| 210th Motorized Division (March 1941 - July 14, 1941) 210th Rifle Division (October 8, 1941–1946) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1946 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Motorized Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa Battle of Białystok–Minsk Battle of Smolensk (1941) Soviet invasion of Manchuria |
| Battle honours | Khingan |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | KombrigFeofan Agopovich Parkhomenko Col. Vasilii Afanasevich Burmasov Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Banyuk |
The210th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of theRed Army after a motorized division of that same number was badly damaged and then redesignated as a cavalry division in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It served through nearly the remainder of the war on a quiet sector inTransbaikal Front, entirely as part of36th Army. During July 1945, in the leadup to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, it was transferred to the86th Rifle Corps, still in 36th Army. This Army was in the second echelon of the invading forces and saw very little, if any, actual combat, but the division was nevertheless given a battle honor. It was transferred to17th Army and was disbanded with it by mid-1946.
The division began forming in March 1941 as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet mechanized forces in theWestern Special Military District as part of the20th Mechanized Corps. Based on the4th Cavalry Division atAsipovichy, it was still located there on June 22. Once formed its order of battle was as follows:
Kombrig Feofan Agopovich Parkhomenko was appointed to command on March 11. As indicated by his obsolete rank he had been arrested late during theGreat Purge in October 1938 before being released in December 1939. He had served as deputy commander of the 4th Cavalry for a year before taking command of the 210th. The division's artillery regiment had only one battalion of 76mm guns and no howitzers and its rifle regiments were short over 25 percent of their authorized personnel on June 22. The 130th did not have a single tank or armored car; in common with most of the other motorized divisions it only had a small fraction of its authorized motor vehicles and was therefore "motorized" in name only.[2]
At the start of the German invasion the Western District was redesignated asWestern Front and the Corps, which also contained the 24th Motorcycle Regiment, was under direct command of the Front and located well to the rear,[3] but soon began moving west towardBaranavichy which it did not reach until June 28. By July 1 the Soviet general staff was listing it as "without equipment", meaning it had lost virtually all its transport and heavy weapons. The last division strength report, on July 7, listed just 5,000 personnel and nine guns.[4]
The scattered elements of 20th Mechanized Corps had been assigned to13th Army by the beginning of July, still in Western Front,[5] and were falling back to theDniepr River in the vicinity ofMogilev.[6] This city was being threatened by the advance of the GermanXXIV Motorized Corps and was being held by the remnants of eight to ten divisions.[7] On July 11, before Mogilev was encircled, theSTAVKA ordered that the 210th, as a formation that still contained a good number of trained cavalry, be moved toBryansk to be reformed as the 4th Cavalry Division.[8] During the night of July 13 it took part in a successful attack against theGroßdeutschland Regiment as it departed the area.[9]
The 210th Rifle Division began forming on October 8, 1941 in the 36th Army of Transbaikal Front,[10] based on local resources and theshtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, and by December its "sister", the209th Rifle Division, had joined it under 36th Army command.[11] When it completed forming its order of battle was as follows:
Col. Vasilii Afanasevich Burmasov was assigned to command on the day the division began forming; he had previously served in staff positions in the57th Motor Rifle Division. On this inactive front as of the beginning of the new year the Army also contained the94th and 210th Rifle Divisions, the 126th Rifle Brigade and the 31st Fortified Region.[12] At the start of 1944 the situation was essentially unchanged although the Army had added the278th and298th Rifle Divisions and an operational rifle corps headquarters numbered the 86th.[13]
Colonel Burmasov was appointed to deputy command of 86th Rifle Corps on May 26 and was replaced in command of the 210th by Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Banyuk, who would remain in this post for the duration of the war. In May all five rifle divisions of 36th Army came under command of this Corps, but a month later it went back to operational status and the divisions returned to being under direct Army command.[14] At the beginning of 1945 the Corps had the 94th and 298th Divisions under command but the 209th, 210th and 278th were still separate divisions.[15]
At the time of the surrender of Germany 36th Army was still in the same configuration,[16] but preparations for war against Japan were being made. The 493rd Self-propelled Artillery Battalion of 12SU-76s was added to the 210th to provide fully-tracked mobile firepower given the difficult and mostly roadless terrain to be found inManchuria. In July the division returned to 86th Corps, still in 36th Army, joining the 94th Division. When the Manchurian operation began the 36th Army was in a secondary role on the western flank of the invading forces and saw very little combat before the Japanese capitulation on August 20.[17]
Following the campaign, in common with many other formations of the Front, the 210th was awarded the honorific "Khingan" for its success in crossing theGreater Khingan mountain range. By October 1 it was still in 86th Corps, but shortly after it was transferred to 17th Army, rejoining its "sister" 209th. It was disbanded along with this Army in the spring and summer of 1946.[18]
