304th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 304th Rifle Division had its roots in the 109th Mechanized Division, which served before the Great Patriotic War as a mixed armor and infantry formation. Soon after the German invasion it was reorganized as a standard rifle division and renumbered as the 304th. It served in the southwestern part of the Soviet-German front for more than a year and a half, fighting under difficult conditions, including the German summer offensive of 1942. The division did not distinguish itself until Operation Uranus in late 1942 and the subsequent Operation Ring, in which it helped defeat the encircled German Sixth Army. In recognition of these successes, even before the German surrender at Stalingrad, it was raised to Guards status as the 67th Guards Rifle Division. A second 304th was raised six months later, based on a pair of rifle brigades, facing the German 17th Army in the Kuban. After helping to liberate this region the division continued in combat through Ukraine and Poland, winning its own distinctions at Zhitomir and an Order of the Red Banner, before ending the war near Prague.

1st Formation After losing most of its trucks and tanks in its first battles near Kiev, the 109th Mechanized DivisionSharp designates this as a mechanized division, while Glantz designates it as motorized. of 5th Mechanized Corps began moving back to Zolotonosha, east of the Dniepr River, to reform as the 304th Rifle Division on July 12, 1941.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 77 Its order of battle was revised to the following: 807th Rifle Regiment - newly formed from reserves and added to replace the 16th Tank Regiment 809th Rifle Regiment - from 381st Motorized Rifle Regiment 812th Rifle Regiment - from 602nd Motorized Rifle Regiment 560th Artillery Regiment - from 404th Motorized Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December, 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, 1996, p. 69 378th Antitank Battalion 602nd Sapper Battalion 635th Signal Battalion 318th Reconnaissance Company The first commander of the new division was Col. Timofei Ilich Sidorenko, but he was replaced after about six weeks by Maj. Gen. Nikolai Pavlovich Pukhov.

After several weeks in Southwestern Front reserves, the 304th was assigned to the 38th Army in early August, just as that Army was itself forming up. The division remained in that Army until July, 1942. It was able to avoid encirclement near Kiev as it was located just east of the point where 1st Panzer Group broke through the Soviet front, and was able to retreat through Poltava.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, map on pp. 262–63 In late January, 1942, Maj. Gen. Pukhov was reassigned to command of 13th Army, and was replaced by Col. Ivan Vasilievich Khazov. The division also managed to stay clear of the debacle at Kharkov in May, 1942.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 69

In early June the 304th was facing the difficult task of helping to defend the sector from the Northern Donets River east of Chuguev southwards 60 km to the west of Izium; the division itself was holding the area near Balakleia. As a preliminary to its summer offensive, on June 22 German Army Group South launched Operation Fridericus II to gain control of Izium and Kupiansk, and also to encircle and destroy as much as possible of the Soviet 38th and 9th Armies. The German advance on the latter city was held up by a strenuous defense by 9th Guards Rifle Division, which allowed the 304th and three other divisions to escape encirclement and join 38th Army's new line behind the Oskol without serious losses. It was in these positions when Operation Blue began.David M. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 91, 96, 98-102, 111

Operation Blue 38th Army was directly in the path when the second phase of this offensive began on July 7, and by the 9th was in deep trouble. Maj. Gen. Kirill Moskalenko, the Army's commander, sent urgent messages to the STAVKA requesting permission to withdraw well east of the Aidar River to prevent his forces being entirely cut off. When no reply was forthcoming, he ordered the retreat on his own authority. While the 304th suffered significant casualties in this retreat, and German intelligence counted it as one of the divisions that had been "bagged", Moskalenko's order saved enough to allow it to be rebuilt.Glantz, Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 178-79

On July 31, Col. Serafim Petrovich Merkulov took command of the division, and would hold it for the remainder of the 1st Formation's existence. Shortly before this the 304th was moved to the 21st Army, under the newly formed Stalingrad Front. In August, as the defense of Stalingrad was being planned, the division was assigned to hold part of its Army's 140 km-wide sector from the mouth of the Khoper River as far as Melo-Kletsky.Glantz, Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 276, 304, 310, 329

In mid-August, after German 6th Army had cleared the great bend of the Don River and was clearly preparing for an advance on Stalingrad, Col. Gen. Andrey Yeryomenko conceived a plan to distract the German forces from this objective. On August 19 he issued an attack order to 21st and 63rd Armies to cross the Don southwards in the 30 km sector west of Serafimovich. Most of this sector had been taken up by elements of the Italian 8th Army within the past week, although they still had some backup from the Germans. The 304th, along with the 96th Rifle Division, were to play 21st Army's part in this offensive, attacking on a 15 km sector from Serafimovich to the Khoper. In the event, the 96th had no success against the German forces in Serafimovich itself in the early going, but the 304th managed to establish a small bridgehead, and over the following days pushed forwards 7 km and began digging in on August 27, while the 96th liberated Serafimovich. The gains made by 63rd Army were more extensive, and together these created one of the bridgeheads across the Don which would play an important role in Operation Uranus.Glantz, Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 383-89 The division, in company with the 124th Rifle Division, launched a heavy diversionary attack against the 79th Infantry Division on September 4 with the objective of tying down German forces in the region.Glantz, Armageddon in Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, p. 46

