220th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 220th Rifle Division was briefly a Red Army motorized infantry division that was re-organised shortly after the German invasion as a standard rifle division.

It managed to avoid destruction during Operation Typhoon, but only its 653rd Rifle Regiment remained battleworthy through the winter. Once rebuilt it took part in the fighting around Rzhev in 1942 and then in the follow-up to the German evacuation of the salient in the spring of 1943. When the summer offensive toward Smolensk began in August it was part of Western Front's 31st Army and it remained in this Army almost continuously for the duration of the war. During the following autumn and winter it took part in the front's increasingly futile offensives on Orsha, but in the first stages of the Destruction of Army Group Center it assisted in the liberation of that town and was awarded its name as an honorific; its rifle regiments soon also gained honors for the liberation of Minsk. Less than two weeks later it also shared credit for the liberation of the city of Grodno and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner while several of its subunits were recognized for successfully crossing the Neman River nearby. After the abortive offensive into East Prussia in October it contributed to the capture of that province in early 1945 before being moved to 1st Ukrainian Front in April, and it ended the war in Czechoslovakia. Despite its solid combat record it was disbanded during the summer.

220th Motorized Division The division was first organized beginning in March 1941 in the Oryol Military District at Voronezh as part of the 23rd Mechanized Corps. It was commanded by Maj. Gen. Nikifor Gordeevich Khoruzhenko and consisted of: 653rd Motorized Rifle Regiment 673rd Motorized Rifle Regiment 137th Tank Regiment 660th Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", Soviet Tank, Mechanized, Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940 - 1942, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. I, Nafziger, 1995, pp. 65-66. This source describes the 660th as a Howitzer Regiment. 46th Antitank Battalion 235th Antiaircraft Battalion 295th Reconnaissance Battalion 381st Light Engineering Battalion 584th Signal Battalion 218th Artillery Park Battalion 360th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 690th Motor Transport Battalion 166th Repair and Restoration Battalion 58th Regulatory Company 468th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 214th Field Postal Station 394th Field Office of the State Bank When Operation Barbarossa began the 220th was still forming up and was very poorly equipped. Trucks and other motor vehicles were in short supply, and the tank regiment had no tanks at all, owing to the policy of the corps commander, Maj. Gen. M. A. Myasnikov, of concentrating nearly all of the available vehicles in his 48th and 51st Tank Divisions. For practical purposes the division was motorized in name only.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 66 On June 22 the corps, which also included the 27th Motorcycle Regiment, was still in the Oryol District and the 220th was located at Yelets, but by July 1 it had come under the command of 19th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. Within days the corps (minus the 51st Tanks which remained in the Reserve and deployed to Rzhev) was committed along with 19th Army as part of Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 11, 18, 23, 26 Battle of Vitebsk By late on July 9 forces of 3rd Panzer Group had created a serious breach in the Red Army's defenses around Vitebsk. The front commander, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, ordered 19th Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. I. S. Konev, to counterattack to restore the situation despite the fact it was not yet assembled. The 220th had arrived by rail despite the rest of 23rd Mechanized lagging in the rear. It took part in the counterattack the next day, which faltered after two days of heavy fighting due to the lack of coordination and reserves. By nightfall on July 12 both motorized corps of the Panzer Group were over the Dvina River and fanning out around Vitebsk. By this time the division was entirely separated from its Corps and was fighting in a salient east of Orsha. Timoshenko continued to attempt to retake Vitebsk with counterattacks that included the 220th, but these made no progress at all.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., chs. 2, 3 The division soon saw fighting in the Smolensk region and on July 21 the pretense of it being a motorized unit was given up when it was redesignated as a standard rifle division with the addition of the 376th Reserve Rifle Regiment.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 66

