The 211th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed just after the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. In fact the division remained chronically short of equipment, particularly heavy weapons, throughout the existence of the 1st formation. Assigned to 43rd Army of Reserve Front it first saw combat along the Desna River at the time of the Yelnya offensive and several of its subunits were overtaken by panic when counterattacked by German tanks. During the first day of Operation Typhoon its line was breached and it was soon encircled and destroyed.
A new 211th was formed in January 1942 based on the 429th Rifle Division. It was soon assigned to 48th Army in Bryansk Front and remained on this quiet sector for the rest of the year. In January and February 1943 it took part in the offensives north of Kursk that destroyed part of German 2nd Army and carved out the northern portion of the Kursk salient. Serving in Central Front it played only a small role in the defense of the salient in July and soon began advancing through eastern Ukraine as part of 13th Army, winning a battle honor in the process.
Transferred to 1st Ukrainian Front's 38th Army it saw extensive fighting in the complex battles west of Kiev in November and December and in March 1944 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Vinnytsia. During the Lvov–Sandomierz offensive in July and August its four regiments each received distinctions for their roles in this victory. Following this the division moved into the Carpathian Mountains of Czechoslovakia, soon joining the 4th Ukrainian Front and eventually the 1st Guards Army of that Front in the last months of the war and receiving further honors as a result of this difficult fighting. It ended the war near Prague with a very distinguished record but was disbanded within months of the German surrender.
1st Formation The division began forming in July 1941Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 75 at Zagorsk in the Moscow Military District. When completed it had the following order of battle: 887th Rifle Regiment 894th Rifle Regiment 896th Rifle Regiment 829th 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. 30 357th Antitank Battalion 550th Antiaircraft Battalion 376th Reconnaissance Battalion 572nd Sapper Battalion 725th Signal Battalion 292nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion 747th Motor Transport Battalion 431st Field Bakery 327th Field Postal Station Lt. Col. Matvei Stepanovich Batrakov was appointed to command on August 4, the day the division officially entered service. It was assigned to 43rd Army of Reserve Front on August 10, less than a week after it finished forming; it was nearly at full strength in personnel but suffered considerable shortages of equipment, particularly heavy weapons.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 30
Battle of Yelnya During mid-July the 2nd Panzer Group had seized the town of Yelnya and surrounding territory just as it was reaching the limits of its over-extended supply lines, forming a semi-circular salient into Soviet-held territory. During August this was handed over to the XX Army Corps and came under attack by the 24th Army of Reserve Front in mid-month. When this proved unsuccessful it was suspended on August 21 to allow the Army to be reinforced and for additional forces to be brought up, including 43rd Army to the south of the salient.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 322-24
Once it was deployed the 43rd Army had four rifle divisions (53rd, 149th, 211th and 222nd) and one tank division (109th) on a 48 km-wide front along the Desna River from 18 km southwest of Yelnya to 40 km east of Roslavl. It was facing the three divisions of the German VII Army Corps. Fighting on this sector was complicated by the swampy and marshy western bank of the river.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 325-26
24th Army began its assault on the salient at 0700 hours on August 30. Simultaneously the shock group of 43rd Army, consisting of the 211th and 149th Rifle and the 109th and 104th Tank Divisions, thrust across the Desna and penetrated the VII Corps' defenses between its 23rd and 197th Infantry Divisions. After an advance of up to 6 km westward the group was halted the following day by two regiments of the 267th Infantry Division which German 4th Army had dispatched hastily forward from its reserve LIII Army Corps. A counterattack by a battlegroup of 10th Panzer Division later in the day caused panic in the ranks of the 211th and forced it and the other attacking Soviet divisions to break off their attack and retreat to the Desna's eastern bank.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 332-33, 338-39
Overnight the commander of Reserve Front, Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov, communicated with Stalin's advisor A. N. Poskrebyshev in part:Zhukov was granted permission to delay a trip to Moscow and visited the 43rd Army's front on September 1. Over the following days, under the pressure of 24th Army's attacks, XX Army Corps began a phased withdrawal from the Yelnya salient, which was completed on September 8. During this time Stalin asked Zhukov "...will the illustrious 211th Division 'sleep' for long?" and Zhukov replied:Stalin permitted him to "judge them with full severity." In the course of the operation the 43rd Army suffered roughly 10,000 casualties, a large number of which were from the 211th.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 339-40, 349, 356
