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63rd Mountain Rifle Division
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63rd Mountain Rifle Division
The 63rd Mountain Rifle Division was formed as a specialized infantry division of the Red Army in July 1936, based on the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began it was in the Transcaucasus Military District and was soon assigned to the 47th Army for the invasion of Iran. Following this it was moved to the western Caucasus region where it joined the 44th Army of Crimean Front for amphibious operations against the Axis forces in the Crimea. In late December 1941 it landed at Feodosia as part of 9th Rifle Corps. Along with the remainder of the Corps the 63rd Mountain hindered but failed to block the retreat of Axis forces from Kerch, where the 51st Army had also made landings. After a German counteroffensive retook Feodosia in mid-January 1942 the division fell back to the Parpach Isthmus where it took part in trench warfare near the Black Sea coast into the spring, gradually losing strength. On May 8 it was caught up in the opening stage of Operation "Bustard Hunt" (Trappenjagd) and in a few hours was overwhelmed and largely destroyed by German air and artillery bombardment in support of infantry and armor attacks. Less than a week later it was stricken from the Red Army's order of battle and was never rebuilt.
The division was officially converted from the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division at Tbilisi in the Transcaucasus Military District in July 1936 following the decision of the STAVKA to abolish "national" divisions and other such formations. By 1940 it was stationed at Kirovakan in the Armenian SSR. Based on the prewar shtat (table of organization and equipment) for mountain rifle divisions, as of June 22, 1941 its order of battle was as follows:
From May 9, 1940 the division was under the command of Kombrig Aleksandr Markovich Krupnikov; this officer would have his rank modernized to major general on June 4. It inherited the Order of the Red Star that had been awarded to the 2nd Georgian on February 24, 1936 as well as the honorific "in the name of M. V. Frunze" that had been granted in April 1927. In common with other Soviet mountain divisions the 63rd had four regiments and no battalion structure. Instead each regiment had five rifle companies plus companies of supporting arms. This organization, designed for semi-independent operations in isolated mountain passes, also proved useful in amphibious operations.
By the start of August 1941 the 63rd Mountain had been assigned to the new 47th Army in Transcaucasus Military District, joining the 76th Mountain (former Armenian Mountain) and 236th Rifle plus the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions. Under the impact of Operation Barbarossa it was vital to ensure the safety of Allied supply lines to the USSR, secure Iranian oil fields and limit German influence in Iran.
The Soviet forces attacked jointly with British forces on August 25. The Red Army attacked using three armoured spearheads, totalling over 1,000 tanks and motorised infantry; the Iranians had no tanks in the area. 47th Army broke through the border and moved from Soviet Azerbaijan into Iranian Azerbaijan. It then moved towards Tabriz and Lake Urmia and soon captured the city of Jolfa. Following a delay there the Army moved south, capturing Dilman (100 km [62 mi] west of Tabriz) and then Urmia (Oromiyeh). On August 29 the Iranian forces accepted a ceasefire and the Soviet forces halted their advance on September 1 short of Tehran. During the rest of the month the 63rd Mountain was stationed at Maku. On September 28 General Krupnikov was moved to the first of many staff assignments he would hold until his retirement in 1958, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant general. He was replaced in command of the division the next day by Col. Semyon Georgievich Zakiyan. As of the beginning of December it was still in 47th Army in Transcaucasus Front along with the 138th Mountain and the 392nd and 394th Rifle Divisions. On December 25 Colonel Zakiyan handed his command to Lt. Col. Pyotr Yakovlevich Tsindzenevskii.
On the same day the division again joined the active army, now in the 44th Army of the new Crimean Front. It was at virtually full strength, as follows:
Crimean Front began its operations to retake the Kerch Peninsula overnight on December 25/26 with landings in the vicinity of Kerch itself. This was followed on December 28/29 with further landings at the port city of Feodosia which took the defending German XXXXII Army Corps utterly by surprise. The assault was led by naval infantry detachments plus the 633rd Rifle Regiment of the 157th Rifle Division and by 0730 hours the German forces had completely lost control of the port. By the end of the day elements of three Red Army divisions were ashore, including the 251st and 291st Mountain Regiments. The response of the German Corps commander, Lt. Gen. H. von Sponeck, was one of near panic as the communications of his own 46th Infantry Division were in immediate danger of being cut off from the rest of the Crimea. He disobeyed orders from the headquarters of 11th Army and directed the 46th to retreat from the Kerch area despite the fact that nearly 20,000 Romanian troops were on hand to counterattack Feodosia.
Sponeck ordered two Romanian brigades to counterattack the Soviet lodgement (now organized as the 9th Rifle Corps) on December 30 but these troops, tired from countermarching and without artillery or air support, were quickly repulsed. 9th Corps now pushed northward to complete the isolation of XXXXII Corps. Over two days the 46th Infantry marched 120 km (75 mi) westward in a snowstorm; fuel shortages led to some motor vehicles being abandoned and heavy weapons lagged behind. When its lead elements reached the crossroads town of Vladislavovka they were shocked to find it held in strength by the 63rd Mountain Division. The German divisional commander ordered his lead regiments to crash through the position but this failed due to exhaustion and lack of artillery. Inexplicably the 9th Corps had left a 9km-wide gap between its pincer and the south shore of the Sea of Azov through which the German division was able to escape with light losses in personnel. By January 1, 1942 the XXXXII Corps had established a new line roughly 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Feodosia. An attack that day on the Corps command post at Ismail-Terek by infantry and T-26 tanks of 44th Army failed with the loss of 16 vehicles knocked out.
