The 212th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was badly damaged and then redesignated about five weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
After redesignation the division was nearly trapped in the Kiev encirclement but managed to escape. It then moved to Bryansk Front and served under several army commands during the winter and spring of 1942 until it was caught up in the German summer offensive. It was encircled with most of 40th Army and took heavy losses before its remnants managed to cross to the east bank of the Don River. What remained of the division was moved to the Volga Military District for rebuilding, after which it was assigned to 66th Army north of Stalingrad. It was again badly depleted in the October battle south of Kotluban and was soon after disbanded.
A new 212th Rifle Division was formed in June 1943 based on two rifle brigades in 50th Army of Western Front. It was soon involved in a flanking role in the operation to liberate the Oryol salient after which it joined the advance south of Smolensk, winning a battle honor, and later in fighting in support of the efforts of Western Front to seize Orsha as part of 10th Army. After nearly two months in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command it was redeployed to 61st Army, south of the Pripyat Marshes; it remained in this Army for the duration of the war. In the later stages of the destruction of Army Group Center it advanced through the western Pripyat, earning the Order of the Red Banner in the process while all four of its regiments soon won the same decoration for helping to retake the city and fortress of Brest. Along with its Army it was again moved to the Reserve and redeployed, now to the Baltic States, gaining a further decoration in the fighting for Riga. It was in 80th Rifle Corps in 61st Army of 1st Belorussian Front during the advance through Poland and into Germany in early 1945, largely in a secondary role but winning further distinctions on the way. It ended its combat path along the Elbe River. Despite its outstanding record it was disbanded within months of the German surrender.
212th Motorized Division The division began forming in March 1941 as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet mechanized forces in the Kiev Special Military District as part of the 15th Mechanized Corps. Once formed its order of battle was as follows: 669th Motorized Rifle Regiment 692nd Motorized Rifle Regiment 131st Tank 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. 63. This source misnumbers the 692nd as the 587th Regiment. 655th Artillery Regiment 37th Antitank Battalion 202nd Antiaircraft Battalion 292nd Reconnaissance Battalion 380th Light Engineering Battalion 593rd Signal Battalion 210th Artillery Park Battalion 379th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 678th Motor Transport Battalion 141st Repair and Restoration Battalion 41st Regulatory Company 470th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 698th Field Postal Station 582nd Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. of Technical Troops Sergei Vasilevich Baranov was appointed to command on March 11. The 131st Regiment was equipped with four battalions totalling 220 light tanks, either T-26 or BT models; the 292nd Reconnaissance Battalion also contained a light tank company of 17 vehicles. The 655th had only one battalion of medium guns, but worse, like most of the "motorized" divisions, the 212th was almost entirely lacking in trucks and tractors, so the guns it had could only be moved by improvised means.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 63
At the start of the German invasion the Kiev District was redesignated as Southwestern Front and the 15th Mechanized Corps, which also contained the 10th and 37th Tank Divisions plus the 25th Motorcycle Regiment, was under command of 6th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 9 It was deployed in the Army's rear generally east and west of Brody.Artyom Drabkin and Alexei Isaev, Barbarossa Through Soviet Eyes, trans, C. Summerville, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2012, p. xiii
Battle of Brody By the second day of the German invasion the XXXXVIII Motorized Corps' 11th Panzer Division was driving east toward Dubno, northeast of Brody, but was coming under attack from the 37th Tank Division in the area of Kozin. The 212th's mobility issues were preventing it from keeping up with the 37th, while the 10th Tank Division was engaged with rear elements of 11th Panzer near Lopatyn; in fighting at Radekhov it claimed 20 panzers knocked out for the loss of 26 of its own. By the 27th the division had managed to link up with 10th Tanks east of Lopatyn, facing the flanking forces of the XXXXIV Army Corps as 37th Tanks moved northwest from Brody in support.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 69-71 As of July 1 the remnants of 15th Mechanized Corps had left 6th Army and had come under direct command of the Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 17 and had retreated to positions about 30 km south of Brody.Stahel, Kiev 1941, p. 72
By July 10 the Corps was back under 6th ArmyCombat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 24 and was falling back toward Berdychiv which marked the limit of 11th Panzer's advance by the end of July 14. During the next week the Corps was forced away from the Army, which was in the process of being encircled in what became the Uman pocket,Stahel, Kiev 1941, p. 78-79, 84-85 and the 212th was reassigned to 26th Army, still in Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 33 On July 29 the fiction of it being a motorized division was finally dropped and it was officially redesignated as the 212th Rifle Division.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 63 On the same day General Baranov was taken prisoner. He would be executed while in German captivity in February 1942.
