387th Rifle Division

The 387th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming on September 1, 1941, in the Central Asia Military District. It first served in the winter counteroffensive south of Moscow, then spent the spring and summer of 1942 on the relatively quiet fronts southwest of the capital in the area of Kaluga and Tula. In September it was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it joined the 1st Reserve Army. This became the 2nd Guards Army and the division fought south of Stalingrad against Army Group Don during the German attempt to relieve their encircled 6th Army in December. During January and into February, 1943, 2nd Guards advanced on both sides of the lower Don River towards Rostov in a race to prevent Army Group A from escaping being trapped in the Caucasus region. The division was now part of Southern Front and it would remain in that Front (later 4th Ukrainian) until May, 1944. During the summer advance through the Donbas and southern Ukraine the 387th served under several different army commands before returning to 2nd Guards for the Crimean Offensive in April, 1944, during which it won a battle honor. After the Crimea was cleared the division remained there as part of the Separate Coastal Army until it went back to the Reserve in March, 1945. It then was assigned to the 2nd Ukrainian Front as a separate rifle division, and spent the last weeks of the war in Hungary and Austria. It continued to serve briefly into the postwar period.

Formation The 387th began forming on September 1, 1941, in the Central Asia Military DistrictWalter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 81 at Akmolinsk in Kazakhstan, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions. Its order of battle was as follows: 1271st Rifle Regiment 1273rd Rifle Regiment 1275th Rifle Regiment 949th Artillery RegimentCharles 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. 106 276th Antitank Battalion 448th Reconnaissance Company 666th Sapper Battalion 837th Signal Battalion (later 323rd Signal Company) 471st Medical/Sanitation Battalion 464th Chemical Protection (Anti-gas) Company 501st Motor Transport Company 253rd Field Bakery 809th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1418th Field Postal Station 757th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Maksim Andreevich Sushchenko was assigned to command of the division on the day it began forming, and he would remain in command until May 28, 1942. The division spent slightly over two months forming up in the Central Asia district, then moved north by rail to the Volga Military District in November, where it was assigned to the new 61st Army that was forming there.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106 At that time the division's personnel were noted as being mostly Kazakh.David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 594

Battle of Moscow At the start of the Moscow counteroffensive 61st Army was part of Bryansk Front, but was reassigned to Western Front in January, 1942.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 11, 28 Until January 16 the Army was regrouping, operating against the German Bolkhov group of forces, including the 112th and 167th Infantry Divisions. This regrouping changed the direction of the Army's right-flank divisions, the 91st Cavalry, 387th and 350th Rifle Divisions, from the west and southwest to the southeast. By late on January 20 the 91st Cavalry had taken Ivanovo, the 350th took Yagoda while the 387th overcame enemy resistance and reached a front from Nogaya to Kireikovo, liberating both locales. However, by now the neighboring 10th Army had ceased to advance and was being forced back in places. Over the next ten days the 61st Army continued to focus its attacks on the Bolkhov grouping and on the morning of January 30 the division began a fierce fight for Vyazovaya and Malaya Chern. Although by now Bolkhov was surrounded on three sides the German garrison continued to hold, and the offensive turned into positional warfare.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., Part V, ch. 8, 12

Move to the South Until August the 387th remained in 61st Army, which moved between Western Front and Bryansk Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 84, 123 On May 29 Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Kulizhsky took command from Colonel Sushchenko. In August in fighting near Zhizdra the division was encircled and forced to break out, losing most of its personnel and equipment in the process. On September 10 it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. It was assigned to the 1st Reserve Army which was located well behind the front at Tambov, Rasskazovo, Michurinsk and Morshansk. On October 23 the STAVKA formed the 2nd Guards Army based on 1st Reserve, which was expected to be combat-ready by November 25. The 387th was assigned to the 13th Guards Rifle Corps, which also commanded the 3rd and 49th Guards Rifle Divisions.Glantz, Armageddon at Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 37, 443-44 At the same time Col. Aleksandr Konstantinovich Makarev took command of the division from Colonel Kulizhsky, who would go on to command the 152nd Rifle Division, become a Hero of the Soviet Union leading a crossing of the Dniepr, and be promoted to major general in 1944.

