The 248th Rifle Division was formed in the Moscow Military District as a reserve infantry division of the Red Army just days after the German invasion of the USSR. It was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of April 5, 1941 with modifications due to the emergency. It was formed at Vyazma and would remain in the vicinity of this city during its entire 1st formation. When the final German offensive on Moscow began it was ordered to move south by rail, abandoning its positions along the upper reaches of the Dniepr River, but was soon ordered back when the offensive became more widespread. It was mostly encircled during Operation Typhoon and destroyed.
A new 248th Rifle Division was redesignated on April 11, 1942 from a 400-series division that began forming in December in the North Caucasus Military District. It had already been assigned to 28th Army, but was soon reassigned to 6th Army in Southwestern Front. As part of this Army it was located in the Izium-Barvinkove salient at the start of the Second Battle of Kharkiv. As a reserve division it saw little combat until after the German counteroffensive which encircled the salient. The 248th struggled to escape the trap but its losses were so great that it was again disbanded.
The third 248th Rifle Division also formed near Astrakhan, and also soon became part of 28th Army. In the wake of Operation Uranus it advanced westward, taking part in the liberation of Elista at the turn of the year. During January 1943 it pursued the forces of 1st Panzer Army withdrawing from the Caucasus region, and was badly damaged in fighting near Zernograd. After recovering from this it assisted in the final liberation of Rostov-on-Don, and then pursued German forces to the Mius River line. It remained on this line during the spring lull in operations. In August, as part of Southern Front (soon 4th Ukrainian Front) it helped liberate the Donbas before advancing through the rest of southern Ukraine. In April 1944, now under command of 5th Shock Army in 3rd Ukrainian Front, it won a battle honor for the liberation of Odesa. Following an abortive offensive along the Dniestr River in May the 248th served as the Army reserve in the offensive that knocked Romania out of the war in August. After this, the entire 5th Shock was transferred north to join 1st Belorussian Front for operations into Poland and Germany; the division was assigned to 9th Rifle Corps. For its successes in the Vistula-Oder Offensive, particularly its advance through Pomerania, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the capture of Berlin the division's subunits were rewarded with a number of honors and decorations, and as a particular distinction a composite regiment made up of its most decorated soldiers was selected to participate in the Berlin Victory Parade. The 248th served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany until the division was disbanded in October 1946.
1st Formation The 248th began forming on June 27 at Vyazma in the Smolensk Oblast.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 75 Once formed the division had the following order of battle: 899th Rifle Regiment 902nd Rifle Regiment 905th Rifle Regiment 771st Light 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. 44 774th Howitzer Artillery Regiment 302nd Antitank Battalion 320th Reconnaissance Battalion 412th Sapper Battalion 644th Signal Battalion 277th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 242nd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 502nd Motor Transport Battalion 259th Field Bakery 370th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 926th Field Postal Station 656th Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. Karol Karlovich Sverchevskii took command of the division on the day it began forming and he would remain in this position for the duration of the 1st formation. As of July 1 it was still forming in the Moscow Military District, but just ten days later it had been assigned to the 53rd Rifle Corps of 24th Army in the Group of STAVKA Reserve Armies.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 19, 26 It officially entered the fighting front on July 15.
Battle of Moscow On July 30 the Reserve Front was formed from the forces that had been holding the Rzhev-Vyazma line. 53rd Corps had been disbanded but the 248th remained in 24th Army when it was assigned to the new Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 32 which was under command of Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov. 24th Army comprised nine rifle divisions, two people's militia rifle divisions, one tank and one motorized division, and several artillery and antitank assets, and its boundary on the left ran from Ugriumovo Station to Luzhki (60km south of Vyazma) to Popovka (10km south of Yelnya). However, in the wake of the encirclement battle at Smolensk and the destruction of most of 28th Army at Roslavl the STAVKA transferred Reserve Front's 34th Army to Northwestern Front and replaced it with the new 35th Army, which it renamed 49th Army on August 11, and the 248th was transferred to this Army, which was under command of Lt. Gen. I. G. Zakharkin.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, Kindle ed., ch. 8
