The 246th Rifle Division was the third of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was largely based on what would become the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, with several variations. It was initially assigned to 31st Army, but was soon reassigned to 29th Army; this redeployment took some time and not long after arriving at the front the division was in full retreat. It served in the battles around Kalinin, partly in the rear of the German forces that took the city. During the winter counteroffensive west of Moscow it advanced west of Rzhev as part of Kalinin Front but became encircled with most of its Army and was forced to break out in late February, 1942 at the cost of heavy casualties. In the Rzhev-Sychyovka offensive that began at the end of July it took part in the liberation of Zubtsov in August but was stymied at the gates of Rzhev along with the rest of Western Front's forces. Early in the new year the 246th was transferred to the south and took part in the winter battles in the Kursk region as part of the 65th Army of Central Front, remaining there into and through the German summer offensive although it saw very little action. During the Soviet summer offensive the division advanced through northeastern Ukraine and into Belarus, taking part in the battles along the Dniepr and Sozh River in the vicinity of Gomel. In early December the 1st Ukrainian Front was struggling to hold its strategic bridgehead west of Kyiv and the 246th was transferred to this Front, where it remained until the last weeks of the war. In February 1944 it joined 60th Army, remaining under this command into the postwar. During the Proskurov–Chernovtsy Offensive in March it received a battle honor, which turned out to be its only divisional distinction. The division took part in the summer offensive that liberated Lviv and two of its regiments were given honors for their parts in this fighting. As the war advanced into Poland and Silesia in early 1945 the 246th was involved in heavy fighting for the latter region, especially the battle for Ratibor in late March. In the final weeks, 60th Army was transferred to 4th Ukrainian Front and the division was near Prague when the fighting ended. It was disbanded in July.
Formation The 246th Rifle Division began forming within days of the start of the German invasion on June 29, 1941, at Rybinsk, in the Moscow Military District.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 75 This was based on an NKVD order of that date: Although the initial order for its formation came from the NKVD, when it left for the front in early July it was completely under Red Army administration. Its order of battle was as follows: 908th Rifle Regiment 914th Rifle Regiment 915th Rifle Regiment 777th 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. 42 305th Antitank Battalion 326th Reconnaissance Company 415th Sapper Battalion 667th Signal Battalion (later 667th Signal Company) 265th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 247th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company (later 245th) 63rd Auto Transport Company (later 464th Auto Transport Battalion, 468th Auto Transport Company) 310th Field Bakery (later 284th, 218th) 20th Divisional Veterinary Hospital (later 169th) 810th Field Postal Station 712th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Ivan Ivanovich Melnikov, an NKVD officer, was appointed to command on July 4, and would be promoted to the rank of major general on July 15. He had been serving as head of the NKVD's Main Directorate of Border Troops. The division was assigned to the newly forming 31st Army on July 10Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 43 and officially entered the fighting front on July 20.
Judging from reports on other NKVD-based divisions, the 246th was far from complete when it entered combat. The commander of the 30th Army, Maj. Gen. V. A. Khomenko, reported on August 5 regarding his 250th and 251st Divisions that they had been required to move up to 350 km on foot to their concentration areas and "were taken from their assembly points in the very midst of assembly, and, incomplete, they did not approach being 'knocked together' and went into battle unprepared for combat." In addition, the 251st had only about 400 NKVD cadre soldiers.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4
Battle of Smolensk The 31st Army, commanded by Maj. Gen. V. N. Dalmatov, was initially composed of four NKVD divisions, the 244th, 246th, 247th and 249th. On July 30 the Reserve Front was formed, under command of Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov, and the Army, which now also included the 119th Rifle Division, was assigned to it. It was given responsibility for a line from the Moscow Sea to Kniazhi Gory to Shiparevo and Shchuche, with its headquarters at Rzhev. By this time the bulk of the remnants of 16th and 20th Armies had emerged from semi-encirclement near Smolensk.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 2, 8
Dukhovshchina Offensive Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, commander of Western Front, began planning for a renewed effort toward Smolensk on August 14 which was intended to recapture Dukhovshchina en route to the city. The STAVKA ordered this to be coordinated with Zhukov's Reserve Front on August 17 in order to engulf the entire front from Toropets in the north to Bryansk in the south. In the event, due to the chaotic situation, Timoshenko was forced to conduct the operation in piecemeal fashion and was unable to establish close cooperation with Zhukov. In preparation for the offensive the 246th was transferred north to join General Maslennikov's 29th Army; delays in this movement forced Maslennikov to postpone kicking off his part in the offensive until August 19.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 9
