division began forming. This officer had been serving as a senior instructor at the Frunze Military Academy since 1935. As of June 22 it was assigned to 7th Army in Northern Front. In planning less than a month before the invasion 7th Army constituted Covering Region No. 2 of the Leningrad District, responsible for the sector along the Finnish border from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga with four rifle divisions and one fortified region. By July 10 the 237th had been reassigned, joining the 70th Rifle Division in the 16th Rifle Corps of 11th Army in Northwestern Front.
At this time the LVI Motorized Corps of 4th Panzer Group, supported by infantry of the I Army Corps, was advancing along the Luga axis through Soltsy toward Novgorod. The 8th Panzer Division, in the vanguard, penetrated 30-40km along the Shimsk road and reached the town of Soltsy late on July 13. Here it was halted by spirited resistance from the 177th Rifle Division and the 10th Mechanized Corps, skillfully exploiting the difficult terrain. By nightfall the panzers found themselves isolated from the 3rd Motorized Division to its left and the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division lagging in the rear.
Alert for opportunities to strike back, the STAVKA ordered a counterstroke against the overexposed German force. This was communicated to Marshal K. Ye. Voroshilov, who in turn directed 11th Army to attack along the Soltsy-Dno axis with two shock groups. The northern group consisted of the 10th Mechanized's 21st Tank Division and the two divisions of 16th Rifle Corps, with reinforcements from the 1st People's Militia (DNO) Division and 1st Mountain Rifle Brigade. The southern group consisted of the 22nd Rifle Corps and was to attack 8th Panzer from the east. The assault, launched in oppressive 32 degree C summer heat and massive clouds of dust, caught 8th Panzer and 3rd Motorized totally by surprise. The two divisions were soon isolated from one another and 8th Panzer was forced to fight a costly battle in encirclement for four days. It also disrupted the German offensive plans by forcing 4th Panzer Group to divert 3rd SS from the Kingisepp and Luga axes to rescue the beleaguered panzer division. In his memoirs the commander of LVI Corps, Gen. E. von Manstein, wrote:
Our corps' position at that moment was hardly an enviable one, and we could not help wondering whether we had taken rather too great a risk this time... As matters stood, the only course open to us was to pull 8 Panzer Division back through [S]oltsy to escape the encirclement that now threatened... The next days proved critical, with the enemy straining every nerve to keep up his encirclement and throwing in, besides his rifle divisions, two armoured divisions enjoying strong artillery and air support. 8 Panzer Division nevertheless managed to break through [S]oltsy to the west and re-group, despite having to be temporarily supplied from the air.
The Soltsy counterstroke cost 8th Panzer 70 of its 150 tanks destroyed or damaged and represented the first, albeit temporary, success achieved by Soviet forces on the path to Leningrad. It also cost the German command a precious week to regroup and resume the advance. However, the cost to the Soviet forces was high. For his perceived failures, General Popov was relieved of his command on July 19 and arrested. He was soon sentenced to two years imprisonment but was later released to serve in rear area administration and in the training establishment. He would be rearrested in July 1943 and would remain in prison for the next ten years before being released and rehabilitated in the wake of Stalin's death. He was replaced in command of the 237th by Col. Vasilii Viktorovich Noskov.
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237th Rifle Division
The 237th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. At the opening of Operation Barbarossa it was in the Leningrad Military District where it had formed near the Finnish border but was soon moved south to defend against German Army Group North. As part of 16th Rifle Corps in 11th Army it took part in the battle of Soltsy, which imposed a significant delay on the German advance toward Leningrad. In August it was encircled while serving with 48th Army and suffered such heavy losses that it was disbanded on September 17.
