The 258th Rifle Division first began forming in the Central Asian Military District as one of the Red Army's first ethnic or "national" rifle divisions after the German invasion of the USSR. Based on a cadre of men of Uzbek nationality it was subsequently known as the "Uzbek" division. It was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of April 5, 1941 with modifications due to the emergency. It was soon moved by rail to the Oryol Military District for further building and equipping, and entered the fighting front on August 3, assigned to 43rd Army of Reserve Front west of Bryansk. Within days it was reassigned to the Separate 2nd Rifle Corps, headquartered at Bryansk. On August 14 the entire Corps became the basis of the new 50th Army in Bryansk Front. After minor battles with 2nd Panzer Group into September, but mostly holding its positions, the division was loosely encircled during the German Operation Typhoon in October. It managed to escape with significant casualties, and took up part of the defense of the city of Tula into early December. It then joined the winter counteroffensive which took it to the city of Kaluga. The city was liberated on December 30, and the division was redesignated as the 12th Guards Rifle Division.
A new 258th was formed in late April 1942 based on the 1st formation of the 43rd Rifle Brigade. After several months of forming up and training, first in the Moscow area and later in the Don River area it was assigned to the 1st Guards Army in Stalingrad Front but soon moved to Don Front. During September and October it took part in two offensives attempting to break through to Stalingrad from the north, but these proved to be abortive and costly efforts. Later in October the division was briefly moved to 24th Army in the same Front, but was shifted to 65th Army prior to the start of the Soviet counteroffensive. After German 6th Army was encircled in late November the 258th shifted south, first to 5th Tank Army and later to the newly-formed 5th Shock Army, soon part of the re-created Southern Front. It remained under these commands for the duration of this formation, advancing westward along the Don River and into the eastern Donbas, reaching the Mius River in late February, 1943. For these accomplishments it became the 96th Guards Rifle Division on May 4.
A third 258th was formed in 25th Army of Far Eastern Front in July 1943, based on a separate rifle regiment. It remained under these commands for the remainder of the year, joining 88th Rifle Corps in August. When the Manchurian operation began on August 9, 1945 the division, with its Corps, was in the reserves of 1st Far Eastern Front and was committed two days later. During the remainder of the month it advanced into northern Korea, eventually reaching the 38th parallel. In recognition of its part in the victory, on September 19 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. It was disbanded in August 1946.
1st Formation The 258th began forming on July 10 in the Central Asian Military District on the basis of 452 Communist Party members and 1,815 Komsomols from Uzbekistan. It was subsequently known as the "Uzbek" division.Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, pp. 49-50 The partly-formed division was then railed westward to Oryol in late July,Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 76 and then to Tula, where it started arriving on August 2. Once formed the division had following order of battle: 954th Rifle Regiment (originally designated as 405th) 991st Rifle Regiment 999th Rifle Regiment 841st Artillery RegimentSharp, "Red Tide", p. 49 342nd Antitank Battalion 361st Reconnaissance Company 557th Sapper Battalion 737th Signal Battalion 305th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 304th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 732nd Motor Transport Battalion 388th Field Bakery 650th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 957th Field Postal Station 841st Field Office of the State Bank Kombrig Kuzma Petrovich Trubnikov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. He had led the 25th Rifle Division from June 1935 to June 1938, but as his obsolete rank indicates, he was arrested and imprisoned during the Great Purge and not released until February 15, 1940. He served as an instructor on tactics until he was posted to the 258th.
Battle of Bryansk On August 3 the 4th Panzer Division captured Roslavl and the next day the 2nd Panzer Group completed the encirclement of Group Kachalov north of the city. This impending disaster was brought to the attention of Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov in a report by Maj. Gen. P. I. Lyapin, the chief of staff of the Front of Reserve Armies, at 1730 hours on August 3. As part of this report he wrote:Based on this report Zhukov took immediate action to rescue Group Kachalov and restore the Front's defenses in this region, including reinforcing 43rd Army with Trubnikov's division. At 0312 hours on August 5 he further ordered that the reconnaissance company of the 217th Rifle Division tie in with the 258th near Zhukovka. Meanwhile, Group Kachalov was effectively eliminated by the end of August 6, with over 80 percent of its initial forces lost.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, ch. 7
In an effort to improve command and control in Reserve Front the STAVKA issued a directive on August 6. Among other provisions the 258th was grouped with the 260th and 290th Rifle Divisions, the 2nd Rifle Corps' artillery regiments, and the 753rd and 761st Antitank Artillery Regiments into the 2nd Separate Rifle Corps, outside of Army command. It was led by Maj. Gen. A. N. Yermakov and was headquartered at Bryansk. At 2030 hours the same day, Zhukov sent an order to his Reserve Front, which, in part, stated that the Corps was to defend the Zhukovka, Vysokoe, and Makarovo line to protect the Bryansk axis. On August 14 the STAVKA went beyond this by forming a new Bryansk Front, under command of Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, with Yermakov as his deputy commander. The 258th was moved to 50th Army, along with the other divisions 2nd Separate Corps, joined by five other rifle divisions and the 55th Cavalry Division. The Army's headquarters would be based on that of the Corps, and Maj. Gen. M. P. Petrov was appointed to command.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, ch. 8 The 258th would remain under command of this Army for the duration of its 1st formation.
