| 8th Guards Motor Rifle Panfilov Division | |
|---|---|
 A gun and carriage of the division's 19th Guards Rifle Regiment near the front, 1943. | |
| Active | 12 July 1941 – January 2003 11 July 2011 – present |
| Country |  Soviet Union (1941–1991) Kyrgyzstan (1992–2003, 2011–present) |
| Branch | Soviet Army (1941–1991) Kyrgyz Army (1992–2003, 2011–present) |
| Type | Motorized infantry division |
| Garrison/HQ | Tokmok |
| Nickname(s) | Panfilov's Men |
| March | March of the Panfilov Division[1] |
| Anniversaries | 12 July (formation day) |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Battle honours | Rezhitskaya |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Berdibek Asanov[2] |
| Notable commanders | Ivan Panfilov |
The8th Guards Motor Rifle Panfilov Division (Russian:8-я гвардейская Панфиловская дивизия;Kyrgyz:8-гвардиялык мотоаткычтар Панфилов дивизиясынын) originally the316th Rifle Division, is a motorized infantry division of theArmed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic. Formed as aSovietRed Army division duringWorld War II, it was dissolved in 2003 but established anew in 2011. Its full title is8th Guards Rezhitskaya Motorized Rifle Division Named after Hero of the Soviet Union Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner and Suvorov.
After Nazi Germanyinvaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front. On 12 July 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was established inAlma Ata, the capital of theKazakh SSR. Major GeneralIvan Panfilov, themilitary commissar of theKirghiz SSR, was appointed its commander. The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics. It consisted of:
The 316th's soldiers were sworn in on 1 August, and boarded trains to the front from the 18th to the 20th. They arrived inBorovichi, nearMalaya Vishera, in late August. Intense fighting against the Germans had already taken place in the region, as part of the campaign to defend Leningrad from the attack of Army Group North. The 316th was involved in several skirmishes, but on 8 September was consigned as the reserve of the 52nd Army. It spent a month in the rear.[4]
In early October, the Germans began their offensive onMoscow. On 7 October, Panfilov's division was transferred to the vicinity of the Soviet capital, arriving on the 11th. It was assigned toKonstantin Rokossovsky's 16th Army (Western Front), and ordered to defend a 41-km long sector along theRuza River, especially the highway passing throughVolokolamsk.[5] The 316th was reinforced with the 690th Rifle Regiment from the 126th Rifle Division, as well as the 289th and 296th Anti-tank Regiments.[3]
On 14 October, the German XLVI Panzer Corps attacked with superior forces. By the 27th, they had advanced some thirty kilometers, pushing the 316th back toVolokolamsk. On 28 October, after a day of fighting, the city was occupied. Panfilov's soldiers retreated closer to Moscow.[6]
The German Army resumed its offensive on 15 November. In the meantime, the 316th had received some of the firstPTRD anti-tank rifles.[3] On the 16th, the 46th Panzer Corps engaged the 316th in its new line of defense, near the village ofDubosekovo. Soviet newspapers later reported thattwenty-eight soldiers from the division's 1075th Regiment destroyed eighteen enemy tanks while fighting to the last; although the story gained wide publicity, it was later revealed to be exaggerated.[7]
The threat to the 16th Army's flank forced theStavka to send in the reserve78th Rifle Division. Although they were forced to retreat after three days, the German advance ceased due to the Soviets' resistance and the harsh weather conditions.[6]
On 17 November,Joseph Stalin asPeople's Commissar of Defense passed a decree to promote the 316th to a Guards formation, in recognition of the role it played in defending the capital; it sustained 9,920 casualties, including 3,620 soldiers killed in action and 6,300 wounded. MarshalDmitry Yazov, who researched the division's history, wrote that it considerably delayed the enemy's march on Moscow in its sector.
