The 413th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 in the Far Eastern Front. It was considered to be a "sister" division to the 415th, and was one of the divisions of Siberians sent west to help defend Moscow during the winter of 1941–42. It was assigned to the 50th Army and originally saw action in the defense of the city of Tula before going over to the counteroffensive in December, suffering massive casualties in the process. It spent much of the next year along the lines it gained over the winter, southwest of the capital, before beginning to push westward as part of Western Front's 1943 summer offensive. During the winter of 1943-44 it was in Belorussian Front (later 1st Belorussian Front) gradually gaining ground towards the Dniepr River to the east of Rogachev. At the start of Operation Bagration the 413th was in the 3rd Army but was soon reassigned to the 65th Army where it remained for most of the rest of the war. The division was awarded a battle honor for its role in the liberation of Brest in July and in 1945 received both the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov as it advanced into Poland and Germany with 2nd Belorussian Front. The 413th had a distinguished career as a combat unit, ending its combat path north of Berlin. It was disbanded in the summer of 1946.
Formation The 413th Rifle Division began forming on August 6, 1941, entirely from assets in the Far Eastern Front. Soldiers and officers came from the South Kazakhstan and Blagoveshchensk Infantry Schools, the Khabarovsk Infantry and Military-Political Schools, and the Vladivostok Artillery Academy. Command cadre came from the staffs of the 1st and 2nd Red Banner Armies, and included many veterans of the Lake Khasan and Khalkhin-Gol fighting. Its order of battle, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions, was as follows: 1320th Rifle Regiment 1322nd Rifle Regiment 1324th Rifle Regiment 982nd Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed from June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, pp. 113-14 291st Antitank Battalion (from January 19, 1942) 519th Mortar Battalion (until October 10, 1942) 207th Reconnaissance Company 425th Sapper Battalion 487th Signal Battalion (later 487th Signal Company) 350th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 347th Chemical Protection (Anti-gas) Company 212th Motor Transport Company (later 486th Motor Transport Battalion) 524th Field Bakery 159th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 960th Field Postal Station 270th Field Office of the State Bank At the time of its formation its personnel were noted as being mostly Siberian and Kazakh.David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 594 Maj. Gen. Alexei Dmitrievich Tereshkov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. The division was considered to be ready for combat by October 1, and over the course of the month was railed westward to join Western Front on October 31, and was then assigned to 50th Army, near Tula, on November 5. It was one of six divisions transferred from Far Eastern Front to the fighting front from September to November. Contrary to the German understanding at the time, there were no wholesale transfers from the far east to the Moscow front.Walter S. Dunn, Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, pp. 82-83
Battle of Moscow The 413th first went into action less than a week after joining its Army, which was in Bryansk Front. At this time it had a personnel strength of about 12,000 troops and about 100 artillery pieces and mortars of all types, making it quite a strong front-line division for that period.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 114 In the Army's plan for the defense of Tula the division was to launch a counterblow as soon as it de-trained against the forces of the German 2nd Panzer Army from the Volokhov area in the direction of Novyi Tulskii, from five to 15 km southeast of the city. Subsequent operations were to continue the advance towards Shchyokino to link up with 3rd Army. Upon arrival the division consolidated with two rifle regiments along the line from Nizhnie Prisady to Dubovka and the third in Dedilovo, where the 299th Rifle Division was also concentrating.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow 1941-1942, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 5
The counterattack began at dawn on November 7 but developed slowly due to active German resistance and inexperience on the Soviet side. The 32nd Tank Brigade was intended to coordinate with the 413th but was late in reaching its start line and communications between the two units and higher headquarters worked poorly. By the evening the division had reached a line from Malaya Yelovaya to Tikhvinskoe by was attacked there at 2200 hours by two battalions of infantry and 25-30 tanks and was forced to fall back towards Sergievka. (The division did not receive its 291st Antitank Battalion until January 19, 1942.) Following the failure of the Soviet attack the German forces renewed their efforts to force their way into Tula from the south, which were unsuccessful. On November 10 the 50th Army was re-subordinated to Western Front.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 5
In its first week of fighting the division's infantry strength had been reduced to just 800 men.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 114 On November 18 the 17th Panzer and 112th Infantry Divisions drove the 413th and 299th Divisions out of Dedilovo before developing their attack to the east in the direction of Stalinogorsk in an effort to outflank the city. During November 20 the division, along with the 32nd Tanks, fought stubborn defensive battles and by the end of the day no longer held a continuous front, with one regiment holding Bolokhovka, a second in the area of Gorki and Dubravo, and the third in the area of Kurakino, overall facing up to an infantry division and 40-50 tanks attempting to outflank Bolokhovka from the north and south. As a result of this fighting the division, along with the 299th and 239th Rifle Divisions, and supporting armor, regrouped 6–8 km north over the night, taking up a line chiefly along the north bank of the Shat River, with the 413th on the line from Marino to Verkhnee Petrovo. On November 24 the 17th Panzer made unsuccessful attempts to cross the river while its main forces advanced towards Kashira.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 5
