The 199th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. After being formed in the far east of the USSR just months before the German invasion it was very soon moved to the Kiev Special Military District, where it was quickly assigned to the 49th Rifle Corps in the reserves of Southwestern Front. In fighting west of Kyiv it was separated from its Corps and suffered heavy casualties in early July. Later in the month it was subordinated to 26th Army as it retreated toward the Dniepr River, but after crossing south of Kyiv it was reassigned to 38th Army. It remained in this Army for the rest of its existence, retreating past Kharkiv during October and November. During the spring of 1942 it remained on the defense during the offensive near that city, but was forced to retreat in front of the German summer offensive. In early July it was encircled near Chertkovo and destroyed, although it remained on the books until mid-August.
A new 199th was formed in May 1943, based on a pair of rifle brigades, in the Moscow Military District. It was soon assigned to 68th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, which was then assigned to Western Front. During August and September it fought in Operation Suvorov and won a battle honor for the liberation of Smolensk. Following this victory it advanced westward and took part in the grinding battles of attrition east of Orsha for the remainder of the year. When 68th Army was disbanded in early November the 199th was moved to 5th Army, and then soon to 33rd Army. When these offensives proved futile the 33rd was shifted north and spent the winter and early spring of 1944 in the equally futile efforts to encircle Vitebsk from the southeast. When Western Front was disbanded in April the division was reassigned to 2nd Belorussian Front where it spent some weeks rebuilding before being assigned to 49th Army, where it remained for the duration. In the opening stages of the summer offensive it was involved in the fighting for Mogilev and the crossing of the Dniepr River, for which it was awarded the Order of Suvorov (unusually for a division, this was in the 3rd Degree) and later in the offensive it won the Order of the Red Banner for the liberation of Osovets Fortress. After the first phase of the Vistula-Oder Offensive in 1945 the division attacked into East Pomerania toward Gdańsk and two of its rifle regiments were also awarded the Red Banner. During the Berlin Offensive the 199th crossed both branches of the Oder River near Stettin before advancing through northeastern Germany and linking up with British forces. It received further honors after the German surrender, but was soon disbanded.
1st Formation The division officially formed on April 4, 1941, in the Siberian Military District, but began moving west by rail in accordance with an order dated April 15. Once this was complete it was assigned to the Kiev Special Military District. As of June 22, 1941 it had the following order of battle: 492nd Rifle Regiment 584th Rifle Regiment 617th Rifle Regiment 500th Light Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 94 465th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (until November 30, 1941) 124th Antitank Battalion 408th Antiaircraft Battery (later 187th Antiaircraft Battalion) 257th Reconnaissance Battalion 335th Sapper Battalion 569th Signal Battalion 2nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion 178th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 336th Motor Transport Battalion (later 285th) 269th Field Bakery 32nd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 6th Field Artillery Workshop 705th Field Postal Station 591st Field Office of the State Bank Col. Aleksandr Nikolaevich Alekseev was appointed to command the division on the day it began forming. When the German invasion began the division was in the reserves of Southwestern Front (the renamed Kiev District) as part of the 49th Rifle Corps, which also included the 190th and 197th Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 9 At the time the entire Corps was practising road marches in the area of Pohrebyshche in western Ukraine, but advance detachments of the division were near the border, working with cadets of the Vysokoye NCO Training School. They were attacked by the German 457th and 466th Infantry Regiments of Army Group South's spearhead. Fighting in the fields of grain was hand-to-hand, and so fierce that the German forces had to call in artillery support to make any headway.Jonathan Trigg, Death on the Don, The History Press, Stroud, UK, 2013, pp. 58-59 By June 28 the 199th was shoring up an antitank gun line that 12th and 26th Armies were trying to establish in front of the 1st Panzer Group.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 95. This source identifies the location as Lisogorka.
Battle of Kyiv By the end of the day on July 7 the 199th had been separated from the rest of 49th Corps by a thrust of XIV Motorized Corps and was fighting along the Sluch River some 30km northwest of Chudniv.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 70-71 It suffered heavy losses in fighting near the settlement of Myropil. By July 10 the 49th Corps had been subordinated to 6th Army, still in Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 24
By the end of July 23 the division, still separated from its corps-mates, had retreated as far as positions some 20km west of Bohuslav.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 84-85 After a month of fighting, on July 29 the 199th had just 1,900 men remaining on strength.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 95 By the beginning of August the 49th Corps had been disbanded and the division had been subordinated directly to 26th Army, still in Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 33 On August 1, Colonel Alekseev was removed from his command following a military tribunal where he was found guilty, along with his divisional commissar and deputy commander, of losing control of the division during the fighting at Myropil. He was replaced the next day by Kombrig Dmitrii Vasilevich Averin, who had been serving for the previous few weeks as commander of the Kyiv Fortified Area. By August 11 the 199th had dropped back to positions some 20km southwest of Kaniv.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 84-85 Within a few days the division crossed the Dniepr and became part of the new 38th Army, covering the southern flank of the Kyiv defensive sector.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 95 It was reinforced with cadres of several disbanded formations, including the 47th Tank Division.
