The 6th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army. Formed multiple times, it participated in several battles, most notably the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919, the Estonian War of Independence and the Polish–Soviet War.The division's first formation was awarded the Order of the Red Banner twice and the Order of Suvorov 2nd class for its valor in combat. In November 1945, the division was disbanded. It was briefly reformed in 1955 but disbanded again in 1957.
First formation
1918 The 6th Rifle Division was formed as the Gatchina Infantry Division on 23 May 1918 in Gdov by order of the Chief of Staff of the and the Northern Section of the Screen Detachments. It was made up of Red Guard detachments from Petrograd, soldiers of Pavel Dybenko's volunteer detachment, and workers from Narva. From May to November 1918, the division was deployed in the vicinity of Ivangorod. On 31 May, by order of the Supreme Military Soviet, the division as renamed the 3rd Petrograd Infantry Division; on 11 September 1918, by order of the Revolutionary Military Soviet, the division was renamed the 6th Rifle Division.
Until November 1918, the division defended the approaches to Petrograd from Narva and Reval. From November 1918 to January 1919, it took part in the Soviet westward offensive, a campaign to conquer the Baltic states and Belarus. On 28 November 1918, the division occupied the city of Narva and further advanced to the Jägala river, reaching it in December.
1919 In January 1919, the division retreated from the offensive, fighting White and Estonian formations, seeing action near Koporye. In May 1919, the division was joined by troops of the Combined Baltic Division. From May to October, it fought Nikolai Yudenich's Northwestern Army during the defense of Petrograd. In 12 May, the division defended a wide front that passed through the villages of , , , and Keykino and further along the left bank of the Luga to the Lom estate. From the Lom estate to the village of Karlovo, the defensive front intercepted the line of the and the Narva Highway. Then the front stretched from the village of Karlovo to the mouth of the Plyusa River, then along the railroad bed to the Gostisty station and further south to the junction with the Chudsk section of the Estonian Red Riflemen. At this point, the division numbered up to 4,600 soldiers and 23 guns. On the night of 13 May, the White army went on the offensive and broke through the division's defense on the left flank; as a result, the 53rd and 167th regiments were routed and forced to retreat to the village of Arinovka, and two of the division's armored trains were destroyed.
In autumn, the division defeated the Estonian 1st Division's Krasnaya Gorka offensive.Jaan Maide (1933) [www.ksk.edu.ee/file.php?ID=1208 Ülevaade Eesti vabadussõjast] Kaitseliit publishers, Tartu In October, the division went on the offensive and captured Krasnoye Selo. In November and December, the division participated in the Narva offensive, which started the Estonian War of Independence. The Estonian 1st Division and the White Northwestern Army were pushed beyond the Soviet-Estonian border. The unit was redesignated twice during this campaign.
1920 From January to May 1920, the division defended the Soviet-Estonian border. In May, the division was called to participate in the Polish–Soviet War, where it saw heavy action; from 14 May to 8 June, during the Battle of the Berezina, the division participated in the Maladzyechna offensive towards the Polotsk and Lyepel area; from 4 to 23 July, during the , it participated in battles in the Dokshytsy and Hlybokaye area, crossed the Sosha and Berezina rivers, and occupied Dolginovo and Lida; from 23 July to 25 August, it participated in the Battle of Warsaw, during which it crossed the Neman, occupied Vawkavysk, Bielsk, and Serock, advanced along the Bug towards Warsaw, and then retreated, waging rearguard battles. In September, the division had now moved to battle around Grodno. On 22 July 1920, the division took part in the crossing of the Neman during the First Battle of the Niemen River. The division pushed back the Polish-led 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division in the vicinity of Masty. Although ultimately stopped by the Polish 81st Grodno Rifles Infantry Regiment, the division forced the Polish troops to retreat and abandon their lines. Grzegorz Łukomski, Bogusław Polak, Mieczysław Wrzosek, Wojna polsko-bolszewicka 1919-1920, Koszalin 1990.
Following the Polish summer retreat towards the Vistula, the division pursued the Polish forces. On 9 August it captured Wyszków and then advanced north of Bug, Narew, and Vistula towards Łomża. The town fell to the Soviet forces, but a successful counter-attack on Łomża carried out by Polish 59th Greater Polish Infantry Regiment recaptured the town. The 6th Rifle Division lost many of their prisoners of war. Following the Battle of Warsaw, the 6th Rifle Division was defeated. Recreated as part of the Soviet defenses along the Niemen river, it took part in the Second Battle of the Niemen River. Defeated east of Vileyka by Polish cavalry, it was surrounded and eliminated. The Polish forces captured its headquarters, tabor, 13 field kitchens, and the remaining two pieces of artillery, as well as all commanding officers of the division's regiments.
Interwar period The unit was later re-created behind the front. On 13 March 1921, by order of the 14th Army, the division was transferred to the Orel Military District; the division was stationed in the city of Oryol from March 1921 to September 1939. On 30 November 1921, it received the honorific "Oryol".
In June 1922, the division was reduced to the staff of a peacetime rifle division. In September 1925, it was reduced to the staff of a territorial division (1,862 men). On 2 January 1929, in honor of its tenth anniversary, the division was awarded the Honorary Red Banner of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.