Timoshenko issued his first report on the operation to the STAVKA at about 1030 hours on August 17, in which his chief of staff reported:In a further report the next morning it was noted that one rifle regiment had arrived the previous day and was concentrating in Army reserve in the Turlachikha, Pichevakha and Mikhalevo region and that its remaining trains were continuing to arrive. In an operational summary issued at 2000 hours it was stated that, after unloading, the division was to concentrate in the Uste, Petugovo and Anashchiki region, 18 km north-northwest of Ilyino. At this time the Army headquarters was at Bentsy, 28 km north of the latter place.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 9
On August 20 Maslennikov began reporting German reinforcements arriving behind the left flank of their 9th Army; apparently gained by air reconnaissance these were likely forces of LVII Motorized Corps regrouping toward Velikiye Luki. Timoshenko, distracted by his successful actions in the 19th Army sector, even on August 21 failed to appreciate what his right wing forces would soon be facing. At 1745 hours he "somewhat caustically" directed Maslennikov to reorganize his offensive against 9th Army's left wing:However, the next day the full extent of the effort against 22nd Army began to become clear. 29th Army attacked at 1400 but encountered strong resistance, and the division was reported as attacking from the Baevo region toward Andreevskie and Iurevo; no gains were noted. On August 23 the Army attempted to continue its attacks but by the end of the day unsettling news from the Velikiye Luki area was forcing Timoshenko to alter his plans significantly. At 1430, Maslennikov informed his own units that "at least an enemy panzer division has penetrated toward Velikie Luki from the west... a threat is being created to 22nd Army's rear and 29th Army's flank." He went on to state that the 246th and 243rd Divisions were attacking decisively southward toward Ilyino, and that a sniper company was protecting the Belianka Farm and Sevastianovo sectors. At 2000 Timoshenko reported much the same while also claiming that the two divisions had destroyed two German infantry battalions the previous day. On the following evening Western Front stated flatly that 22nd Army was "under attack by a large enemy force," while the 243rd and 246th persisted it its crawling advance on Ilyino, with the latter attacking German strongpoints on the outskirts of Trubniki and the forest to the south at 0800 hours after a half-hour artillery preparation, while its left wing cooperated with the 243rd's attack on Hill 209.6. The day's fighting cost 29th Army nearly 1,000 casualties. As the crisis developed Maslennikov was ordered to take control of 22nd Army's sector and he reported back at 0700 on August 25 that the 246th was still attempting to reach Ilyino and also was emplacing obstacles and mines on the roads leading from Lake Plovnoe to Mikhailovskoe, from Emlen across the Rovnyi Bor River, and several other junctions and roads. It was still 15 km east-northeast of Ilyino.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 10, 11
Retreat to Rzhev On August 28 the 246th was defending, backed by the 6th Battery of the 644th Cannon Artillery Regiment, in positions including Beliankin Farm, Pavlova Luka and Trubniki from 12 km northeast of Ilyino to 13 km north-northeast. At this time the 3rd Panzer Group was making a determined effort to destroy 22nd Army near Toropets, and the 206th Infantry Division captured the isthmus between Lake Zhizhitskoye and Dvine, brushing the 252nd Division aside and entering the 29th Army's rear north of Ilyino. This forced both the 252nd and 246th to withdraw hastily to the northeast and east. Timoshenko and Maslennikov made every effort to restore some semblance of order on Western Front's right flank, but by now 22nd Army was a broken reed and only the scant forces of 29th Army or Front reserves could stem the German tide. On August 29 the 246th was transferred to a Composite Detachment under Colonel Antosenko to protect the Staraya Toropa region. Toropets fell on August 30 and the 246th was ordered to move from Staraya Toropa to the crossings over the Western Dvina River at Zheleznovo. As the situation swung wildly out of control, at 2100 hours on August 31 the division was directed to:General Melnikov's command post was to be established in the woods northeast of Klin.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 47, 50-52, 143, 145-46
By September 2 the 246th was holding on to its positions in the defile between the lakes in the Solonkino, Kaliukhova, Glubokoe, Dorokhovo and Melnitsa sector, 15 km southwest of Zapadnaya Dvina, with two rifle regiments, and one regiment was preparing a defensive line in the Sotino and Barlovo sector, 5 km north to 5 km south of Zapadnaya Dvina, on the eastern bank of the Western Dvina. The next day the Front reported that the division's positions were unchanged, while it was coming under strong artillery and mortar fire. During September 4 the 246th defended its previous positions while other elements of 29th Army made marginal gains. It attempted to join the attack the next day with one rifle regiment engaged with as many as two German infantry battalions plus tanks in the vicinity Trofimovo in the defile between the lakes but withdrew part of this force to Zapenkove by 1300 hours.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 246, 269, 280, 290