At 2000 hours on August 16 Petrov issued his Combat Order No. 1, in which he gave Trubnikov the mission of defending, along with the two antitank regiments, the StolbyZhukovka line while also reconnoitering to the Seshcha and Yudin line and protecting the Army boundary on the right. The order set the stage for an encounter battle between Bryansk Front and 2nd Panzer Group on August 19 when XXXXVII Motorized Corps began wheeling its reconnaissance elements eastward toward Bryansk and Trubchevsk. Petrov issued more concrete orders to his Army at 1100 hours which stated in part:Five divisions, including the 258th, were especially directed to reconnoiter the German force to facilitate its destruction by bomber aircraft overnight on August 19/20.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 71-72
Over the following days, elements of XXXXVII Motorized inched ever closer to Pochep, threatening to break through Soviet defenses and reach the west bank of the Desna River. Convinced that Pochep was crucial to the defense, Petrov issued orders to part of his Army in the afternoon of August 23 to seize and hold the town, regardless of if it was occupied or not. Within hours General Yeryomenko effectively countermanded this plan by spelling out his defensive plans more thoroughly. At 2300 hours on August 24 Petrov issued fresh orders to his Army, which was stretched along a 100km-wide front and facing two panzer divisions and a motorized division:The division was also directed to protect its boundary with the 260th Division. When 2nd Panzer Group renewed its offensive on August 26 the division was in the same positions.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 78-80, 85-86, 112
Yeryomenko's headquarters issued an operational summary at 0600 on August 27 which stated that active operations were taking place in the 217th Division's sector, while small German groups were operating near the 258th and 279th Divisions, but their positions were unchanged. By the end of the next day he realized he faced serious challenges across nearly his entire Front, but the 258th's sector remained quiet. In response to the deteriorating situation, the STAVKA sent him a new directive at 0610 hours on August 30 requiring him to attack with most of the Front's forces, but in 50th Army the 217th, 279th, 258th and 290th Divisions were to continue to defend their positions while the remainder attacked on September 3. The objective was to encircle and destroy 2nd Panzer Group in the Pochep, Trubshevsk, Novhorod-Siverskyi and Novozybkov region, an utterly unrealistic goal, especially given the weakened state of the 13th and 21st Armies.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 118-19, 125-26, 373-75
Trubnikov's orders changed slightly on September 1 when he was directed, along with 761st ATR, to conduct reinforced reconnaissance to the Grabovka and Kletnya line, some 30km west to 38km southwest of Zhukovka; the 645th CAR, subordinate to the 260th Division, was to protect the boundary between it and the 258th in the Uprusy and Stolby region. In the event the Roslavl-Novozybkov Offensive began on September 2, and in a report issued at 1800 hours Yeryomenko stated, in part:On September 4 the division remained defending with the 260th on an inactive sector. The next day it moved a reinforced battalion to positions on Hill 178.8 to protect the boundary between 50th and 3rd Armies.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 403-05, 455, 458, 471
The STAVKA was unaware at this time that 2nd Panzer Group was, in fact, making preparations for its drive to the south which would help encircle the Soviet armies east of Kyiv. As part of this the XXXXVII Panzer Corps, for example, had withdrawn from a bridgehead it had formed across the Desna. A report from Yeryomenko late on September 6 failed to acknowledge this reality while stating, among other details, that the 258th was still holding near Stolby, facing units of the German 78th Infantry Division. Four hours later, Petrov issued attack orders to his Army, but the division was not part of the shock group, instead being directed to extend its front toward the southwest in order to allow the 299th Rifle Division to further concentrate. This mini-offensive proved to be the last gasp of Yeryomenko's ambitious general offensive, which he acknowledged in a message to the STAVKA the next day.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 477, 483-85
Operation Typhoon