1st Formation Under the circumstances, in full retreat toward the Dniepr River after taking heavy casualties in the border battles, the division's order of battle was largely theoretical until it had a chance to thoroughly reorganize but eventually was as follows: 669th Rifle Regiment 692nd Rifle Regiment 587th Rifle Regiment (later 131st)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 354th Artillery Regiment (later 655th) 37th Antitank Battalion 208th Antiaircraft Battery (later 202nd Antiaircraft Battalion) 292nd Reconnaissance Battalion 380th Sapper Battalion 593rd Signal Battalion 379th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 84th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 214th Motor Transport Company (later 678th Motor Transport Battalion) 470th Field Bakery 25th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 908th Field Postal Station 582nd Field Office of the State Bank Col. Vasilii Vladimirovich Bardadin was appointed to command on the day the division was redesignated. Two days later it was attempting to hold positions south of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi against the 60th Motorized Division but by the end of August 11 it had fallen back to southeast Cherkasy along the Tiasmyn River.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 84-85
Battle of Kiev The 38th Army was added to the Front in August and by the start of September the 212th had been moved to that command.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 43 At this point, as the largest part of the Front was being threatened with encirclement the main task of 38th Army was to contain the bridgehead over the Dniepr held by 1st Panzer Group at Kremenchuk. The division was on the northwest facing of this position, west of Kozelshchyna. The panzer group attacked northward on September 11 and soon broke through the Soviet lines, driving toward a linkup with 2nd Panzer Group which was pushing south. The 212th was forced off to the northwest across the Sula River near Orzhytsia. This placed the division inside the rapidly forming pocket,Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 220 but along with the 297th Rifle Division it was moved to the Front reservesCombat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 53 and managed to slip out to join what remained of the Front's forces as part of 21st Army in the Kursk area in October.Sharp, "Red Tide", pp. 30-31
Case Blue and Battle of Stalingrad On October 6 Colonel Bardadin left command of the 212th and was replaced by Col. Ivan Maksimovich Shutov. The division was reassigned in November to 3rd Army, still in Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 75 During December this Army was moved to Bryansk Front, and the division remained in this Army as it rebuilt until it was moved to 13th Army in March. The next month it was moved again, now to 40th Army in the same Front. It was still under these commands when the German summer offensive began in late June.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 11, 28, 46, 65, 84, 103, 124
The 212th was positioned south of Tim and when the attack began on June 28. Following a 30-minute artillery preparation and accompanied by strong air support, the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps struck at the boundary between the 160th and the 121st Rifle Division, driving the latter off to the north. XXXXVIII Panzer Corps fielded roughly 325 tanks while 40th Army had only about 250 in its entire sector. The 160th and the 212th to its south faced the 24th Panzer Division with the Großdeutschland Division escheloned to its left which jointly destroyed their defenses before advancing 16 km to the Tim River where the 24th Panzer seized a railroad bridge intact.David M. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 126-29
40th Army's commander, Maj. Gen. M. A. Parsegov, reported that his divisions had suffered "significant losses" but "had not lost their combat capabilities" while urgently requesting assistance from his Front commander, Lt. Gen. F. I. Golikov. On June 29, despite intermittent heavy rains and thunderstorms the XXIV Panzer Corps struck the 160th and 121st along the Kshen River, leaving the latter in complete disarray. This was already nearly 30 km behind the lines held by the Army when the offensive began. By now the 212th, along with the 160th, 45th and 62nd Rifle Divisions, had been loosely pocketed west of Stary Oskol between the XXXXVIII Panzer and the VIII Army Corps.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 127, 129-31, 135