The 204th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was destroyed in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The first formation was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, and it then remained for nine months in the far east of Siberia training and organizing before it was finally sent by rail to the Stalingrad region in July 1942 where it joined the 64th Army southwest of the city. During the following months it took part in the defensive battles and later the offensive that cut off the German 6th Army in November. In the last days of the battle for the city it took the surrender of the remnants of a Romanian infantry division. Following the Axis defeat the division was recognized for its role when it was redesignated as the 78th Guards Rifle Division on March 1, 1943.
A new 204th was raised in May 1943 in Voronezh Front under the "shtat" of December 10, 1942, based on a former "student" rifle brigade. After seeing brief service in 38th Army during the Battle of Kursk the division was moved northward, becoming part of the 1st Rifle Corps of 43rd Army in Kalinin Front (soon 1st Baltic Front) and saw combat in the slow and bloody battles east and north of Vitebsk through the winter. Early during the summer offensive against Army Group Center the 204th distinguished itself in the capture of that city and received its name as an honorific. It then took part in the campaigns through the Baltic states, moving to the 51st Army in August where it remained for the duration of the war, mostly in the 1st Guards Rifle Corps. Like many other rifle divisions on this secondary front by January 1945 it was well under strength but continued to serve, eventually as part of the force blockading the German units remaining in the Kurland peninsula as part of 2nd Baltic Front and then Leningrad Front. The division was disbanded in February 1946.
204th Motorized Division The division began forming in March 1941 as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet mechanized forces, based on the 9th Armored Car Brigade at Volkovysk in the Western Special Military District as part of the 11th Mechanized Corps. Once formed its order of battle was as follows: 700th Motorized Rifle Regiment 706th Motorized Rifle 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, p. 61 126th Tank Regiment 657th Artillery Regiment 193rd Antitank Battalion 158th Antiaircraft Battalion 682nd Reconnaissance Battalion 382nd Light Engineering Battalion 583rd Signal Battalion 202nd Artillery Park Battalion 358th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 675th Motor Transport Battalion 111th Repair and Restoration Battalion 51st Regulatory Company 463rd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 921st Field Office of the State Bank Col. Aleksei Mikhailovich Pirov was appointed to command on March 11. The division had only one battalion of 44 BT-5 tanks in the 126th Regiment but was full strength in armored cars left over from its service as the 9th Brigade. In common with most of the motorized divisions it was grossly deficient in transport, with almost no tractors and less than 15 percent of its authorized trucks so the rifle regiments were largely on foot and the 657th, which was understrength, (8 76mm cannons, 16 122mm howitzers, 4 152mm howitzers) was unable to move many of the pieces it did have.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 61. Sharp identifies the 657th as a motorized howitzer regiment.
On June 22 the 11th Mechanized Corps (29th and 33rd Tank Divisions, 204th Motorized, 16th Motorcycle Regiment) was under command of 3rd Army in the renamed Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 8 The 204th was near the base of the Białystok salient and was split with its main forces north of Volkovysk beginning to move northward during the day and a forward detachment backing the two tank divisions south of Grodno.David Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2009, p. 154 During this move the division came under heavy air attacks and lost over half of its equipment. Within days it had been overrun and destroyed in the Białystok pocket with most of the rest of 11th Corps,Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 61 although it was not officially stricken from the Red Army order of battle until September 19.