220th Rifle Division Shortly after its redesignation the division was moved to the 32nd Army of Reserve Front, east of Smolensk, where it joined five militia (Opolcheniye) divisions from Moscow.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 32 General Khoruzhenko remained in command. Its order of battle, still based on the prewar shtat (table of organization and equipment), eventually became as follows: 376th Rifle Regiment (later 137th Rifle Regiment) 653rd Rifle Regiment 673rd Rifle RegimentSharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 33 218th Light Artillery Regiment (until September 30, 1941) 660th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (until August 31, 1941; after September 30, 660th Artillery Regiment) 46th Antitank Battalion 435th Mortar Battalion (from October 26, 1941 to October 25, 1942) 489th Reconnaissance Company (later 295th) 381st Sapper Battalion 216th Signal Battalion (later 584th, later 216th Signal Company) 360th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 86th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company (later 58th and 89th) 78th Motor Transport Company (later 690th Motor Transport Battalion) 330th Field Bakery (later 468th Motorized Field Bakery) 142nd Divisional Veterinary Hospital (later 110th) 10904th Field Postal Station (later 214th) 546th Field Office of the State Bank Operation Typhoon In August the 220th was moved to 49th Army, also in Reserve Front. At the beginning of October, when Operation Typhoon began, it was still under these commands, along with the 194th, 248th and 303rd Rifle Divisions plus the 29th and 31st Cavalry Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 41, 51 The army was occupying a defensive line between Vyazma and Rzhev with its divisions spread along very wide sectors. As an example the 220th was deployed on a line from Valutino to Bulashovo that was in length. Owing to the advance of 2nd Panzer Group to the south, which began on September 30, the army received orders the next day to entrain for redeployment to this sector; the 220th was to depart from Sychyovka on October 4. This plan was entirely overtaken by events when 3rd Panzer Group began its own part of the offensive on October 2. The redeploying divisions were taken by surprise when German tanks of 6th Panzer Division seized two intact bridges over the Dniepr River east of Kholm-Zhirkovskii on October 3 and the next day also forced crossings in the sector of the 220th and 248th, brought 25-30 tanks over the river to the eastern bank and dug in around two small bridgeheads.Lev Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, Kindle ed., part 3

At 2300 hours on October 5 the STAVKA finally decided to begin the withdrawal of the forces of Western and Reserve Fronts to new lines. As part of this order all the units of 31st and 32nd Armies, plus the 220th, were transferred to Western Front. By this time the situation had deteriorated significantly. At 1150 hours on October 6 the commander of 32nd Army, Maj. Gen. S. V. Vishnevskii, reported about a German breakthrough on the VolochekPigulino sector:

The order in question was that directing it to entrain at Sychyovka, which in the confusion had not been countermanded; General Khoruzhenko had also failed to receive his reassignment to Western Front. Meanwhile the division's Special Department, in accordance with previously issued orders, was continuing to purge "unreliable elements" from the ranks. For example, in place of the 673rd Rifle Regiment's 2nd Battalion, which consisted of "Westerners" (natives of the western districts of Belarus and Ukraine, who in difficult situations tended to surrender in large numbers) who'd been swept up and sent to the rear, it was necessary to form a new battalion from the personnel of the construction units and rear services.Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, Kindle ed., part 4

At 1600 hours on October 7 General Vishnevskii reported that up to 10 German tanks had broken through in the Vysokoe area, pressuring the 18th Division while moving toward Sychyovka, and that a gap had opened between it and the 140th. In addition the 248th was no longer combat effective. Given his difficulties in directing the 18th and 220th Divisions he recommended that they be resubordinated to 31st Army, which was done. (On October 13 this officer would be taken prisoner.) The same day the 7th Panzer Division of 3rd Group linked up with the 10th Panzer Division of 4th Panzer Group in the vicinity of Vyasma and the encirclement was closed.Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, Kindle ed., part 4 Reorganization and Rebuilding Remnants of the division were able to escape from encirclement to join 29th Army in Kalinin Front by October 10.Jack Radey and Charles Sharp, The Defense of Moscow 1941 - The Northern Flank, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2012, p. 16 The 653rd Rifle Regiment was least affected by these events, and fought detached from the rest of the division in 22nd Army through the winter and into the spring; the remainder was kept in reserve in 29th and 30th Armies.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 9, 26, 44, 63, 82 In May 1942, the 220th went into Kalinin Front reserves to be rebuilt.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 33 On May 4 Khoruzhenko left the division. He would go on to lead the 15th Guards Rifle Corps and reached the rank of lieutenant general. He was replaced by Lt. Col. Nikolai Georgievich Tsyganov, who had previously served as commander of the 376th Rifle Regiment and as divisional chief of staff. This officer would later lead the 11th Guards Rifle Division and reached the rank of colonel general postwar. Tsyganov was in turn replaced by Col. Stanislav Giliarovich Poplavskii on July 3; he had previously commanded the 256th Rifle Division and would be promoted to major general on February 14, 1943.

Battles for Rzhev The division, now back in 30th Army,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 143 took part in the First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation, fighting in the northeast outskirts of Rzhev itself in the late summer and autumn of 1942.Boris Gorbachevsky, Through the Maelstrom, A Red Army Soldier's War on the Eastern Front, 1942-1945, ed. & trans. S. Britton, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2008, p. 148. This source mistakenly says it was in 31st Army. Units of the army reached the Volga west of Rzhev on August 25–26 and forced a crossing on the 29th, but over the following weeks it was unable to seize the town. In order to facilitate cooperation the army was transferred to Western Front, but this made little difference. Further attacks followed on September 14 and September 21, but only a few blocks of the town were taken, at considerable cost to both sides. 30th Army went over to the defense on October 1.Svetlana Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, pp. 92, 94-96, 98 Operation Mars