Operation Uranus In October the division was reassigned to 65th Army in Don Front as that Army was being organized. In Maj. Gen. P.I. Batov's plan for the offensive in November, the 304th formed half of the Army's shock group, alongside the 27th Guards Rifle Division, on a 6 km-wide sector on the south bank of the Don between Kletskaia and Melo-Kletskii. This bridgehead had been won from the Germans by the 1st Guards Army in August. The attack began on the morning of November 19 with a massive artillery barrage. Between 0848 and 0850 hrs. Moscow time, riflemen and sappers of the leading battalions, bolstered by 49 tanks of the 91st Tank Brigade, commenced the assault, aimed at the boundary between 1st Romanian Cavalry and the German 376th Infantry Divisions. The immediate objective was to smash the Romanian cavalry, then attack southeastward to turn the flank of 6th Army's XI Corps and protect the left flank of 21st Army's mobile group as it exploited southwards. General Batov recorded: The 304th had encountered skillfully fortified strongpoints manned by German troops that they could not overcome. Further, they faced nearly constant counterattacks from 376th Infantry, supported later in the day by elements of 14th Panzer Division.Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book One, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 194, 197, 206-08

One of these strongpoints was the village of Orekhovsky, which was attacked repeatedly through the day with tank support with only minimal success. However, a single battalion of the 807th Rifle Regiment, commanded by Major Chebotaev, managed to capture Marker 202.2 on the high ground just 2 km west of the village's center. Overnight, Batov and his staff worked out a new plan to exploit this limited success. A mobile group was formed, made up of about 45 T-34 and KV tanks from 91st Brigade, with submachine gunners riding on their decks, accompanied by motorized infantry and artillery. This force came under the command of Col. G.I. Anisimov on the morning of November 20 and was ready to advance in the early afternoon, following the rifle forces that were developing the 807th Regiment's penetration. Diversionary attacks were made by 65th Army's left-flank forces, while the 304th continued its assault on Orekhovsky and another strongpoint at Logovsky. This would be assisted by the fresh 252nd Rifle Division entering the battle at the boundary between the 304th and the 27th Guards. During the morning these two divisions pushed deeply into the Romanian defenses, after which the 252nd created a breach which Anisimov's mobile group entered and began its exploitation, advancing 23 km into XI Corps' left rear by nightfall, sowing panic and helping convince the German Corps that its position was becoming untenable. Meanwhile, the three rifle divisions advanced 2 to 4 km to the southeast, and on the following day completed the liberation of Orekhovsky, as well as Logovsky and Osinki.Glantz, Endgame, Book One, pp. 239-42

On November 21 the advance of the division and its neighbors became more difficult as the 376th Infantry consolidated its positions and was gradually reinforced. Despite the slow progress on this sector, over the next two days Southwestern and Stalingrad Fronts completed the encirclement of German 6th Army, and the mission of Don Front changed to that of liquidating the enemy pocket. 65th Army resumed its advance early on November 25. XI Corps, reinforced with elements of XIV Panzer Corps, began to pull back southeast across the Don, giving up its bridgehead in the Great Bend, which was untenable. Batov began a slow pursuit with his 24th, 304th and 252nd Rifle Divisions; the 304th advanced from Rodionov to Kubantseva Balka, with the support of 91st Tank Brigade. By the end of the day the area of the German bridgehead had been reduced by roughly half. The next day the pursuit continued, and the division reached the northern slope of Hill 204.0, 2 km south of Biriuchkov, before being stopped by heavy fire from the hill. Overnight on November 26/27 the last German forces were withdrawn. Batov wrote:This shock group was led by two battalions of the 812th Rifle Regiment, which made a night crossing of the ice-covered river under protective fire from 91st Tank Brigade. It was a risky move because the ice was not as firm as Batov would have liked, but with the help of the 14th Engineer Brigade the rest of the 304th made it across safely, and the sappers soon erected a bridge. Within 24 hours Vertiachii was taken, as the German forces continued to withdraw to the defensive line designated by 6th Army command several days earlier. Batov then withdrew the division into 65th Army's reserves.Glantz, Endgame, Book One, pp. 283-84, 435-43, 491-92

Operation Ring