The 371st Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August 1941 in the Urals Military District. It was soon moved to the front lines near Moscow, and took part in the counteroffensive that began on December 5. It spent all of 1942 and the first months of 1943 in the fighting around the Rzhev salient, and after a short break served in the offensive that liberated Smolensk. After a winter of brutal combat on the approaches to Orsha and Vitebsk it was reassigned to 5th Army in 3rd Belorussian Front and took part in Operation Bagration, during which it was recognized for its role in the liberation of the latter city with a battle honor. The division was further distinguished in late July with the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the occupation of Vilnius. In January 1945, it fought its way into East Prussia, and as that campaign was winding down it was moved across Asia, along with the rest of 5th Army, to take part in the campaign against the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria.
Formation The division began forming in August 1941 in the Urals Military DistrictWalter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 78 at Sverdlovsk. Its order of battle was as follows: 1229th Rifle Regiment 1231st Rifle Regiment 1233rd Rifle Regiment 930th Artillery Regiment 452nd Sapper Battalion 429th Reconnaissance Company 818th Signal Company 242nd Antitank Battalion (added in early 1942) Col. Fyodor Vasileevich Chernyshev was assigned to command of the division on September 18, and he would remain in command until January 30, 1942, being promoted to the rank of major general on November 9. Later that month the division was assigned to the 39th Army and began moving towards the front. On November 29 it was reassigned to 30th Army in Western Front, arriving under those commands with no antitank battalion and with a signal company so short of training and equipment that it could not manage to advise Army headquarters of its arrival until December 1.Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 98
Battle of Moscow Disembarkation of the 371st, at Savelovo station, took place from December 2-5, after which it was concentrated in its designated area behind the Army's front. The 348th and 379th Rifle Divisions were also reinforcing 30th Army at this time. The Army went over to the offensive on the morning of December 6 along its entire front, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance. Its main force was in the center and on the left flank, and the division, backed by the 21st Tank Brigade, joined the 365th Rifle Division, backed by 8th Tank Brigade, commanded by Col. P. A. Rotmistrov, in a drive towards Klin. During the day they successfully advanced to within 12-15km north of that city. The offensive continued over the next two days and was threatening to cut the Klin - Leningrad road and envelop the city from the northeast. The defending German 7th Panzer and 14th Motorized Divisions were by now falling back. On the morning of December 12 the 371st repulsed a counterattack on its line near Selyukhino, 6-10km northeast of Klin. Over the next three days the Soviet objective was to encircle Klin to destroy the German forces defending it, but cooperation between 30th and 1st Shock Armies was difficult to maintain. On December 13 the division crushed enemy resistance in the Praslovo area with two of its rifle regiments and broke into the northern outskirts of Klin. In the end, most of the defenders were able to withdraw, with heavy losses, and the city was liberated on December 15 by the 371st and 365th Divisions and their supporting troops. From December 9 to 15 the two Armies captured 82 tanks, 18 armored cars, 750 cars and trucks, 80 guns, 120 mortars, 250 machine guns, 800 submachine guns, up to 10,000 shells, and about 2 million small arms rounds.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., Part III, ch. 3; Part IV, ch. 2This source states that the first unit to enter Klin was the division's "1263rd Rifle Regiment". That regiment was in fact in 381st Rifle Division; see Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 103. Battles for Rzhev 30th Army continued its pursuit of the Third Panzer Group on December 16, and was transferred to Kalinin Front at noon.Soviet General Staff, Battle of Moscow, Kindle ed., Part IV, ch. 2 Beginning on January 8, 1942, 30th Army took part in the Sychyovka-Vyasma Offensive Operation, which was planned "to encircle, and then capture or destroy the enemy's entire Mozhaisk - Gzhatsk - Vyasma grouping", that is, what later became known as the Rzhev salient. On January 21 the Front commander, Lt. Gen. I. S. Konev, ordered 30th Army to move from the Front's left flank to its right; this brought it to a position facing south at the north end of the salient, near Rzhev itself, where it would remain for most of the ongoing fighting. By the end of January the successful part of the Soviet counteroffensive had mostly come to an end, in part because most of the rifle regiments had been reduced to 80 - 120 men each.Svetlana Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, pp. 26-27, 37-38 On January 31, General Chernyshev handed his command to Col. Nikolai Viktorovich Yagodkin, who in turn was succeeded on February 19 by Col. Nikolai Nikolaevich Oleshev.