On the 18th, a group of journalists traveled to Panfilov's headquarters in the village of Guseniovo, and told him of the news. As he briefed them in the open, they came under a mortar attack. The general was killed by a shell splinter. The decree came into effect on that very day, turning the 316th to the 8th Guards Rifle Division; it also received theOrder of the Red Banner. It was named in honor of Panfilov on 23 November, thus becoming one of the only twoRed Army divisions to be named after their commanders, along with theChapayevska.[8] As a Guards Division the numbering of its subordinate units was as follows:
The 8th Guards took part in the December counteroffensive in Moscow, liberating the villages ofKryukovo andIstra.[5]
During late January 1942, the 8th Guards was assigned to the2nd Guards Rifle Corps ofNorthwestern Front, and participated in the battles near theDemyansk Pocket; for its performance during the operation, it was collectively awarded theOrder of Lenin on 16 March. In June, still in 2nd Guards Corps, it was transferred to3rd Shock Army inKalinin Front.[10] In late 1942, the 30th Guards Rifle Regiment fought as a separate unit in theBattle of Velikiye Luki near theLovat River. In 1944, it took part in theLeningrad–Novgorod Offensive and later, in the battle ofRēzekne; for its role in taking the city and the surrounding region, it was awarded the honorary titleRezhitskaya on 27 July 1944. On 3 November, the division received theOrder of Suvorov 2nd Class. The 8th Guards ended the war with the 10th Guards Army, as part of the forcesbesieging Courland.[4]
According to Soviet official reports, during World War II the division killed or disabled 85,000 enemy troops, captured 5,000 more and destroyed or captured 387 tanks, 65 other armored vehicles, 43 planes, 451 guns, 180 mortars, 2010 automobiles and 328 motorcycles. In total, the soldiers of the division were awarded twenty-nineOrders of Lenin, 371Orders of the Red Banner, twoOrders of Kutuzov, eightOrders of Suvorov, fifty-threeOrders of Alexander Nevsky, oneOrder of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 391Orders of the Patriotic War 1st class, 1783Orders of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, 4747Orders of the Red Star, forty-oneOrders of Glory 2nd degree and 2061 Orders of Glory 3rd degree.[11]
Thirty-four soldiers received the highest Soviet military decoration,Hero of the Soviet Union. The first was Major GeneralIvan Panfilov himself, posthumously.Panfilov's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen were also all awarded the title posthumously; when six of them were revealed to be alive, two were stripped of it. The other wartime Heroes werePiotr Vikhrev,Malik Gabdulin,Ivan Shapshaev andTulegen Tokhtarov.Baurzhan Momyshuly received the honor in 1991, three years after his death.[12]
The 8th Guards Division was stationed atHaapsalu in the Estonian SSR with the4th Guards Rifle Corps after the war. On 25 June 1957, it became a motor rifle division.[13] It was disbanded on 18 March 1960.[14] On 23 May, the36th Guards Motor Rifle Division atKlooga was redesignated as the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Division, inheriting the honors of the previous formation.[15][16] Then it was recalled toFrunze, Kyrgyzstan in May 1967 and assigned to the17th Army Corps of theTurkestan Military District.
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union, it became part of theKyrgyz Armed Forces, but was disbanded in January 2003.[17]
On 11 July 2011, on the eve of the division's 70th anniversary, the 8th Guards was re-established in a ceremony attended by PresidentRoza Otunbayeva and Defence MinisterAbibilla Kudayberdiev. The year before, the predecessor of the unit took part in the2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade onRed Square. It is now garrisoned inTokmok and commanded by Colonel Berdibek Asanov.[18][19][20][21] The combat banner of the division was carried on Red Square by theMilitary Institute of the Armed Forces during themilitary parade inMoscow in2020.[22]
On its 80th anniversary in 2021, servicemen of the division marched toPanfilov Park.[23][24]
During 1943 and 1944, war reporterAlexander Bek escorted the 8th Guards. Drawing from the memories of MajorBaurzhan Momyshuly, he authored a book,Volokolamsk Highway (known also asPanfilov's Men), about the fighting near the city. After the war, in 1960 and 1961, he completed two sequels,Several Days andGeneral Panfilov's Reserve. The trilogy described the experiences of Momyshuly as a battalion commander, from the formation of the division in Alma Ata until the Soviet counter-offensive in Moscow.[25]
Bek'sVolokolamsk Highway served as one of the settings for an eponymous series of five plays byHeiner Müller, written from 1984 to 1987. The first part, "Russian Opening", was based onHeinrich von Kleist'sThe Prince of Homburg. In Müller's reinterpretation, Momyshuly assumes the role of theGreat Elector.[26] Beside Bek's trilogy, Momyshuly himself authored his accounts on the division's fighting near Moscow.[27]
A copy of the divisional banner is located at theMilitary History Museum of Almaty.[28]
 Divisions of the Soviet Union 1957–1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Airborne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artillery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aviation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motor Rifle |
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| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Guards units marked inbold unless they are in a Guards section. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||