298th Rifle Division
| 298th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army |
| Type | Rifle division |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Battle honours |
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Nikolay Vasilyev |
The298th Rifle Division(Russian:298-я стрелковая дивизия) was an infantry division of theSoviet Union'sRed ArmyduringWorld War II,formed three times.
The division was first formed in the summer of 1941 and was destroyed in theBryanskpocket in the fall of that year. Reformed in December 1941 in Siberia, the division became a guards unit for its actions in theBattle of Stalingradin March 1943. It was reformed in July 1943 in theSoviet Far East,and fought in theSoviet invasion of Manchuriain August 1945, before being disbanded in 1946.
History
[edit]First Formation
[edit]The 298th began forming on 2 July 1941 atKalinin,part of theMoscow Military District.Its basic order of battle included the 886th, 888th, and the 892nd Rifle Regiments, as well as the 828th Artillery Regiment. In early August it was moved west, and assigned to theReserve Front's24th Armyon 5 August, with its headquarters atSychyovka.After briefly transferring to the49th Army,the 298th was withdrawn to theBryansk Frontreserve to complete its formation. In September it became part of the13th Armyof the front. At the beginning ofOperation Typhoon,the German offensive on Moscow, the division was trapped and destroyed in the Bryansk pocket by mid-October. On 27 December the 298th was officially disbanded.[1]
Second Formation
[edit]The 298th was reformed from late December 1941 to 17 January 1942 atBarnaul,[2]part of theSiberian Military District.Its basic order of battle was the same as the previous formation, and the 298th's commander was assigned on 17 January. After completing its formation, the division was transferred west to theWestern Front's50th Army,where it remained until August. In response toCase Blue,the German summer offensive which was advancing onStalingrad,the 298th was moved to south and became an infantry unit of the4th Tank Army,fighting in the Stalingrad area. The division became part of the24th Armyjust before it fought inOperation Uranusin November, the Soviet counteroffensive, which trapped German troops in Stalingrad.[3]It was transferred to the21st Armyreserve by 16 December.[4]On 28 and 29 December, an assault group from the division participated in attacks alongside assault groups from four other rifle divisions, inflicting heavy losses on the German44thand376th Infantry Divisions.[5]
In the original offensive plan forOperation Ring,the offensive that eliminated the pocket, the division, still with 21st Army, held positions on the margins of the Marinovka salient held byXIV Panzer Corps,and was to play a supporting role in the assault.[6]For the offensive, which began on 10 January, the division held positions on the western face of the salient adjacent to the96th Rifle Division;both units were to advance east from BairakBalkatowards Vodyanaya Balka against stay-behind forces from the 8th and 29th Regiments of the German3rd Motorized Division.[7]The assault was successful, and on 12 January it attacked southeast and east alongside the277thand 96th Rifle Divisions, advancing between 3 and 4 kilometers and pushing the remnants of the 29th and 3rd Motorized Divisions into a narrow pocket southwest of the Dmitrievka-Karpovka road.[8]For the attack on 13 January, the division was regrouped in order to advance east towardsPitomnik Airfieldalongside other 21st Army divisions, where it would link up with troops of the57th Army.[9]
The 298th remained with the 24th Army duringOperation Ringin January and February 1943, which eliminated the pocket. For its actions at Stalingrad, the division was converted into the80th Guards Rifle Divisionon 1 March.[3]
Third Formation
[edit]The 298th was reformed for the third and last time on 1 July 1943 in theTransbaikal Front,still with the same basic order of battle as previous formations. It became part of the36th Army,with which it served for the rest of the war. The division fought in theSoviet invasion of Manchuriafrom 8 August to 3 September 1945, during which it quickly advanced through Japanese fortifications atJalainurandManzhouliin less than two days, meeting only disorganized resistance. The rest of the advance was mostly unopposed pursuit into Manchuria, so the division only saw about two days of combat.[3]The division received the honorific "Khingan" for its actions, and was disbanded during the spring and summer of 1946 as part of theTransbaikal-Amur Military District.[10]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^Sharp 1996a,pp. 67.
- ^"На фронтах Великой Отечественной войны геройски сражались дивизии, сформированные в Барнауле - Версия для печати".barnaul.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-10.Retrieved2017-04-10.
- ^abcSharp 1996b,p. 111.
- ^Glantz 2014,p. 340.
- ^Glantz 2014,p. 355.
- ^Glantz 2014,p. 449.
- ^Glantz 2014,p. 458.
- ^Glantz 2014,p. 465.
- ^Glantz 2014,pp. 468–469.
- ^Feskov et al 2013,p. 566.
Bibliography
[edit]- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013).Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской[The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing.ISBN9785895035306.
- Glantz, David M. (2014).Endgame at Stalingrad: Book Two: December 1942–February 1943.Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.ISBN978-0-7006-1955-9.p 472, 477, 487, 496, 503, 513, 518, 526, 530, 534, 546, 550, 557, 568, 575, 662n109
- Sharp, Charles C. (1996a).The Soviet Order of Battle World War II: An Organizational History of the Major Combat Units of the Soviet Army.Vol. 9. West Chester, Ohio: George F. Nafziger.OCLC258366685.
- Sharp, Charles C. (1996b).The Soviet Order of Battle World War II: An Organizational History of the Major Combat Units of the Soviet Army.Vol. 10. West Chester, Ohio: George F. Nafziger.OCLC39214254.
