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380th Rifle Division
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380th Rifle Division
The 380th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming on 10 August 1941, one of a series of divisions formed in accordance to an order of that date in the Siberian Military District. The pace of moving newly formed units to the fighting front was beginning to ease and the division arrived there in late February 1942. Until the end of that year it was involved in the bloody fighting around the Rzhev salient. After a brief move to Northwestern Front and then a period in reserve for rebuilding, the division's combat path shifted southward when it was assigned to Bryansk Front. It won a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Oryol in the summer offensive, then spent the autumn and winter in the costly and difficult struggles on the approaches to the upper Dniepr River and in eastern Belarus. It then took part in Operation Bagration and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its successes. Following this it helped to eliminate the German forces trapped east of Minsk, for which it received a second unit decoration, before joining the advance into Poland. During the Vistula-Oder Offensive the 380th was part of 2nd Belorussian Front's 49th Army, winning its third decoration along the way before ending the war advancing north of Berlin towards the Baltic coast. Despite its distinguished record it was selected as one of the many divisions to be disbanded during the summer of 1945.
The 380th began forming on 10 August 1941 at Slavgorod in the Siberian Military District, based on an RKO order of that date that included the 372nd, 374th, 376th, and 378th Rifle Divisions. Its order of battle was as follows:
Lt. Col. Timofei Mikhailovich Sidorin was assigned to command of the division on 28 August, and he would remain in command until 1 November. By 1 September the division had 11,278 men assigned, however, as an indication of the shrinking pool of manpower in the Siberian District, 74 percent of those men were recorded as being over 35 years of age. Col. Mikhail Nikolaevich Smirnov took over command on 2 November. A few days later the division was assigned to the 58th (Reserve) Army forming in Siberia, and it remained in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in that Army until it was reassigned to the 22nd Army in Kalinin Front, arriving at the fighting front on 22 February 1942.
Beginning on 8 January, 22nd Army had taken part in the Sychevka-Vyasma Offensive Operation, which was planned "to encircle, and then capture or destroy the enemy's entire Mozhaisk - Gzhatsk - Vyasma grouping", that is, what later became known as the Rzhev salient. By late January the forces of Kalinin and Western Fronts had run out of steam due to casualties, exhaustion and poor supply services, but the STAVKA was determined to revive the offensive, ordering the two Fronts on 16 February "to smash and destroy the enemy's Rzhev - Vyasma - Yukhnov grouping and by 5 March reach and dig-in on our old defensive line...". The 380th was one of seven rifle divisions released to Kalinin Front from the Reserve for this effort. 22nd Army was directed against the Germans' Olenino grouping and was instructed to seize Bely on 22 February and take possession of the Olenino area as soon as the next day. Grinding daily attacks began, including in the streets of Bely, but no real results were gained. This phase of the operation officially ended on 20 April. On 11 March, Colonel Smirnov was reassigned to command of the 1206th Rifle Regiment of 362nd Rifle Division, also in 22nd Army. Lt. Col. Valerian Fyodorovich Koloskov took command until 21 March, when he was replaced by Col. Ivan Polyektovich Arkhipov, who was in turn replaced by Col. Pyotr Savvich Gavilevskii on 17 April.
While the Red Army forces continued to recover from the winter bloodletting, German 9th Army was determined to clear out the Soviet forces in its rear. Operation Seydlitz began on 2 July, focusing on the gap between the Bely and Olenino areas. The Soviet troops put up fierce resistance, beating the Germans back with heavy casualties on some sectors. 9th Army brought up reinforcements backed by air strikes on 4 July. On 5 July (German accounts) or 6 July (Soviet accounts) the German pincers met at Pushkari, north of Bely. 22nd Army now had the 355th Rifle Division, part of the 380th, and several units of the 185th within the pocket. The entire 39th Army, which was already in retreat, and elements of 41st Army were also encircled. A German veteran of the 129th Invantry Division recalled that one breakout attempt by a large group on the night of 10/11 July on his sector was very well organized, with the encircled units in radio communication with the command post of the 380th. The signal to attack the German cordon was a flare fired by a Po-2 aircraft flying over the front. In the fighting that followed casualties were heavy on both sides; the same witness called it "an inferno, hell". There were three attacks during the night from within and without the pocket; it's unknown how many of the trapped men of the division managed to escape. 9th Army declared the operation completed on 12 July and the capture of 30,000 prisoners, although Red Army men continued to slip through the lines for weeks.
