The 225th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed in December 1941 from the remnants of the pre-war 3rd Tank Division and based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941. The 3rd Tank's single rifle regiment was joined by two reserve rifle regiments, and its howitzer regiment was converted to a standard artillery regiment. As part of 52nd Army in Volkhov Front it took part in largely local fighting in the Novgorod area, seeing combat in several abortive attempts to retake the city until it finally played a main role in its liberation in January 1944 and received its name as a battle honor.
Following this victory, the 225th advanced toward Pskov, now as part of 54th Army. When the summer offensive began, it helped breach the German defenses of the Panther Line in the Pskov area and then advanced through Latvia, eventually reaching Riga. When 3rd Baltic Front was disbanded, the division was reassigned to the 21st Army, which was soon moved to 1st Ukrainian Front. From late January 1945 into late March it saw extensive action in Silesia and in the process was awarded the Order of Kutuzov. It was not directly involved in the Berlin campaign, but joined its Front for the final advance into Czechoslovakia. As with many other distinguished rifle divisions, it was disbanded in June 1945.
Formation A division numbered as the 225th began forming in March 1941 in the Odessa Military District but in April it was moved to the Kharkov Military District and disbanded to provide a cadre for the 2nd Airborne Brigade.Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 98
The 3rd Tank Division was formed in July 1940 in the Leningrad Military District as part of the 1st Mechanized Corps.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", Soviet Tank, Mechanized, and Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940 - 1942, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. I, Nafziger, 1995, p. 20 It was based in part on the 13th Light Tank Brigade and inherited the Order of the Red Banner the Brigade had been awarded on April 11; this decoration would later be inherited by the 225th. At the start of the German invasion in June 1941 the division was at nearly full-strength but all of its roughly 350 tanks were outdated BT types. It first saw action against the 4th Panzer Group in July and after the 1st Mechanized Corps HQ was shut down in August it was assigned to the Novgorod Operational Group. The swampy forests north of Lake Ilmen was no place for tanks, but by then all but a handful had been lost and the division's remnants were essentially fighting as an infantry formation.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 20
The division officially converted to a rifle unit on December 14, 1941, near Novgorod, which had fallen to Army Group North on August 19. When completed it had the following order of battle, although it would be modified, temporarily or permanently, on several occasions: 299th Rifle Regiment (from 3rd Motorized Rifle Regiment) 1347th Rifle Regiment 1349th Rifle Regiment (later 1379th Rifle Regiment) 1009th Artillery Regiment (from 3rd Motorized Howitzer Regiment)Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 35 6th Antitank Battalion 115th Reconnaissance Company 697th Sapper Battalion 901st Signal Battalion (later 897th Signal Battalion and 817th Signal Company) 504th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 16th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company (later 484th) 550th Motor Transport Company 402nd Field Bakery 179th Divisional Veterinary Hospital (later 897th and 879th) 99th Field Postal Station 205th Field Office of the State Bank (later 1046th) Col. Konstantin Uvenalevich Andreev was appointed to command on December 14. This officer had commanded 3rd Tanks from March 11, 1941, until August 12 when he was placed at the disposal of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the People's Commissariat of Defense. The division was immediately assigned to the 52nd Army in Volkhov Front.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 101Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 35
Battle of Lyuban The Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts began an operation to relieve the besieged city of Leningrad on January 7, 1942, primarily with the 2nd Shock Army attacking across the Volkhov River in the direction of Lyuban. On January 17 the Army resumed its attack, supported by more than 1,500 aircraft sorties, and after penetrating the Germans' first defensive positions on the west bank of the Volkhov advanced into their rear areas. On March 15 the German 18th Army began its Operation Raubtier with the objective of pinching out the 10km-wide corridor connecting 2nd Shock Army to the Soviet front along the Volkhov to encircle it and thwart its planned attack on Lyuban.David M. Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, pp. 158-62, 164-65, 174-75
Army Gen. K. A. Meretskov, the commander of Volkhov Front, frantically formulated plans to thwart this threat and in communications with the STAVKA on March 21 proposed committing 52nd Army to an effort in the direction of Novgorod:This plan was approved within hours but despite Meretskov's best efforts the 2nd Shock Army was thoroughly cut off by March 26. At this point the immediate needs of the trapped force (which included elements of 59th Army as well) had to take priority over a diversionary effort on Novgorod. A shock group was formed inside the pocket to clear a corridor in cooperation with 52nd Army attacking from the outside in the Miasnoi BorNovaya Kerest area.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 176-78