A new division, originally numbered as the 455th, began forming in the Siberian Military District in early December and was soon redesignated as the 2nd formation of the 237th. After training and equipping it entered the fighting front northwest of Voronezh in late July as part of a counteroffensive by Bryansk Front against the advancing German Army Group B but suffered heavy losses in just two days of combat and was rendered ineffective. After rebuilding during the autumn the 237th took part in the Voronezh–Kastornoye Offensive in January-February 1943, during which it took part in the destruction of one column of Axis troops attempting to escape the encirclement. It played a minor role in the battle of Kursk, after which it went over to the summer offensive into eastern Ukraine as part of 40th Army, winning a battle honor on its way to the Dniepr River. In this Army, as part of 1st Ukrainian Front, it was involved in the ultimately futile battles for the Bukryn bridgehead. Following the liberation of Kyiv it took part in the defense against the following German counteroffensive and then went over to the offensive itself, winning the Order of the Red Banner for the liberation of Zhmerynka while serving in 38th Army. The division was soon shifted to the 1st Guards Army and played a secondary role in the Lvov–Sandomierz operation, during which its artillery regiment earned a battle honor. With its Army it was reassigned to the 4th Ukrainian Front in August and it would remain in the Front for the duration of the war, serving under a variety of corps and army commands, and winning further distinctions as it fought through the Carpathian Mountains into Czechoslovakia. Despite a solid record as a combat unit the 237th was disbanded within months of the German surrender.
The division began forming on March 14, 1941, at Petrozavodsk in the Leningrad Military District. When the German invasion began it was still there and it had the following order of battle:
Maj. Gen. Dmitrii Fyodorovich Popov had been appointed to command on the day the division began forming. This officer had been serving as a senior instructor at the Frunze Military Academy since 1935. As of June 22 it was assigned to 7th Army in Northern Front. In planning less than a month before the invasion 7th Army constituted Covering Region No. 2 of the Leningrad District, responsible for the sector along the Finnish border from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga with four rifle divisions and one fortified region. By July 10 the 237th had been reassigned, joining the 70th Rifle Division in the 16th Rifle Corps of 11th Army in Northwestern Front.
At this time the LVI Motorized Corps of 4th Panzer Group, supported by infantry of the I Army Corps, was advancing along the Luga axis through Soltsy toward Novgorod. The 8th Panzer Division, in the vanguard, penetrated 30-40km along the Shimsk road and reached the town of Soltsy late on July 13. Here it was halted by spirited resistance from the 177th Rifle Division and the 10th Mechanized Corps, skillfully exploiting the difficult terrain. By nightfall the panzers found themselves isolated from the 3rd Motorized Division to its left and the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division lagging in the rear.
Alert for opportunities to strike back, the STAVKA ordered a counterstroke against the overexposed German force. This was communicated to Marshal K. Ye. Voroshilov, who in turn directed 11th Army to attack along the Soltsy-Dno axis with two shock groups. The northern group consisted of the 10th Mechanized's 21st Tank Division and the two divisions of 16th Rifle Corps, with reinforcements from the 1st People's Militia (DNO) Division and 1st Mountain Rifle Brigade. The southern group consisted of the 22nd Rifle Corps and was to attack 8th Panzer from the east. The assault, launched in oppressive 32 degree C summer heat and massive clouds of dust, caught 8th Panzer and 3rd Motorized totally by surprise. The two divisions were soon isolated from one another and 8th Panzer was forced to fight a costly battle in encirclement for four days. It also disrupted the German offensive plans by forcing 4th Panzer Group to divert 3rd SS from the Kingisepp and Luga axes to rescue the beleaguered panzer division. In his memoirs the commander of LVI Corps, Gen. E. von Manstein, wrote:
Our corps' position at that moment was hardly an enviable one, and we could not help wondering whether we had taken rather too great a risk this time... As matters stood, the only course open to us was to pull 8 Panzer Division back through [S]oltsy to escape the encirclement that now threatened... The next days proved critical, with the enemy straining every nerve to keep up his encirclement and throwing in, besides his rifle divisions, two armoured divisions enjoying strong artillery and air support. 8 Panzer Division nevertheless managed to break through [S]oltsy to the west and re-group, despite having to be temporarily supplied from the air.
The Soltsy counterstroke cost 8th Panzer 70 of its 150 tanks destroyed or damaged and represented the first, albeit temporary, success achieved by Soviet forces on the path to Leningrad. It also cost the German command a precious week to regroup and resume the advance. However, the cost to the Soviet forces was high. For his perceived failures, General Popov was relieved of his command on July 19 and arrested. He was soon sentenced to two years imprisonment but was later released to serve in rear area administration and in the training establishment. He would be rearrested in July 1943 and would remain in prison for the next ten years before being released and rehabilitated in the wake of Stalin's death. He was replaced in command of the 237th by Col. Vasilii Viktorovich Noskov.