At 2030 hours on August 6, Zhukov issued orders to all the armies of his Front (apart from 24th Army, which had received its orders earlier) which included:As of September 1 the 49th Army had the same three divisions under command, with the addition of the 4th People's Militia Rifle Division. A month later the militia had departed and the 303rd Rifle Division had taken its place.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 41, 51 On September 20 the 248th was recorded as having 13,830 personnel on strength, well above the normal complement of 10,858, and was equipped with 34 76mm cannon, 12 152mm howitzers, 32 122mm howitzers, 12 120mm mortars, 84 50mm mortars and nine radio sets.Lev Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, Kindle ed., Part 3 Operation Typhoon
What was intended as the final German offensive on Moscow began in the south on September 30 with an assault on the Oryol axis led by 2nd Panzer Group. This quickly broke through the Soviet front, gaining 15-20km on the first day and creating a 30km-wide gap. Already that night the STAVKA was making the decision to block the Oryol, Kursk and Kharkiv axes in the rear of Bryansk Front. To this end the four rifle divisions of 49th Army, as well as its three cavalry divisions, were alerted for transfer by rail from their defensive line according to a set timetable. The 248th was set to depart second, following the 194th, from Kasnia Station at 1800 hours on October 3. This movement was based on a contingency plan made some time earlier. The 32nd Army's 140th Rifle Division arrived on the morning of October 2 to take over a sector of defense from the 905th Rifle Regiment and the 194th Division on the east bank of the Dniepr.Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, Kindle ed., Part 3 The Dniepr Bridgeheads Early on October 2 the main German offensive on the Vyazma axis began. As a result, the departure point of the 248th was not changed, but it was now to move to the Belyov area to help form a second echelon for Reserve Front. The STAVKA was not immediately aware of how quickly and deeply the 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups were penetrating the Soviet front lines. Spearheads of the 6th and 7th Panzer Divisions managed to break through to the Dniepr and from the march managed to seize two bridges in the 248th's sector, at Glushkovo and Tikhanovo on October 3. The division had only just received the order to cease loading onto the trains and re-occupy its positions. In connection with the confusion that arose due to this about-face there was no opportunity to blow up or at least set fire to the bridges. Although the upper reaches of this river are not wide (25-40m) or particularly deep (0.7-3.0m) it presented a major antitank obstacle. The approaches to it were covered by the fire from a variety of defensive works on the eastern bank. Despite this, on October 4, under cover of heavy artillery and mortar fire, 25-30 tanks crossed and dug in on the sectors of the 248th and 220th Divisions.
Earlier that day the commander of Western Front, Col. Gen. I. S. Konev, had sent his deputy, Lt. Gen. S. A. Kalinin, to clarify the situation on the Dniepr. At 1950 hours this officer reported back that:At about this time the division came under the command of 32nd Army in Western Front. According to information recorded at Reserve Front headquarters at 2100 the same day, two regiments of the division were already "locked in combat" over the crossing as Glushkovo as early as 1800 and by 2000 had assembled along the Dniepr in the sector running from Parshino to the mouth of the Vyasma. As well, an attack by two German infantry companies had been driven back in the vicinity of the Tikhanovo crossing.
Beyond this, the division's efforts to eliminate the bridgeheads and reoccupy its former defenses failed. In the time it took to return the 45-50km from Novoduginskaya the panzer troops had managed to strengthen their positions. The division's hastily organized attacks were met with fire of all types, including dug-in tanks and artillery firing from the west bank. General Kalinin had reported to Konev at 2100 on October 5:At 2200 on the same day General Sverchevskii, having no communications link with either the Western or Reserve Fronts, reported the following information directly to the STAVKA: "For 45 minutes already, [enemy] tanks and motorized infantry have been moving uninterruptedly from Baranovo through Kamenets to Volochek, the majority presumably toward Andreevskoe and the rest toward Nastas'ino." At 0030 on October 6 Kalinin reported from Novo-Mishnevo: "The units of the Reserve Front proved to be unprepared. The 248th Rifle Division with two regiments fought well, but the enemy broke through its right flank at the Glushkovo crossing."Lopukhovsky, The Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941, Kindle ed., Part 4
With the breakout from Glushkovo the German offensive began to develop toward Vyazma, with part of their forces pivoting in the direction of Sychyovka. 7th Panzer Division was within 40km of Vyazma even before the breakout. At 1150 hours on October 6 the commander of 32nd Army, Maj. Gen. S. V. Vishnevskii reported to Konev:By 1600 hours that day the 32nd Army had only limited forces under command, including roughly two regiments of the 248th in the area of Pigulino.
As planned, General Kalinin launched the 905th Regiment with the 143rd Tanks on an attack toward Volochek, with the assignment to separate the German infantry from their tanks and then restore the situation. However, this force lacked the strength to do so. Meanwhile, the forward detachment of 7th Panzer had reached the Moscow-Minsk highway north of Vyazma during the afternoon before deploying screening detachments to the east in the direction of Gzhatsk, and to the west. At 1600 hours on October 7 General Vishnevskii reported, in part:Vishnevskii was in the process of withdrawing his headquarters to Mozhaysk, but he would be captured on October 13. Battle in Encirclement