At the start of September the 199th was in the vicinity of Kremenchuk, where 1st Panzer Group was engaged in forcing a bridgehead. As the river line was penetrated the XIV Motorized Corps forced the division eastward, and so it escaped the fate of the 26th and the rest of the armies that would soon be encircled east of Kyiv. By September 26, as the trapped armies were being wiped out, the division was located north of Krasnohrad.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 220, 261 During October and November it took part in 38th Army's delaying action west and later east of Kharkiv.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 95 The city fell to German 6th Army on October 25 after five days of heavy fighting.David M. Glantz, Before Stalingrad, Tempus Publishing Ltd., Stroud, UK, 2003, p. 152
Case Blue On January 9, 1942, Kombrig Averin took over command of the 196th Rifle Division and was replaced by Col. Vsevolod Vladimirovich Davidov-Luchitskii. Averin would be killed in action at the head of the 196th on August 7. Davidov-Luchitskii left the division on March 8 and was replaced ten days later by Col. Fyodor Andreevich Verevkin, who remained in command for the duration of the 1st formation.
Operation Fridericus II During the Second Battle of Kharkov the 199th remained on the defense while three other divisions and part of a fourth formed the Army's shock group.Glantz, Kharkov 1942, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, UK, 1998/2010, p. 120 As 1st Panzer Army prepared for Operation Fridericus II, its preliminary to the main summer offensive, its main target was 38th Army, which contained six rifle divisions, including the 199th, the 1st Destroyer (Antitank) Division, six tank brigades and one motorized rifle brigade. After several delays due to thunderstorms the offensive began at 0410 hours on June 22. Over the next two days there was significant fighting for the town of Kupiansk, while the remnants of the 162nd, 199th, 278th and 304th Rifle Divisions made their way eastward out of encirclement and over the Oskil River to a new defensive line. However, the 60th Motorized Division had established a bridgehead over the river north of Kupiansk, which would be a jumping-off point for Case Blue.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 98-102
Operation Blau II On July 6, the XXXX Panzer Corps of 6th Army launched an advance to the south which quickly covered 25km, almost halfway to Rossosh, but soon ran short of fuel. Despite this, a battle group of 3rd Panzer Division managed to seize the town at dawn the next day, which unhinged Southwestern Front's defenses. The Front commander, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, received permission from the STAVKA to withdraw 38th Army from its exposed positions. The commander of 38th Army, Maj. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko, later wrote in his memoirs:On July 8 the XXXX Panzer Corps continued its southward advance with 100 tanks. This deep thrust threatened to envelop both 38th and 28th Armies, as well as many rear service elements of the Front.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 171-75
Advancing headlong, XXXX Panzer reached the crossings over the Kalitva River, preempting a special combat group that 28th Army had formed to defend them, and in the process creating an even wider gap between that Army and the 38th. On July 8, the XXXX Panzer dispatched its three divisions, which Moskalenko believed had a total of 300 tanks southward into the gap toward Kantemirovka. Moskalenko requested permission to withdraw his forces farther east to the Aidar River, while a portion of his Army covered 28th Army's eastward escape. Timoshenko approved the latter but turned down the former. Moskalenko now formed a combat group consisting of the 304th, 199th, and 9th Guards Rifle Divisions, plus the 3rd Tank Brigade, and sent it northeast to form a protective screen between Rovenky and Kantemirovka. However, early on July 9 the panzers drove into the latter before the combat group could reach it.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, p. 176
The day before, a second large German axe had begun to fall on 38th Army, and indeed on the entire Southwestern Front. The commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal F. von Bock, realizing that 38th and 9th Armies were beginning to withdraw, authorized the infantry forces on 1st Panzer Army's right wing and center to advance across the Oskil and then eastward along the Northern Donets River in pursuit. The XI and XXXXIV Army Corps soon advanced 10-15km eastward and reached the approaches to the Krasnaya River. The XIV Panzer Corps also attacked at dawn on July 9. Faced with mounting threats on both of his flanks, Moskalenko sent an urgent message to Timoshenko and the STAVKA, requesting they approve his further withdrawal. This was refused. To a further message at 1600 hours he got no reply due to a communications failure, so at 2000 he issued withdrawal orders on his own authority.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 176, 178-79