1st Formation A new division began forming as a regular rifle division on October 1, 1941,Dunn, Jr. states that it formed in September; Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 82 at Blagoveshchensk in the Far Eastern Front with a similar order of battle: 700th Rifle Regiment 706th Rifle Regiment 730th Rifle Regiment 657th Artillery RegimentSharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 29 193rd Antitank Battalion 166th Antiaircraft Battery 306th Reconnaissance Company 372nd Sapper Battalion 583rd Signal Battalion 358th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 194th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 514th Motor Transport Company 356th Field Bakery 833rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1487th Field Postal Station 921st Field Office of the State Bank Col. Andrei Pavlovich Karnov was assigned to command the division on the day it began forming. It was immediately assigned to the 2nd Red Banner Army which was headquartered at Blagoveshchensk. In November it was noted that 95 percent of the division's personnel were of Kazakh or Uzbek nationality.David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 593 The 204th got to spend over nine months in the far east training and completing its complement of men and equipment, far longer than was usual for a rifle division during the crisis of 1941–42. On July 10, 1942, Colonel Karnov handed his command to Col. Aleksandr Vasilevich Skvortsov, just about the time that the division began moving west toward the fighting front. During the rest of the month and into August it was railed to the Stalingrad area where it joined the 64th Army in Stalingrad Front.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 29
Battle of Stalingrad When the 204th began arriving at the front around July 20 the German 6th Army was advancing towards the Don River. 64th Army, under command of Lt. Gen. V. I. Chuikov, was located south of the Chir River with the 204th and 208th Rifle Divisions, 66th Naval Rifle Brigade and 137th Tank Brigade along or east of the Don. The German commander, Gen. F. Paulus, began planning for a coup-de-main to take Stalingrad by forcing crossings north and south of Kalach-na-Donu; in response the 204th was transferred to 62nd Army and concentrated at Kalach with one regiment on the west bank of the Don by July 28. At 1645 hours that day the STAVKA sent the following order to Stalingrad Front:Anticipating this order the Front commander had already directed a counterattack by these forces and more, but it faltered with little to show for the effort.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 219, 222–23, 225, 234–35, 244–45
As of August 1 the division had returned to 64th Army which was now under command of Lt. Gen. M. S. Shumilov. Stalingrad Front was facing a new crisis as the 4th Panzer Army, led by the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, drove toward the city from the southwest. In response, late on August 2 the 64th Army was ordered east to protect the Aksai River line while the 204th, 229th and 112th Rifle Divisions and their defensive sectors on the Chir and Don rivers were transferred back to 62nd Army. As the situation on the Aksai deteriorated the 204th was ordered east and as of the early morning of August 4 was again part of 64th Army in the newly created Southeastern Front, although Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko would not take active command until August 7. Meanwhile, Yeryomenko was planning a defense against 4th Panzer Army along the Myshkova River and the Abganerovo area. 64th Army was to cover a 120km-wide sector from the Don to Tinguta Station blocking the shortest German route to Stalingrad. By the end of August 8 Shumilov had scraped together a force to counterattack the vanguard of XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, consisting of the 204th, 38th and 157th Rifle Divisions, the 13th Tank Corps and several supporting units, with the KV-1 tanks of the 133rd Tank Brigade joining the next day. This attack struck the weakened 14th Panzer and 29th Motorized Divisions from three sides, with the 204th and 208th Divisions and the 13th Tanks advancing south along the railroad from Tinguta Station, taking the 29th Motorized by surprise and inflicting considerable casualties. This division was forced to withdraw its forward elements southward almost 10 km to new defenses north of Abganerovo Station by late on August 10. The 204th was reported as having reached from this point to 6 km southeast of 74 km Station State Farm #3 (8 km southeast of Tinguta Station) and as having helped liquidate a German penetration near 74 km Station by August 11. By now 4th Panzer Army was incapable of continuing its advance. On August 12 General Paulus announced that his Army had encircled and destroyed most of 62nd Army west of the Don, including the 204th, but this outdated claim was based on rearguards of the one rifle regiment that had been posted on the far bank.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 276–79, 282–83, 287–90, 298–99, 305–06, 556
Fighting on the Approaches After rest and regrouping 4th Panzer Army resumed its attack at 0700 hours on August 20. Following a strong artillery preparation the 94th and 371st Infantry Divisions, supported by a battlegroup of 29th Motorized, advanced 4–5 km to the north, forcing the 204th and 126th Rifle Divisions to abandon their defenses at Abganerovo Station. As they fell back Shumilov reinforced them with the 29th Rifle Division and two brigades of 13th Tank Corps, allowing them to establish new defenses covering Yurkino Station. The German advance faltered late in the day due to heavy Soviet resistance. Over the following ten days the German/Romanian forces ground forward at the junction between 64th and 57th Armies and the 204th gradually fell back on the west flank of the penetration, reaching 55 km Station by August 24 where it was fighting in partial encirclement with the 29th Division and elements of 15th Guards Rifle Division. The next day it was withdrawn with the 38th Division to a line 7 km west of Tinguta Station. By now 4th Panzer Army was again running out of steam but found a weak spot covered by the damaged 126th Rifle Division and advanced nearly 20 km on August 29. In response to this changed strategic situation the 204th and 138th Rifle Divisions were withdrawn into the Army reserve on August 31.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 364–69, 371, 377–78