During the first days of December the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions attacked towards Rudnevo, 20 km northeast of Tula, attempting to reach the northern and eastern outskirts of the city. The commander of 50th Army, Lt. Gen. I. V. Boldin, was ordered to destroy this force, starting on December 3. The division was at this point defending the city's eastern sector and during the day it occupied Kolodeznaya with one regiment and by 1400 hours was fighting for Dorofeevka, helping to secure the right flank of the 217th Rifle Division's 740th Rifle Regiment. As of December 7, with the vastly-overextended German offensive coming to a halt and with the Red Army about to shift to the counteroffensive, the 413th was securely holding a line from Height 217.2 to Kryukovo to Tulitsa.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 5
Winter Counteroffensive The initial objective of 50th Army was to encircle and destroy the 2nd Panzer Army in conjunction with the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and the new 10th Army moving westward from the Ryazan area. Its offensive began on December 8 and the 413th, along with the 340th Rifle Division, was again ordered to advance on Shchyokino as well as Dedilovo with the aim of cutting off the retreat route of the Germans' Venev-Dedilovo-Stalinogorsk grouping. The division was supported by the 156th NKVD Regiment and part of the 112th Tank Division, which was under direct command of the 340th, and faced elements of the 296th Infantry Division. By the end of December 10 it had advanced up to 7 km against stubborn resistance. On the following day new orders directed the 413th to take the village of Bolokhovka prior to reaching positions 2 km west of Dedilovo. On December 14 the division secured the villages of Podosinki, Zamyatino and Krutoe (all 5 km southwest Bolokhovka) with its hardest fighting along the Shat River from Prisady station to the east. After December 15 the main forces of the Army began turning to the northwest and by the 18th began advancing towards Kaluga.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part IV, ch. 4
By December 20 the 413th had reached a line from Sizenevo to Nikolskie Vyselki and was echeloned to the rear and left of the 50th Army's front with the 217th Rifle Division. On the next day, as the Army's forward detachments began to liberate Kaluga, the division was fighting for Odoevo with one regiment while its main forces were developing the offensive in the direction of Okorokovo. Odoevo was occupied by remnants of the 112th and 167th Infantry Divisions and was cleared by the end of December 22, which allowed the 1st Guards Cavalry to advance to the Oka River south of Likhvin. Over the next three days the division attacked in the direction of Cherepet and Likhvin meeting little resistance. General Boldin ordered General Tereshkov to avoid head-on attacks and encircle the latter town with two regiments while the third moved towards Gordikovo. After stubborn street fighting German resistance in Likhvin collapsed and it was cleared on December 26, following which the 413th continued to develop the offensive to the northwest; Boldin's intention was a deep envelopment of Kaluga from the southwest and west by his left flank divisions.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part IV, ch. 4
Kaluga was finally cleared by 1000 hours on December 30 and the surviving German forces fell back to the northwest and west after suffering 7,000 casualties. On the same day the division reached a line from Kromeno to Rassudovo, preventing the retreating forces from moving to the southwest. Following this victory Boldin ordered the bulk of his forces to pursue in the direction of Yukhnov with the 413th and 217th Divisions specifically sent towards Uteshevo. During January 6, 1942 the 50th Army began to run up against more powerful German defenses and the division, having taken Zheleztsovo, continued attacking toward Osenevo and Nedetovo but was being pressed from the north where the 137th and 52nd Infantry Divisions were operating. After this date the Army's forces was involved in increasingly stubborn battles along the approaches to Yukhnov.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part V, ch. 5
By January 14 was regrouping his worn forces as he strained to reach Yukhnov as quickly as possible. The 413th had its front facing west and was fighting in the same area against a German group trying to break through to Uteshevo. The group was forced to fall back with the assistance of the 7th Guards Cavalry Division. By the end of January 18 the division was still slowly forcing the German grouping back along the line from Vshivka to Troskino, after with it was moved to the Army's left flank with the 290th Rifle and 7th Guards Cavalry Divisions which attacked together in the direction of Trufanovo from January 22 in order to bypass Yukhnov from the southwest. Meanwhile, German strength continued to build. An order of January 27 tasked the 413th with blocking two German strongpoints with part of its forces while advancing with its main forces to the area of Marino - Voitovo - Krutoe, due west of Yukhnov. The struggle for this city would continue through February,Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., part V, ch. 8 and it would not be finally liberated until March 5.