The division remained in 22nd Army until August, when it was moved to Kalinin Front reserves, and in September it was assigned to the rebuilding 39th Army, still in Kalinin Front. Rather remarkably, on 30 September Colonel Smirnov returned to the post of division commander. In November, as Operation Mars was beginning, the 380th was moved to 30th Army in Western Front, but this Army played a mostly supporting role in the offensive.
In the wake of Operation Iskra, which broke the German land blockade of Leningrad in January 1943, Marshal G. K. Zhukov conceived a plan to encircle and destroy Army Group North: Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda. This plan would require additional forces, so following Operation Mars the 380th, among other divisions, was transferred to Northwestern Front in December 1942, initially to the Front reserve and moving to 1st Shock Army by 1 February. The first phase of the overall operation would be another attempt to cut off and eliminate the German grouping in the Demyansk salient. Zhukov finalized his plan during the week preceding the planned attack date of 15 February. During a conference on 10 February, he directed the commander of 1st Shock to transfer the forces of his right wing, including the 380th, and their tactical sectors to the adjacent 53rd Army, so that Army's commander could use them to form his shock group to help cut the so-called Ramushevo corridor. However, in light of the encirclement and upcoming surrender of 6th Army at Stalingrad, on 31 January Hitler had authorized the evacuation of II Army Corps from Demyansk. Operation Ziethen began on 17 February before the delayed Soviet attack could get underway, and effectively short-circuited Zhukov's entire plan. Soviet ski troops of 34th and 53rd Armies were used to harass the retreating German units but they were unable to inflict any serious harm. Demyansk was abandoned on 21 February and by five days later most of the corridor was evacuated as well.
On 11 March Colonel Smirnov was reassigned to command of the 6th Guards Airborne Division. He would be promoted to major general in October and remain in that position for the duration. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Ilich Kirzimov, who had just been removed from command of 6th Guards. On the same date the STAVKA disbanded Bryansk Front and formed a new Reserve Front, based on the former Front's headquarters. Order No. 30071 stated (in part):
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380th Rifle Division
The 380th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming on 10 August 1941, one of a series of divisions formed in accordance to an order of that date in the Siberian Military District. The pace of moving newly formed units to the fighting front was beginning to ease and the division arrived there in late February 1942. Until the end of that year it was involved in the bloody fighting around the Rzhev salient. After a brief move to Northwestern Front and then a period in reserve for rebuilding, the division's combat path shifted southward when it was assigned to Bryansk Front. It won a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Oryol in the summer offensive, then spent the autumn and winter in the costly and difficult struggles on the approaches to the upper Dniepr River and in eastern Belarus. It then took part in Operation Bagration and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its successes. Following this it helped to eliminate the German forces trapped east of Minsk, for which it received a second unit decoration, before joining the advance into Poland. During the Vistula-Oder Offensive the 380th was part of 2nd Belorussian Front's 49th Army, winning its third decoration along the way before ending the war advancing north of Berlin towards the Baltic coast. Despite its distinguished record it was selected as one of the many divisions to be disbanded during the summer of 1945.
The 380th began forming on 10 August 1941 at Slavgorod in the Siberian Military District, based on an RKO order of that date that included the 372nd, 374th, 376th, and 378th Rifle Divisions. Its order of battle was as follows:
Lt. Col. Timofei Mikhailovich Sidorin was assigned to command of the division on 28 August, and he would remain in command until 1 November. By 1 September the division had 11,278 men assigned, however, as an indication of the shrinking pool of manpower in the Siberian District, 74 percent of those men were recorded as being over 35 years of age. Col. Mikhail Nikolaevich Smirnov took over command on 2 November. A few days later the division was assigned to the 58th (Reserve) Army forming in Siberia, and it remained in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in that Army until it was reassigned to the 22nd Army in Kalinin Front, arriving at the fighting front on 22 February 1942.