According to STAVKA High Command Directive No. 170182 to the commander of Kalinin Front, dated March 22:As of May 1 the division was back under command of 30th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 82 Beginning on July 30 the rejuvenated division took part in the First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation, eventually advancing to the southeast of Rzhev in very difficult fighting while the neighboring 29th and 31st Armies made significant gains on the east flank of the salient. In August the 371st was transferred to 31st Army in Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 168Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 98 31st Army resumed the offensive at 0545 hours on August 24, but now progress became much more difficult, and on September 5 General Konev, now commanding Western Front, recommended a halt to rest, refit and organize a new attack to envelop and capture Rzhev, but instead the assault was renewed four days later. On September 16 the Army temporarily suspended its attacks, but resumed on September 21-23 with its three right-flank divisions, including the 371st. By the end of the month the 31st had gone over to the defensive. From August 4 to September 15 it had suffered 43,321 killed, wounded and missing-in-action.Gerasimova, Rzhev Slaughterhouse, pp. 91, 94-95, 98-99
In part due to these massive casualties, 31st Army played a limited role in the Second Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation (Operation Mars). On the first day, three divisions on its left flank attacked out of its bridgehead over the Osuga River and were stopped cold with up to 50 percent casualties. The 371st escaped this carnage, and 31st Army played no further active role in the offensive.David M. Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, pp. 82-83
On February 14, 1943, Colonel Oleshev was promoted to the rank of major general. On March 2, as Army Group Center put its evacuation of the Rzhev salient, Operation Büffel, into effect, 31st Army began its role in the difficult and costly pursuit until the end of the month.Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, pp. 330-33 On May 13 General Oleshev was moved up to command of the 36th Rifle Corps, being replaced by Col. Usman Minibaevich Sakaev. At about the same time the division was moved back to the reserves of Western Front for rest and rebuilding, where it would remain until August.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 98 On June 22 Colonel Sakaev was in turn replaced by Col. Vasilii Lavrentevich Alekseenko.
Battles for Orsha and Vitebsk During August the 371st returned to the front in 49th Army of Western Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 217 in time to take part in the battles that liberated Smolensk. By October 1 it had been reassigned to the 70th Rifle Corps of 33rd Army, facing elements of the German IX Army Corps.Glantz, Battle for Belorussia, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2016, pp. 27, 69 After nearly two months of attacking, by this time the division's rifle regiments had been reorganized with just two battalions each, but the 930th Artillery Regiment remained at full strength, so the division was still combat effective.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 98
On October 3, Western Front began the first of a series of ill-fated offensives in the direction of Orsha. The 371st and its corps-mate, 338th Rifle Division, were deployed on the army's right wing between Lenino and Mikulino facing the German 95th Infantry Division. 33rd Army's attack faced stronger German defenses than its neighboring armies to the north, and by October 9 its assaults expired without any success. Over the following days 33rd and 49th Armies regrouped for a new offensive; the 338th remained in place for several days to conceal and protect the movements behind its lines, while the 371st moved into 33rd Army's second echelon in position to exploit any breakthrough. The new assault, which included the action known as the Battle of Lenino, began on October 12 but was once again stymied with limited gains and significant casualties, especially among the ranks of the Polish 1st Infantry Division. As there was no breakthrough the 371st saw little action.Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 69, 72
By November 14 the division, along with its Corps, had been redeployed to 31st Army, north of the Dniepr River, still on the Orsha axis. After a lengthy artillery preparation on this date, four armies of Western Front made yet another attack to the west. Assault and penal battalions of 10th Guards Army to its north advanced up to 2.5 km despite heavy fog that shrouded the battlefield; the 338th kept pace with an advance of up to 1.5 km, but the 371st and the remaining divisions of the Army bogged down in the German forward security belt due to heavy machine gun fire. On November 17, 70th Corps, along with 15th Guards Rifle Corps spearheaded by units of 2nd Guards Tank Corps, wedged into the boundary between 78th Assault and 25th Panzer Grenadier Divisions north of the Orsha highway, but this attack also faltered. In five days of intense fighting the two Soviet armies managed to advance a mere 4 - 5 km, while the remainder of the Front's forces gained even less.Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 158, 162, 164 Vitebsk Offensives