101st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
Encyclopedia
The 101st Rifle Division was a formation of the Soviet Red Army
initially formed as a mountain rifle division on 28 August 1938 within the 2nd Separate Red Banner Army in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
city.
Initially the division included the 138th rifle regiment formed during 1938 from 292nd rifle regiment of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, which was in turn created during 1937 based on the 10th separate territorial rifle battalion of the 4th Bashkir
regiment. In 1940 because of an inspection by the order of Far Eastern Front, the division was removed from the roll of first line formations. In June 1942 the division was reorganized into a field rifle division. In 1943 the HQ of the 101st division were operationally subordinated: the 128th Mixed Aviation Division
, Petropavlovsk Military Naval Base, border security detachment, 428th howitzer artillery regiment, 302nd separate rifle regiment, three separate artillery divizions (battalions), 5th separate rifle battalion, a number of storage facilities. From 15 January 1945 the division was included in the composition of the Northern Group of Forces of the Far Eastern Front and subordinated to the Kamchatka Defensive Rayon of the Front .
In August 1945 the composition of the 101st rifle division was:
For the model fulfilment of command’s assignments displaying combat mastery during the taking of islands Shumshu
and Paramushir
in the course of the conducting the Kurile desant operation, by edict of Presidium of the Highest Council of the USSR from 14 September 1945, declared by the order of NKO № 0164 dated 28 September 1945 the division was awarded the Order of Lenin.
The division appears to have been disbanded in 1945-46.
Commanders: Major (from 21 September 1940 brigade commander) Gorodnyanskiy Aksentiy Mikhaylovich (August 1938 - 25 October 1940); Colonel, General Major Pichugin Ivan Pavlovich (25 October 1940 - 27 June 1942); General Major Mozhaev Semyon Fedorovich (from 27 June 1942); General Major D’yakov Porfiry Ivanovich (22 September 1943 - 4 November 1945).
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
initially formed as a mountain rifle division on 28 August 1938 within the 2nd Separate Red Banner Army in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...
city.
Initially the division included the 138th rifle regiment formed during 1938 from 292nd rifle regiment of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, which was in turn created during 1937 based on the 10th separate territorial rifle battalion of the 4th Bashkir
Bashkirs
The Bashkirs are a Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan extending on both parts of the Ural mountains, on the place where Europe meets Asia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, Perm Krai, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Samara and Saratov Oblasts of...
regiment. In 1940 because of an inspection by the order of Far Eastern Front, the division was removed from the roll of first line formations. In June 1942 the division was reorganized into a field rifle division. In 1943 the HQ of the 101st division were operationally subordinated: the 128th Mixed Aviation Division
Aviation Division
An Aviation Division was a type of formation of the Military Air Forces of the Red Army during the Second World War, the Military Air Forces of the Soviet Union, Forces of Anti Aircraft Defence of the Soviet Union and Aviation of the Military Naval Fleet, and since 1991 remain major formations...
, Petropavlovsk Military Naval Base, border security detachment, 428th howitzer artillery regiment, 302nd separate rifle regiment, three separate artillery divizions (battalions), 5th separate rifle battalion, a number of storage facilities. From 15 January 1945 the division was included in the composition of the Northern Group of Forces of the Far Eastern Front and subordinated to the Kamchatka Defensive Rayon of the Front .
In August 1945 the composition of the 101st rifle division was:
- HeadquartersHeadquartersHeadquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
and Staff - KAD (Commander of artillery division) command platoon
- 138th rifle regiment
- 302nd rifle regiment
- 373rd rifle regiment
- 279th light artillery regiment
- separate training rifle battalion
- 169th separate anti-tank destroyer battalion
- 119th separate sapper battalion
- 103rd separate signals battalion
- 131st separate medical and sanitary battalion
- 38th separate chemical protection company
- 70th field post officeField post officeA Field Post Office is a post office set up during time of war or when a military unit is on manoeuvres. It is set up 'in the field', hence the name, however, FPOs may be on land or at sea. Their use pre-dates the introduction of postage stamps....
- divisional sewing repair shop
- separate anti-aircraft machine gun company
- 13th mobile field hospital
- 178th divisional veterinary infirmary
- 9th field bakery
- SMERSHSMERSHSMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...
counter espionage detachment - Armored train of the 19th separate cavalry squadron
For the model fulfilment of command’s assignments displaying combat mastery during the taking of islands Shumshu
Shumshu
Shumshu , is the northernmost island of Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The name of the island is derived from the Ainu language meaning “good island”. It is separated from Paramushir by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast , its northern...
and Paramushir
Paramushir
Paramushir , is a volcanic island in the northern portion of Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Shumshu by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast , from Antsiferov by the Luzhin Strait to the southwest, from Atlasov in the...
in the course of the conducting the Kurile desant operation, by edict of Presidium of the Highest Council of the USSR from 14 September 1945, declared by the order of NKO № 0164 dated 28 September 1945 the division was awarded the Order of Lenin.
The division appears to have been disbanded in 1945-46.
Commanders: Major (from 21 September 1940 brigade commander) Gorodnyanskiy Aksentiy Mikhaylovich (August 1938 - 25 October 1940); Colonel, General Major Pichugin Ivan Pavlovich (25 October 1940 - 27 June 1942); General Major Mozhaev Semyon Fedorovich (from 27 June 1942); General Major D’yakov Porfiry Ivanovich (22 September 1943 - 4 November 1945).
Sources and references
- http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/sd101/default.html