Operation Typhoon Even at the end of September the division was far from fully equipped. Although it had 9,638 personnel on strength they were armed with just 44 light and heavy machine guns, 32 artillery pieces and mortars, four antiaircraft guns and just eight antitank guns. In other words, it was nearly full strength in manpower but had little more firepower than a rifle regiment. The day before the start of the German offensive it still had none of its 82mm mortars and just two 120mm mortars on hand.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 30
As of October 1 the 211th was still in 43rd Army of Reserve Front, along with the 53rd, 149th and 222nd Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 51 The 53rd was the strongest division and was defending a 24 km-wide sector along the Desna, with the 149th in second echelon and the 211th and 222nd protecting the left flank. At 0615 hours on October 2 a 15-minute artillery preparation began along the Army's entire sector, followed by the actual assault. The 211th was struck by one infantry division and part of another, along with a battalion of tanks. By noon the front had been breached, following which a panzer and a motorized division were committed through the gap toward Spas-Demensk. By the early afternoon of October 10 the Army's headquarters had arrived at Lapshinka and the remnants of some of its divisions were moving through Gzhatsk and Mozhaysk toward Kaluga but German forces now blocked further retreat.Lev Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, Kindle ed., parts 3, 4 The 211th did not get this far; by the end of October 5 it had been encircled near Spas-Demensk and was soon forced to surrender.David Stahel, Operation Typhoon, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2013, p. 72
The division was considered destroyed by October 13 although it was not officially stricken from the Red Army order of battle until December.Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p. 70 Lt. Colonel Batrakov managed to escape the debacle and was not held accountable for the division's failings. He was wounded later in the Battle of Moscow and after recovering was given command of the 42nd Rifle Brigade, which he led in the Battle of Stalingrad. Wounded again in the city fighting he furthered his military education after leaving hospital, rose to the rank of major general and commanded the 59th Rifle Division during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, p. 361
2nd Formation A new 211th Rifle Division was designated in January 1942, based on the 429th Rifle Division that had begun forming in the South Ural Military District the previous month.Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p. 99 Based on the shtat of July 29, 1941 it took about three months to complete its forming up and when this was complete its order of battle was as follows: 887th Rifle Regiment 894th Rifle Regiment 896th Rifle Regiment 829th Artillery Regiment 357th Antitank BattalionSharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 84. This source states the 357th was added later. 90th Antiaircraft Battery (until April 25, 1942) 376th Reconnaissance Company 572nd Sapper Battalion 725th Signal Battalion (later 30th Signal Company) 292nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion 358th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 447th Motor Transport Company 428th Field Bakery 893rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1681st Field Postal Station 1084th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Aleksandr Borisovich Barinov, who had been made commander of the 429th on December 12, 1941, remained in command after the redesignation. In March it was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it remained until May when it was assigned to the 48th Army in Bryansk Front;Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 73, 93, 103 it would remain under these commands until January 1943.Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 84 On June 23 Colonel Barinov was replaced by Col. Viktor Lvovich Makhlinovskii. This officer had previously led the 240th Rifle Division and would be promoted to the rank of major general on February 14, 1943.
Voronezh–Kastornoye Offensive During the balance of 1942 the 211th was on a relatively quiet sector as the main German offensives took place toward Stalingrad and the Caucasus. As the German 6th Army faced utter defeat at the former place Bryansk Front went over to the offensive in the direction of Kastornoye. This joint operation with Voronezh Front targeted the German 2nd and Hungarian 2nd Armies. Bryansk Front carried out an extensive regrouping for the operation with 13th Army to be ready to attack on January 26 in conjunction with Voronezh Front's 38th Army; as part of this regrouping the 211th was moved from 48th to 13th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 37 This Army was to break through along an 18-km-wide sector between the Kshen and Olym rivers with a shock group of seven rifle divisions. The 211th was in second echelon with the 280th and 81st Rifle Divisions. These three divisions were, upon the arrival of the first echelon divisions in the area VolochikNizhne-BolshoeVysshee-Bolshoe, to develop, in conjunction with 148th Rifle Division, the offensive to the west and southwest to create an external encirclement front.Soviet General Staff, Rollback, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., part IV, ch. 2. This source misidentifies the 13th as the 38th Army in part of this chapter.