| 80th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg) Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | 6th Army (1941) |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa,Siege of Leningrad |
| Decorations |  Order of Kutuzov 2nd class (2nd formation) |
| Battle honours | Lyuban (2nd formation) |
The80th Rifle Division (Russian:80-я стрелковая дивизия) was arifledivision of theRed Army, formed twice.
The division was first formed in 1923 and was stationed in eastern Ukraine. It was destroyed in mid-1941 in theBattle of Uman. Its second formation was formed from aPeople's Militia division inLeningrad, fighting in thesiege of that city from September. In early 1944 it fought in theLeningrad–Novgorod Offensive, which ended the siege. The division then served with the59th Army in its westward advance, and was disbanded postwar.
The division was established in 1923 in theUkrainian Military District, initially as a territorial rifle division.
The division's initial composition was:[1]
It remained a part of the Ukrainian Military District until 1935 when the eastern half of Ukraine was used to create theKharkiv Military District and the division was assigned to it.
In the summer of 1939 in the Kharkiv MD, the 239th Rifle Regiment was used to form the141st Rifle Division.[2] The headquarters of the division was used to reform the division to full strength atMariupol during February 1939.
On 22 June 1941 the division was part of the37th Rifle Corps of the6th Army.[3] The division fought in Don Basin and nearKattowits during the defensive battles on the Ukrainian border (22 June 1941 - 27 June 1941), but was destroyed in withdrawal during theBattle of Uman in September 1941.
Almost immediately the division was reformed inLeningrad from volunteers by redesignating theFirst Guards Division of People's Militia (Первая гвардейская дивизия народного ополчения) from 23 September 1941 as 80th Rifle Division (2nd formation). Its 1st and 2nd rifle regiments came from the workers of the Leningrad'sNeva rayon, and its 3rd rifle and artillery regiments and other sub-units were formed from workers of the Kuybishev rayon.
The division was first committed to combat on the 11th of August west ofVolosovo (35 km fromKrasnogvardeysk), where it successfully defended its sector for several days until the Army withdrew.From the end of August the division was a part of the Koporsk operational group, and later the8th Army during the battles for the coastal positions around Leningrad, holding positions aroundRopsha and south ofOranienbaum.
As part of the54th Army of theVolkhov Front the division participated in theTikhvin Offensive (10 November 1941 - 30 December 1941), and theLeningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive Operation (14 January 1944 - 1 March 1944) for which it was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class and the honorific "Lyuban" in honor of its capture ofLyuban.[4]
The division ended its combat service during the German-Soviet War in Czechoslovakia with the59th Army of the1st Ukrainian Front. It was disbanded in the northern hemisphere summer of 1945 with theCentral Group of Forces.[5]
