The78th Rifle Division (Russian:78-я стрелковая дивизия,romanized: 78-ya strelkovaya diviziya) was aninfantrydivision of theRed Army, formed in 1932, inNovosibirsk, in theSiberian Military District. After being used to provide cadres for new divisions, in September 1939 the division was reformed for the second time. In 1940 the division was transferred toKhabarovsk in theFar Eastern Front.
At theBattle of Moscow it fought alongside the316th Rifle Division, and its commanderIvan Panfilov, in November 1941. For its distinguished service, the division was awardedGuards status and renamed as the9th Guards Rifle Division on November 26, 1941.[1]
ColonelNikolay Matveyevich Mikhailov (promoted to major general on 17 November 1943)[3] became division commander of the 403rd Rifle Division atSamarkand in March 1942. Between 24 April and 17 May the 403rd was relocated to the settlement of Pesochnoye,Yaroslavl Oblast, in theMoscow Military District, where it was disbanded. The personnel from the 403rd were sent to the 78th Rifle Division, forming atKostroma, and Mikhailov became commander of the latter. The 78th was sent to theKalinin Front in July and assigned to the30th Army. The division entered combat on 30 July nearRzhev and the village ofKhanino. In its first three days of combat, the 78th lost as many as half of its personnel. Subsequently, elements of the division defended the approaches to Rzhev, as part of the 30th,49th, and5th Armies; the 5th Army transferred to theWestern Front on 31 August.[4]
The division was withdrawn for rebuilding in December, then sent to theSouthwestern Front where it fought in theVoroshilovgrad Offensive with the1st Guards Army. From late February to 29 August, as part of the3rd Guards Army, it defended positions on the left bank of theSeversky Donets in the area ofPrivolnoye. The division approached the main defensive line atZaporozhye on 20 September and in October, as part of the33rd Rifle Corps of the8th Guards Army, fought in theZaporizhia Offensive. For its actions in the capture of Zaporozhye, the 78th received the city name as an honorific on 14 October. With its corps, the division went into the army reserve between 16 October and 2 November. Elements of the 78th participated in fierce fighting on the right bank of theDnieper near Fyodorovka, providing a crossing for the troops of the3rd Ukrainian Front, between 4 and 7 November, before being withdrawn to front reserve.[4]
The division became part of the35th Guards Rifle Corps in January 1944, successively serving with the5th and7th Guards and27th Armies in theKirovograd and theUman–Botoșani Offensives. It transferred to the 33rd Rifle Corps in March. It went on to participate in theSecond Jassy–Kishinev,Debrecen, andBudapest Offensives with the 27th Army during the remainder of the year. For its "courage and valor" displayed during the capture ofPloiești during the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the division was awarded theOrder of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 15 September.[5] During the Budapest Offensive, elements of the division capturedMiskolc on 3 December.[4] For its "courage and valor" in this action, the 78th received theOrder of the Red Banner on 16 December.[6]
From 21 February, the 78th, with the 35th Guards Rifle Corps of the 27th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, fought in theBalaton Defensive Operation and theVienna Offensive. After capturing Fürstenberg, south of Vienna, on 16 April, Mikhailov came under German machine gun fire while conducting a reconnaissance and was severely wounded. He was evacuated and spent more than a year hospitalized, being made aHero of the Soviet Union on 28 April.[4] Mikhailov was replaced on 17 April byTatar Colonel Garif Volodkin, who commanded the division for the rest of the war.[7]
At the end of the war, the division was subordinated to the 3rd Ukrainian Front, within the27th Army. The division was withdrawn with the 33rd Rifle Corps to theCarpathian Military District as part of the38th Army after 27th Army disbanded. The division was based atStarokonstantinov. It was disbanded with the corps by May 1946.[8]
According to Crofoot'sArmies of the Bear, the 78th Rifle Division was once again formed, for the fourth time, in 1955 and was subordinated to theVolga-Ural Military District, being reorganized in 1957 into the 78th Motor Rifle Division (later motor rifle training division) which stayed atChebarkul until it became the 471 DTC in 1987 and the 5355th Weapons and Equipment Storage Base in October 1989. Later on (1990 or 1992), briefly, the 167th Motor Rifle Brigade was formed at Chebarkul also, but later disbanded, possibly after helping to collect troops to form the 205th Motor Rifle Brigade in the North Caucasus.[9] It may have folded into the 5355th Base. The base was disbanded in 1994.[10]
Later the15th Guards Tank Division 'Mozyr' was withdrawn from theCentral Group of Forces and relocated to Chebarkul.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Divisions of the Soviet Union 1945–1957 | |||||||||
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| Artillery |
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| Rifle |
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Guards units marked inbold. | |||||||||