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63rd Mountain Rifle Division
The 63rd Mountain Rifle Division was formed as a specialized infantry division of the Red Army in July 1936, based on the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began it was in the Transcaucasus Military District and was soon assigned to the 47th Army for the invasion of Iran. Following this it was moved to the western Caucasus region where it joined the 44th Army of Crimean Front for amphibious operations against the Axis forces in the Crimea. In late December 1941 it landed at Feodosia as part of 9th Rifle Corps. Along with the remainder of the Corps the 63rd Mountain hindered but failed to block the retreat of Axis forces from Kerch, where the 51st Army had also made landings. After a German counteroffensive retook Feodosia in mid-January 1942 the division fell back to the Parpach Isthmus where it took part in trench warfare near the Black Sea coast into the spring, gradually losing strength. On May 8 it was caught up in the opening stage of Operation "Bustard Hunt" (Trappenjagd) and in a few hours was overwhelmed and largely destroyed by German air and artillery bombardment in support of infantry and armor attacks. Less than a week later it was stricken from the Red Army's order of battle and was never rebuilt.
The division was officially converted from the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division at Tbilisi in the Transcaucasus Military District in July 1936 following the decision of the STAVKA to abolish "national" divisions and other such formations. By 1940 it was stationed at Kirovakan in the Armenian SSR. Based on the prewar shtat (table of organization and equipment) for mountain rifle divisions, as of June 22, 1941 its order of battle was as follows:
From May 9, 1940 the division was under the command of Kombrig Aleksandr Markovich Krupnikov; this officer would have his rank modernized to major general on June 4. It inherited the Order of the Red Star that had been awarded to the 2nd Georgian on February 24, 1936 as well as the honorific "in the name of M. V. Frunze" that had been granted in April 1927. In common with other Soviet mountain divisions the 63rd had four regiments and no battalion structure. Instead each regiment had five rifle companies plus companies of supporting arms. This organization, designed for semi-independent operations in isolated mountain passes, also proved useful in amphibious operations.
By the start of August 1941 the 63rd Mountain had been assigned to the new 47th Army in Transcaucasus Military District, joining the 76th Mountain (former Armenian Mountain) and 236th Rifle plus the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions. Under the impact of Operation Barbarossa it was vital to ensure the safety of Allied supply lines to the USSR, secure Iranian oil fields and limit German influence in Iran.
The Soviet forces attacked jointly with British forces on August 25. The Red Army attacked using three armoured spearheads, totalling over 1,000 tanks and motorised infantry; the Iranians had no tanks in the area. 47th Army broke through the border and moved from Soviet Azerbaijan into Iranian Azerbaijan. It then moved towards Tabriz and Lake Urmia and soon captured the city of Jolfa. Following a delay there the Army moved south, capturing Dilman (100 km [62 mi] west of Tabriz) and then Urmia (Oromiyeh). On August 29 the Iranian forces accepted a ceasefire and the Soviet forces halted their advance on September 1 short of Tehran. During the rest of the month the 63rd Mountain was stationed at Maku. On September 28 General Krupnikov was moved to the first of many staff assignments he would hold until his retirement in 1958, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant general. He was replaced in command of the division the next day by Col. Semyon Georgievich Zakiyan. As of the beginning of December it was still in 47th Army in Transcaucasus Front along with the 138th Mountain and the 392nd and 394th Rifle Divisions. On December 25 Colonel Zakiyan handed his command to Lt. Col. Pyotr Yakovlevich Tsindzenevskii.
On the same day the division again joined the active army, now in the 44th Army of the new Crimean Front. It was at virtually full strength, as follows:
Crimean Front began its operations to retake the Kerch Peninsula overnight on December 25/26 with landings in the vicinity of Kerch itself. This was followed on December 28/29 with further landings at the port city of Feodosia which took the defending German XXXXII Army Corps utterly by surprise. The assault was led by naval infantry detachments plus the 633rd Rifle Regiment of the 157th Rifle Division and by 0730 hours the German forces had completely lost control of the port. By the end of the day elements of three Red Army divisions were ashore, including the 251st and 291st Mountain Regiments. The response of the German Corps commander, Lt. Gen. H. von Sponeck, was one of near panic as the communications of his own 46th Infantry Division were in immediate danger of being cut off from the rest of the Crimea. He disobeyed orders from the headquarters of 11th Army and directed the 46th to retreat from the Kerch area despite the fact that nearly 20,000 Romanian troops were on hand to counterattack Feodosia.
Sponeck ordered two Romanian brigades to counterattack the Soviet lodgement (now organized as the 9th Rifle Corps) on December 30 but these troops, tired from countermarching and without artillery or air support, were quickly repulsed. 9th Corps now pushed northward to complete the isolation of XXXXII Corps. Over two days the 46th Infantry marched 120 km (75 mi) westward in a snowstorm; fuel shortages led to some motor vehicles being abandoned and heavy weapons lagged behind. When its lead elements reached the crossroads town of Vladislavovka they were shocked to find it held in strength by the 63rd Mountain Division. The German divisional commander ordered his lead regiments to crash through the position but this failed due to exhaustion and lack of artillery. Inexplicably the 9th Corps had left a 9km-wide gap between its pincer and the south shore of the Sea of Azov through which the German division was able to escape with light losses in personnel. By January 1, 1942 the XXXXII Corps had established a new line roughly 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Feodosia. An attack that day on the Corps command post at Ismail-Terek by infantry and T-26 tanks of 44th Army failed with the loss of 16 vehicles knocked out.