1st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
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The Soviet 1st Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first established in the 1920s, and finally disbanded in the mid 1950s. In the course of thirty years it was reformed four or possibly five times.
The Division was first formed either in December 1924 or at the beginning of 1927 in the Moscow Military District, gaining the title of the 1st Moscow Proletariat Red Banner Rifle Division. Pavel Batov was a battalion and then regiment commander in the Division in the late 1920s. In August 1939 it raised cadres for 115th and 126th Rifle Divisions. It was re-raised from its single remaining regiment in Sept 1939, but in January 1940 formed the 1st Motorised Division.
It was reformed for the third time on 13 March 1942 at Kuibyshev. After completion of training the Division was transferred to the 5th Reserve Army. Assigned to 63rd Army from August to November 1942, it became the 58th Guards Rifle Division on 31 December 1942.
The Division was reformed for the fourth time in December 1943 in the rear areas of 6th Guards Army. A training brigade and 100th Separate Rifle Brigade provided the basis for the new formation. It was transferred to 70th Army, 2nd Belorussian Front, and with that Army advanced into Poland and took Brest, Belarus, winning the title 'Brest'. It became part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany briefly, but with the rest of 70th Army and 114th Rifle Corps moved to the South Urals region and was disbanded by November 1945.
The Division may have been reformed 1953-55 in the South Urals Military District.
The 1st Rifle Division should not be confused with the 1st Guards Rifle Division (the former 100th Rifle Division) that ended the war in East Prussia and served during the Cold War with 11th Guards Army. 1st Guards Motor Rifle Division, as it became after conversion in 1957, finally disbanded in 2002.
[edit] Sources
- Craig Crofoot, Armies of the Bear, Volume I Part 1
- Robert Poirer, Albert Conner, Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Presidio Press, 1985
- Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 5 November 2001