The attack on March 27 managed to push through a corridor near Miasnoi Bor by day's end, but this was only in width and under German fire during daylight. On March 30 Meretskov filed a report which overplayed this success while laying down revised plans for the Novgorod thrust. Pending the arrival of the 2nd and 170th Rifle Divisions he proposed to conduct local operations to eliminate salients in the Tiutitsy, Liubtsy, Zemtitsy and Veshky region with the 376th and 65th Rifle Divisions, plus elements of the 225th and 305th Rifle Divisions, beginning on April 2. This proposal was sidelined by the need to improve communications with 2nd Shock, which was completed by April 8 and 52nd Army dug in to protect the widened corridor. At this point the spring rasputitsa set in and the corridor became effectively impassable.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 178-82 In an effort to improve command and control, on April 23 the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts were merged and 52nd Army joined the Group of Forces on the Volkhov Axis.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 80
The fighting to save 2nd Shock Army continued into July, but this did not directly involve the 225th as it fought for positions along the Volkhov, primarily against the 250th Infantry Division (Spanish División Azul). In May the 52nd Army, which now had only the 225th, 65th and 305th Divisions under command, came under the Volkhov Group of Forces, but this reverted to Volkhov Front a month later.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 99, 120 On May 28 Colonel Andreev was moved to Army headquarters where he eventually became commander of the 52nd's tank and mechanized forces. He was replaced by Col. Vasilii Yakovlevich Nikolaevskii, but this officer was in turn replaced on June 21 by Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Olkhovskii, who had been serving as the division's chief of artillery. The division would remain on the defensive along the Volkhov as part of 52nd Army into March 1943.
Battles for Novgorod In the wake of the success of Operation Iskra, which restored land communications to Leningrad, Marshal G. K. Zhukov began planning an expanded offensive to be called Operation Polar Star. While this succeeded in finally seizing the long-contested Demyansk Salient, which Army Group North was in the process of evacuating, the freed-up German forces became available to reinforce thinly held lines elsewhere, including near Novgorod. Volkhov Front was intended to enter the offensive on March 14, with 52nd Army conducting a limited-objective offensive against Novgorod, both to assist Northwestern Front's assault on Staraya Russa and to draw some of 18th Army's forces away from Leningrad.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 298-99
52nd Army now consisted of the 225th, 65th, 229th and 310th Rifle Divisions, with the 38th Ski Brigade, 34th and 53rd Aerosan Battalions, and the 150th Fortified Region. The Army's assault across the Volkhov south of Novgorod struck the defenses of XXXVIII Army Corps' 1st Luftwaffe Field Division but made only limited gains in fighting that continued until March 27. However, it did succeed in drawing two German divisions from other threatened sectors.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 300, 588
In May the headquarters of 52nd Army was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command prior to being reassigned to Steppe Front, and the 225th was moved to 59th Army, still in Volkhov Front. In June the division was assigned to 7th Rifle Corps along with the 229th Division. These command arrangements continued until October when the Corps headquarters was moved to 54th Army and the 225th remained as a separate division in 59th Army. A month later it was assigned to 14th Rifle Corps and it was under these commands at the start of the winter offensive.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 131, 148, 157, 272, 300 Novgorod–Luga Offensive The final offensive on Novgorod began on January 14, 1944. It opened with an artillery preparation that unleashed 133,000 shells on the German defenses, and assault detachments from each first echelon rifle battalion in 59th Army began the ground attack at 1050 hours. 14th Corps (225th, 191st and 378th Rifle Divisions) was closest to the objective, with the 225th deployed at the south end of the line. Despite the artillery preparation, the assault by 6th Rifle Corps, north of 14th Corps, stalled after advancing only 1,000m. Fortunately for 6th Corps, a regiment of the 378th attacked prematurely and without orders, taking advantage of the fact that German troops had abandoned their forward works during the artillery preparation, and seized a portion of those defenses. The 1254th Rifle Regiment then joined the attack and the two regiments overcame the first two German trench lines and gained a small bridgehead over the Pitba River at Malovodskoe.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 345-46
By late on January 16 the 14th Corps had cut the Finev LugNovgorod road and 59th Army had torn a hole in the Germans' main defensive belt. The following day, despite bad weather, difficult terrain and lack of transport, 59th Army was clearly threatening to encircle XXXVIII Army Corps at Novgorod. On the night of January 19 these forces got the order to break out along the last remaining route. The city was liberated on the morning of the 20th, and on the next day most of the survivors of the German corps were surrounded and soon destroyed.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, pp. 347-49 In recognition of this feat, the division was honored as follows:In seven days of combat the 59th Army penetrated strong German defenses, liberated Novgorod, and advanced westward, widening its penetration to . While doing so it destroyed or seriously damaged two German divisions, one regiment, four separate battalions, and captured 3,000 prisoners.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944, p. 349
Into the Baltic States