Operation Winter Storm The 2nd Guards Army was intended for the proposed Operation Saturn. However, as the new Army Group Don massed its forces for an attempt to relieve the 6th Army that had been encircled at Stalingrad in November the STAVKA prioritized the defense of the encirclement and directed the Army to the region north of Kotelnikovo. The German offensive began on December 12 and made large gains in the first day, but soon slowed against Soviet resistance. On December 18 the 2nd Guards began arriving after an arduous overland march. By nightfall the leading divisions of 13th Guards Corps closed into defensive positions along the north bank of the Myshkova River, along with more than 200 tanks of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps. Even late on December 20, as the LVII Panzer Corps struggled to cross the Myshkova, Army Group Don was unaware of the presence of 2nd Guards Army backing up the shopworn 51st Army. On December 21 an overextended 3rd Guards Division found itself partly encircled in the Kapkinsky region and required support from 49th Guards while the 387th was in second echelon at Farm No. 1 - Tebektenerovo. Over the next 48 hours the LVII Corps gradually went over to the defensive and early on December 23 the 6th Panzer Division, facing 13th Guards Corps, was ordered southwest to counter the Soviet forces that were breaking loose in Operation Little Saturn, effectively bringing Winter Storm to a close.Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 147, 301-03, 305-09, 314-15

Stalingrad Front ordered its forces to go over to the offensive beginning at 0800 hours on December 24 after a brief artillery preparation. 2nd Guards Army attacked southward east of the Don River toward Kotelnikovo with 13th Guards Corps in the first echelon and 2nd Guards Mechanized in support. German forces were soon cleared from the south bank of the Myshkova, after which the mechanized troops took up the lead, advancing between 4 – 16 km. The 387th was advancing on its Corps' left flank, tying in with 51st Army. During the next day the advancing Army continued south, clearing Verkhne-Kumsky, a scene of heavy fighting days earlier. By 1700 hours the defending 17th and 23rd Panzer Divisions had just 19 operable tanks remaining between them. The advance continued through the next four days while the 387th remained some distance in the rear; at 2200 hours combined forces of 2nd Guards Army liberated Kotelnikovo.Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 318-22, 325-26

Drive on Rostov At this point the STAVKA shifted its attention to the German Corps Mieth, which was located in the great bend of the Don, south of the Chir River, based on the town of Tormosin. It was made up of a hodgepodge of Axis units and was now partly encircled with 5th Tank Army to its north, 5th Shock Army to its east, and 2nd Guards Army to its southeast, advancing to its south. 2nd Guards was ordered to form a shock group to liquidate the Tormosin grouping in conjunction with 5th Shock. Maj. Gen. Ya. G. Kreizer was given command of the group, which consisted of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps, the 4th Cavalry Corps, and the 33rd Guards, 387th and 300th Rifle Divisions. On December 29 the 33rd Guards crossed the Don aided by light tanks of the 2nd Guards Mechanized and advanced on Chapurin and Aginov. Over that night the 2nd Guards Army was transferred to the new Southern Front; the 387th would remain in this Front (renamed 4th Ukrainian in October, 1943) until May, 1944.Glantz, Endgame, Book Two, pp. 273-76Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 106

Late on January 1, 1943, the 2nd Guards Mechanized liberated Tormosin, with the 300th and 387th Divisions following its advance. The next objective was the town of Nizhne-Gurov on the way to the Tsimla River. From here the grouping would be joined by the 33rd Guards Rifle to take Tsimlyanskaia and Konstantinovsky, while also seeking to isolate and destroy elements of Corps Mieth as they fell back. The 387th was subordinated to 1st Guards Rifle Corps on January 6, and by now was coming up to join the rest of Kreizer's group. Meanwhile, 11th Panzer Division was moving east to take up positions along the Kagalnik River. During that day the division, along with the 33rd and 24th Guards Rifle Divisions engaged in fierce fighting with the 11th Panzer and 336th Infantry Divisions for the populated points of Suvorov, Kargalsko-Belianski and Mariinski in front of the Kagalnik. By day's end on the 7th these points were taken, but an immediate attempt to force the river was unsuccessful. At this point Group Kreizer was disbanded.Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2018, pp. 38-39, 43, 49, 54

According to the operational summary of 1st Guards Corps for January 9 the 387th "reached the Bogoiavlinskaia region, reinforced 24th Gds. RD, and cut the roads leading to the west and northwest." A further report from 2nd Guards Army indicated that on the same date the Corps faced a heavy German counterattack and "387th RD committed two regiments to combat and the third regiment is in reserve at Nikolaievskaia." 11th Panzer had struck 24th Guards with roughly 35 tanks and its panzer reconnaissance battalion, "bowling it over" and advancing about 10 km, capturing Kostyrochnyi and reaching Bogoiavlinskaia before being halted by the two regiments at 1900 hours. In response to this German attack the commander of Southern Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, ordered the division's reserve regiment, backed by two tank regiments, to Sovkhoz No. 37 and Kondakov to maintain contact with 5th Shock Army. In the course of the fighting between January 9–12, which also involved the 7th Panzer Division, four divisions of 2nd Guards and 5th Shock were badly damaged and forced to withdraw, leaving the 387th and other units on the defense. This effectively brought the Soviet drive on Rostov north of the Don to a standstill.Glantz, Operation Don's Main Attack, pp. 111-13, 115-18