Beginning on 8 January, 22nd Army had taken part in the Sychevka-Vyasma Offensive Operation, which was planned "to encircle, and then capture or destroy the enemy's entire Mozhaisk - Gzhatsk - Vyasma grouping", that is, what later became known as the Rzhev salient. By late January the forces of Kalinin and Western Fronts had run out of steam due to casualties, exhaustion and poor supply services, but the STAVKA was determined to revive the offensive, ordering the two Fronts on 16 February "to smash and destroy the enemy's Rzhev - Vyasma - Yukhnov grouping and by 5 March reach and dig-in on our old defensive line...". The 380th was one of seven rifle divisions released to Kalinin Front from the Reserve for this effort. 22nd Army was directed against the Germans' Olenino grouping and was instructed to seize Bely on 22 February and take possession of the Olenino area as soon as the next day. Grinding daily attacks began, including in the streets of Bely, but no real results were gained. This phase of the operation officially ended on 20 April. On 11 March, Colonel Smirnov was reassigned to command of the 1206th Rifle Regiment of 362nd Rifle Division, also in 22nd Army. Lt. Col. Valerian Fyodorovich Koloskov took command until 21 March, when he was replaced by Col. Ivan Polyektovich Arkhipov, who was in turn replaced by Col. Pyotr Savvich Gavilevskii on 17 April.
While the Red Army forces continued to recover from the winter bloodletting, German 9th Army was determined to clear out the Soviet forces in its rear. Operation Seydlitz began on 2 July, focusing on the gap between the Bely and Olenino areas. The Soviet troops put up fierce resistance, beating the Germans back with heavy casualties on some sectors. 9th Army brought up reinforcements backed by air strikes on 4 July. On 5 July (German accounts) or 6 July (Soviet accounts) the German pincers met at Pushkari, north of Bely. 22nd Army now had the 355th Rifle Division, part of the 380th, and several units of the 185th within the pocket. The entire 39th Army, which was already in retreat, and elements of 41st Army were also encircled. A German veteran of the 129th Invantry Division recalled that one breakout attempt by a large group on the night of 10/11 July on his sector was very well organized, with the encircled units in radio communication with the command post of the 380th. The signal to attack the German cordon was a flare fired by a Po-2 aircraft flying over the front. In the fighting that followed casualties were heavy on both sides; the same witness called it "an inferno, hell". There were three attacks during the night from within and without the pocket; it's unknown how many of the trapped men of the division managed to escape. 9th Army declared the operation completed on 12 July and the capture of 30,000 prisoners, although Red Army men continued to slip through the lines for weeks.
The division remained in 22nd Army until August, when it was moved to Kalinin Front reserves, and in September it was assigned to the rebuilding 39th Army, still in Kalinin Front. Rather remarkably, on 30 September Colonel Smirnov returned to the post of division commander. In November, as Operation Mars was beginning, the 380th was moved to 30th Army in Western Front, but this Army played a mostly supporting role in the offensive.
In the wake of Operation Iskra, which broke the German land blockade of Leningrad in January 1943, Marshal G. K. Zhukov conceived a plan to encircle and destroy Army Group North: Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda. This plan would require additional forces, so following Operation Mars the 380th, among other divisions, was transferred to Northwestern Front in December 1942, initially to the Front reserve and moving to 1st Shock Army by 1 February. The first phase of the overall operation would be another attempt to cut off and eliminate the German grouping in the Demyansk salient. Zhukov finalized his plan during the week preceding the planned attack date of 15 February. During a conference on 10 February, he directed the commander of 1st Shock to transfer the forces of his right wing, including the 380th, and their tactical sectors to the adjacent 53rd Army, so that Army's commander could use them to form his shock group to help cut the so-called Ramushevo corridor. However, in light of the encirclement and upcoming surrender of 6th Army at Stalingrad, on 31 January Hitler had authorized the evacuation of II Army Corps from Demyansk. Operation Ziethen began on 17 February before the delayed Soviet attack could get underway, and effectively short-circuited Zhukov's entire plan. Soviet ski troops of 34th and 53rd Armies were used to harass the retreating German units but they were unable to inflict any serious harm. Demyansk was abandoned on 21 February and by five days later most of the corridor was evacuated as well.
On 11 March Colonel Smirnov was reassigned to command of the 6th Guards Airborne Division. He would be promoted to major general in October and remain in that position for the duration. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Ilich Kirzimov, who had just been removed from command of 6th Guards. On the same date the STAVKA disbanded Bryansk Front and formed a new Reserve Front, based on the former Front's headquarters. Order No. 30071 stated (in part):