The 195th 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. It first began forming just months before the German invasion in the Kiev Special Military District. When the German invasion began it was in 31st Rifle Corps in the reserves of Southwestern Front. In the first days of July it was assigned to 5th Army, where it remained for the duration of this formation. This Army was considered by the German high command as a threat to the flanks of both Army Groups Center and South and was one of the main reasons behind the decision to encircle Southwestern Front east of Kyiv in September. The 195th was trapped in this pocket and destroyed, although not officially written off until late December.
A new 195th was designated at the end of December, based on the 423rd Rifle Division, which had begun forming in October in the South Ural Military District. In total it took over six months forming up and training before it went to the active front in the vicinity of Voronezh as part of 60th Army. During the summer and into October it was steadily weakened in attritional fighting along the Don River until it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. It soon returned to the front along the Don, now as part of 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front. It would remain in this Front (later renamed 3rd Ukrainian) until nearly the end of 1944. As part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps it took part in Operation Little Saturn and made one of the first penetrations into the defenses of Italian 8th Army. Once this Army had been effectively destroyed the 195th took part in Operation Gallop, driving into the Donbas region before being halted and temporarily encircled in Field Marshal E. von Manstein's "backhand blow" in February/March 1943. It resumed the offensive in August, advancing into eastern Ukraine and winning a battle honor as it approached the Dniepr River. Just a month later it took a leading role in the liberation of Dniprodzerzhynsk, for which it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Over the winter of 1943-44 it took part in the battles in the Dniepr bend under command of 46th Army before driving deeper into western Ukraine, taking part in the liberation of Voznesensk, where its commander was killed. It was then reassigned to 37th Army, and it would remain under that command for the duration of the war. Serving in the 6th Guards Rifle Corps of this Army the 195th advanced to the Dniestr River in early April, where it helped to establish a substantial bridgehead in the Tiraspol area, but this was contained by German reinforcements and 3rd Ukrainian Front went over to the defensive for several months. At the start of the August offensive it was in the second echelon of 6th Guards Corps, but on the second day played a key role in breaking the second German defense line, after which it took part in the pursuit, within days taking part in the encirclement and defeat of the forces of German 6th Army. Following this victory it advanced into Romania and Bulgaria, eventually becoming part of the occupation force of the latter country when the 37th Army was detached from 3rd Ukrainian Front. Postwar, it was part of the Southern Group of Forces, until it was moved to the Odesa Military District in early 1946, being disbanded there in July.
1st Formation The division began forming on March 14, 1941, as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet forces, in the Kiev Special Military District. Its order of battle was as follows: 564th Rifle Regiment 573rd Rifle Regiment 604th Rifle Regiment 505th Artillery Regiment 475th Howitzer Artillery Regiment 41st Antitank BattalionCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 93 215th Antiaircraft Battalion 330th Reconnaissance Battalion 362nd Sapper Battalion 546th Signal Battalion 18th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 200th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 253rd Motor Transport Battalion 702nd Field Postal Station 594th Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. Vitalii Nikolaevich Nesmelov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. He had been serving as assistant commanding officer of the Special Rifle Corps. On June 22, as the German invasion began, the Kiev District became Southwestern Front; the 195th was in 31st Rifle Corps with the 193rd and 200th Rifle Divisions in the Front reserves.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 9 The division itself was near Snovidovichi. By the morning of June 26 it was concentrated at Stepany, but was not committed to action since the division was still barely formed and was still trying to fill up with mobilized reservists.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 94 Battle of Kyiv As of July 1 the 31st Corps had been incorporated into 5th Army, but without the 195th, which was still held in Front reserve.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 16-17 The next day it rejoined it corps-mates, and in the next week it was reduced to less than 3,500 personnel and had lost most of its heavy weapons.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 94
By July 11 the much-reduced 195th was located northeast of Novohrad-Volynskyi, facing the 14th Panzer Division, which had forced a crossing of the Sluch River there. Three days later, it had been pulled back to positions southeast of Yemilchyne, acting as a backstop to the rest of 31st Corps, as well as the 69th Rifle Division.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 78-79 The presence of 5th Army in this region was beginning to affect German strategy as noted in Führer directive No. 33 of July 19: The directive set the task, among others, "to destroy the Soviet 5th Army by means of a closely coordinated offensive by the forces on Army Group Center's southern flank and Army Group South's northern flank."David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Volume 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, Kindle ed., ch. 7
Over the following weeks the division made a well-organized retreat, falling back to a line along the Uzh River by the end of August 11,Stahel, Kiev 1941, p. 84 but continuous combat was wearing the division down; by August 19 it had only 1,575 personnel on strength, less than half the strength of a prewar rifle regiment.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 94 Gomel fell to forces of German 2nd Army on the same date, which effectively unhinged the defenses of the Soviet 21st Army east of the Dnieper. The commander of Southwestern Front, Marshal S. M. Budyonny, signalled the STAVKA that this Army's divisions were withdrawing to a line some 20km north of the Repki region, where elements of 31st Corps were organizing defenses.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Volume 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 116, 121-22 Meanwhile, in late August the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. By September 10 the remnants of 5th Army were grouped north of Kozelets. General Nesmelov was severely wounded on the same date; he was evacuated but was never given another command at the front after leaving hospital a year later.
