| 72nd Mountain Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg) Red Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Mountain Infantry |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa Battle of Uman |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Pavel Ivanovich Abramidze |
The72nd Mountain Rifle Division was formed as a specialized infantry division of theRed Army in the spring of 1941, based on the72nd Rifle Division (1936 formation) which had previously been the 4th Turkestan Division. At the time of the German invasion on June 22 it was located on theSan River west ofLviv as part of the8th Rifle Corps of26th Army in theKiev Special Military District. After having about half of its complement removed to Army reserves or transferred to other divisions it was forced to fall back through western Ukraine under pressure from the German17th Army until early August when it was encircled as part of12th Army nearUman. After about five more days of fighting the 72nd Mountain had been effectively destroyed and it was officially disbanded a month later. It was never reformed.
The 4th Turkestan Division was redesignated as the 72nd Rifle Division in July 1936 in common with the other "national" divisions and similar formations in the Red Army. In 1939 it was in the13th Rifle Corps ofUkrainian Front's 12th Army and took part in theSoviet invasion of Poland; following this it was moved north to participate in theWinter War. The division was officially converted on April 24, 1941 based on the prewarshtat (table of organization and equipment) for mountain rifle divisions, which among other things required the formation of a fourth rifle regiment:
The division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Pavel Ivanovich Abramidze, who had been the 72nd Rifle's commander since August 8, 1940. It was one of six rifle divisions converted to mountain divisions in Ukraine in late 1940/early 1941; like the rest it received little or no specialized training or equipment before the invasion began and, in fact, never completed its conversion. As of June 22 it had on hand 9,904 officers and men with 7,462 bolt-action rifles and carbines, 2,579semiautomatic rifles, 365sub-machine guns, 351light machine guns, 110heavy machine guns, 5445 mm antitank guns, 3876 mm cannon andhowitzers, 24122 mm howitzers and 150 mortars. For transport it had 433 trucks and 44 tractors plus 2,112 horses. The number of antitank guns indicates it had a regular rifle division's full antitank battalion plus antitank sections in at least three of its rifle regiments, contrary to the mountain divisionshtat.[2]
As the Axis invasion began the 26th Army was still forming and had only three divisions (8th Rifle Corps with the 72nd Mountain,99th and173rd Rifle Divisions) and the 8thFortified Region on strength.[3] To provide itself with some sort of reserve the Army headquarters removed the 133rd and 309th Mountain Regiments from the front lines and the latter apparently never rejoined the division. On June 23 part of the division's artillery was also removed to support the 99th Division and frontier guards' efforts to keep the German forces out of Lviv andPrzemyśl.[4]
By July 10 the truncated 72nd Mountain had left 8th Corps but was still in retreat through western Ukraine with 26th Army ofSouthwestern Front.[5] As of the end of the next day it was on a line east ofProskuriv facing the97thJäger Division and4th Mountain Division of German 17th Army.[6] On July 12 the division rejoined the 8th Corps as it was transferred to the 12th Army under command ofSouthern Front,[7] and by the end of July 14 it was positioned on the north bank of theSouthern Bug River west ofKhmilnyk.[8]
As Army Group South began the drive that led to the encirclement battle around Uman the 72nd Mountain was southwest ofLypovets on July 23, now facing the295th Infantry Division.[9] By August 2 the 12th and6th Armies had been pocketed and although efforts were made both to break in and to break out only a small number of Soviet troops were able to escape. General Abramidze was captured on August 8; he survived the war as a PoW and went on to serve in administrative roles inTbilisi until his retirement in 1956. The 72nd Mountain Rifle Division was officially stricken from the Red Army order of battle on September 19, about a month after it had ceased to exist.[10]