In May 1936, the division was again expanded into a regular rifle division with a strength of 6,000 men; In September 1936, it was again reduced to the staff of a territorial division with a strength of 4,000. In May 1938, it was expanded into a reduced regular rifle division of triple deployment with a strength of 5,090 men.
In late 1937, the division's command staff was under investigation and many were arrested, including division commander Ivan Shafransky and several brigade and regiment commanders. They were charged with participating in an "anti-Soviet military-fascist conspiracy". On 20 October 1938, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced 15 of those arrested, excluding Shafransky, to death; the sentence was carried out on the same day in Oryol. The burial site is not documented On 29 June 1957, the Military Collegium fully rehabilitated the executed servicemen due to lack of evidence of any crime committed and ruled that they were wrongfully convicted.
Second formation In 1939 each regiment of the division was expanded to form a new division, resulting in the creation of the new 6th, 122nd and 180th Rifle Divisions. From September of that year, it was brought up to the wartime staff of 14,000 men.
1939 The Second Formation of the 6th Rifle Division, probably formed from the 16th Rifle Regiment of the original division, took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. On 11 September, the division was ordered to prepare for deployment at Oryol station by 13 September, and transported to Belarus by rail within 3 days. On 17 September, it was a part of 11th Rifle Corps of 10th Army of the Belorussian Front (1939) and was concentrated in the Minsk area. On 19 September, the division crossed the Polish border and by the end of the day was concentrated in the Mir-Stolpce-Opechki area. By 1 October, the division completed a continuous 450-kilometer march, during which it disarmed small groups of Polish soldiers and officers. By the evening of 1 October, the division reached the Vishnitsy-Kuzovka-Mezhyles line. On 2 October, it was a part of 24th Rifle Corps of 4th Army of the Belorussian Front.
From 4 to 14 October 1939, the division retreated to the demarcation line along the eastern bank of the Bug to its permanent deployment sites and concentrated in the area of Brest-Litovsk and adjacent areas north of the Mukhavets, assuming garrison duty in Brest-Litovsk and guarding the Soviet border along the Bug. During the Winter War, two march battalions were formed from the division to be sent to the front.
After the end of the Soviet invasion of Poland in October 1939 the division became part of the Belorussian Special Military District's 6th Rifle Corps in the 4th Army. Almost the entire division (except for its howitzer regiment) was deployed within the Brest Fortress in the Western Special Military District.
1941
June On the night of 14 June 1941, the division was put on combat alert. The division comprised the 84th, 125th, and 333rd Rifle Regiments, the 131st Artillery Regiment, and the 204th Howitzer Artillery Regiment. It began operations against the Germans with 13,700 personnel.(Simonov. 100 days of war. Smolensk, "Rusich", 1999, p.348 (document provided)) via Lenskii, 2001. However, Glantz writing in Colossus Reborn in 2005, says division strength on 22 June 1941, was 11,592.Colossus Reborn, 2005, 201.
The German attack, Operation Barbarossa, was launched on 22 June 1941. At that time many natives from Voronezh Oblast (from a draft in 1940 and spring 1941) served in the division's units. The division was stationed in and around the Brest Fortress and went into action as early as 4AM against the German offense and suffered heavy losses. The division was split into several groups and retreated to the east in disarray. By the end of 22 June, the main forces and the division headquarters was in the Khvedkovichi area. A second group, composed of the remainders of the 125th Rifle Regiment and 111th Engineer Battalion, was north of Zhabinka. A third group, composed of the 84th Rifle Regiment and 204th Howitzer Artillery Regiment, was fighting in the Radvanichi area. The remainder of the division was encircled within Brest fortress and was destroyed during the prolonged defense of the fortress, which later became a symbol of Soviet resistance.
On 23 June, the division retreated to Kobryn. The German 3rd Panzer Division's offensive cut the division into two groups during the day. The 204th Howitzer Regiment and other units led by the commander and chief of staff of the division retreated along the Pinsk road, while elements of the divisional staff, remnants of the artillery, rear units, and remnants of the 84th and 333rd Rifle Regiments retreated northeast along the Warsaw highway under command of the division commissar. By the end of the day, the main forces of the division retreated to the eastern bank of the Yaselda north and south of Byaroza. At about 6AM on 24 June, German air bombers attacked the units defending on the Yaselda and resumed the attack under a heavy artillery barrage. A group of German tanks managed to break through the defense and reach the Warsaw road south of the village of Bronnaya Gora.
On 25 June, the division's units continued to hold the defense on the Włodawa-Małorita line. After suffering heavy losses, the remnants of the division joined a combined unit under the command of General Popov and retreated beyond the Ptsich River and moved to Babruysk in the afternoon. The division defended the eastern bank of the Berezina River outside of the city. It demolished the bridge across the Berezina. By midday on 28 June, the Wehrmacht had broken through the weak defense near Babruysk, captured the city, and reached the Berezina. At sunset, the division's scattered units headed toward Rogachev. By 30 June, the division's remnants had gathered in the Dovsk area.
July