On September 16 the 2nd Panzers linked up with the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South well to the east and the Army was deeply encircled.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 228-29 The division was effectively destroyed by September 20, although, as was the case with most divisions in the Kyiv encirclement, it was not officially written off until December 27.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 94
2nd Formation In October a new division, designated as the 423rd, began forming in the South Ural Military District.Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 99 By December 30 it had been relocated to the Orenburg Oblast of the Volga Military District where it was redesignated as the 195th. Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 1st formation: 564th Rifle Regiment 573rd Rifle Regiment 604th Rifle Regiment 505th Artillery Regiment 41st Antitank BattalionSharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 76 330th Reconnaissance Battalion 362nd Sapper Battalion 546th Signal Battalion (later 546th, 1571st Signal Companies) 18th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 502nd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 253rd Motor Transport Battalion 422nd Field Bakery 887th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1677th Field Postal Station 1078th Field Office of the State Bank Kombrig Mikhail Afanasevich Romanov was appointed to command on the day the division was redesignated. He had previously led the 277th Rifle Division. The division was formed with about 8,000 personnel, including 3,000 men from Uzbekistan and the "ethnic" republics of the Transcaucasus and Bashkirs. On April 29, 1942 the division moved to the Ryazan Oblast of the Moscow Military District, where it was assigned to the 1st Reserve Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command.Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 76 On June 16, Kombrig Romanov was moved to the 193rd Rifle Division, where he took up duties as deputy commander. He was badly wounded on July 27 and captured while the division was in encirclement.Igor Sdvizhkov, Confronting Case Blue, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, pp. 258, 262, 268, 276 He survived the war and, after being repatriated, furthered his military education but had to leave service in 1950 due to illness. Col. Mikhail Gerasimovich Mikeladze took over the 195th. A Georgian by nationality he had been employed by the STAVKA on special assignments since the beginning of the war.
In late June the division was shifted to 3rd Reserve Army, which was activated as the 2nd formation of 60th Army on July 10, in Voronezh Front.Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 76 The Army had a total of seven rifle divisions under command. Battles on the Don The 195th went into action the same day, defending the road to Voronezh from the advance of the German 2nd Army's VII Army Corps. By July 15, 60th Army had been driven out of the city and the 195th was deployed directly north of it. On July 22, the Army launched heavy assaults against the defenses northwest of Voronezh. Catching VII Corps in the middle of a divisional relief, the 161st Rifle Division was able to push to the Don River 10km northwest of the city, while the 107th Rifle Division, with part of the 25th Tank Corps, was able to cut the main German supply route to the west. However, the assault soon faltered under withering antitank and artillery fire, which forced the attackers back from the road. Farther east, the remainder of 25th Tanks, together with the 195th and 303rd Rifle Divisions, plus the battalions of 18th Tank Corps, fought their way into Voronezh's northern suburbs, and the Army's 121st Rifle Division, supported by 17th Tank Corps, struck the defenses on the east side of the city.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 252-53, 255-57