The 185th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army just as the Second World War had begun in the Oryol Military District, based on the pre-September 13, 1939 shtat (table of organization and equipment). As a standard rifle division, it took part in the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. In early 1941, it was selected for conversion to a motorized infantry division, but in fact, it had received little in the way of vehicles by the start of the German invasion and so was a rifle division in all but name. It was sent to join Northwestern Front in the Baltic states with its 21st Mechanized Corps, and was soon assigned to 27th Army. Under these commands the division retreated through July and August as the German 16th Army advanced behind in the general direction of Novgorod. On August 25 it was officially reorganized as a regular rifle division.
During September it was substantially rebuilt with a large influx of conscripts. When the Army Group Center launched Operation Typhoon in the first days of October the division was forced to retreat into the Valdai Hills, where it became part of Vatutin's Operational Group and within days Kalinin Front. Later that month it took part on the fighting along the KalininTorzhok road, especially in the Mednoye area, in which a large part of XXXXI Panzer Corps was encircled and forced to break out, at considerable cost. In the last stages of the German offensive on Moscow in November it was on the right flank of 30th Army on the north bank of the Volga River and then went over to the counteroffensive on December 6, driving south to recapture Klin, which happened on December 15. As the counteroffensive expanded the 185th was pulled into fighting for the town of Rzhev as part of 29th, 39th, and later 22nd Armies. It was badly damaged in a German counterattack in July 1942, and in November/December took part in an abortive advance up the valley of the Luchesa River. After rebuilding during early 1943, elements of the division staged a successful operation for a German strongpoint in August, earning the 185th its first battle honor. It was then reassigned, first to 3rd Shock and later 6th Guards Army, and played a relatively small part in the October - December battles near Nevel. It was removed from the front lines in early 1944 and railed south to join the 77th Rifle Corps of 47th Army in 1st Belorussian Front, where it remained into the postwar. In the concluding phase of Operation Bagration it earned a second honorific during the fighting near Warsaw. At the start of the Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945 the 47th Army initially played a secondary role, but despite this three of the 185th's regiments soon won battle honors of their own, and for taking Schneidemühl two regiments received decorations. Following the battles in Pomerania in February and March the division as a whole was awarded the Order of Suvorov. During the battle for Berlin the division attacked from the bridgehead over the Oder River at Küstrin and along with its Army helped lead the northern prong of the Soviet forces that encircled the city on April 25. It ended the war west of Berlin. During the rest of the year the division was part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, but in early 1946 47th Army was disbanded and its units were withdrawn to the Soviet Union. In 1947 the 185th's remaining personnel were used to create a rifle brigade in the Ural Military District.
Formation The division was formed at Belgorod in the Oryol Military District in September 1939. It was based on the 163rd Rifle Regiment of the 55th Rifle Division. In June 1940 it was moved to the Byelorussian Military District and from there it took part in the Soviet occupation of Lithuania beginning on June 15. In early 1941 it was pulled back to the Moscow Military District to be reorganized.Charles C. Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", Soviet Tank, Mechanized, Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940 - 1942, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. I, Nafziger, 1995, p. 60
185th Motorized Division The division began reforming on March 11, as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet mechanized forces, at Idritsa, as part of the 21st Mechanized Corps.David M. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1998, p. 230 Its order of battle was as follows: 280th Motorized Rifle Regiment 415th Motorized Rifle Regiment 660th Motorized Rifle Regiment 124th Tank Regiment 470th Artillery Regiment 49th Antitank Battalion 13th Antiaircraft Battalion 125th Reconnaissance Battalion 340th Light Engineer Battalion 194th Signal Battalion 155th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 22nd Motor Transport Battalion 148th Repair and Restoration Battalion 64th Division Artillery Workshop 118th Field Repair Shop 100th Motorized Field Bakery 364th Field Postal Station 505th Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. Pyotr Lukich Rudchuk moved up from deputy commander of the division to full commander on the day the conversion began. It had an unusual composition for a Soviet motorized division with three motorized rifle regiments instead of the usual two, as it was formed from a full division. 21st Mechanized (42nd and 46th Tank Divisions, 185th Motorized, and 11th Motorcycle Regiment) was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command on June 22.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 11 In reality, the Corps had no tanks at all, and trucks were in very short supply, so most of the riflemen were on foot. The 185th had 90 percent of its assigned personnel, but 75 percent of them had been received from April to June, leaving very little time for unit or individual training.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 60
By the beginning of July the 21st Mechanized Corps had been moved to the reserves of Northwestern Front. It was soon assigned to 27th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 15, 23 When Barbarossa began this Army was in Latvia, acting as a backup to the Front's main forces. Over the first 18 days of the invasion the Front's forces had to retreat as far as 600km in the face of Army Group North's attack, with 27th Army withdrawing in the direction of Kholm, being slowly pursued by II Army Corps, which captured the town in early August. On August 12 the Front's 11th and 34th Armies scored a short-lived success at Staraya Russa, but once this was reversed the Front pulled back across the Lovat River.Robert Forczyk, Demyansk 1942-43: The frozen fortress, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2012, Kindle ed.
General Rudchuk left his command on August 18; he served in command of several reserve cavalry regiments and brigades for the duration of the war. Lt. Col. Konstantin Nikolaevich Vindushev took over command of what remained of the 185th, and on August 25 reality was acknowledged when the division was officially reformed as a regular rifle division.Sharp, "The Deadly Beginning", p. 60
Reformation Once reformed as a rifle division the 185th's order of battle became as follows: 257th Rifle Regiment 280th Rifle Regiment (from 280th Motorized Rifle Regiment) 1319th Rifle Regiment (from reservists) 695th Artillery RegimentSharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 25 49th Antitank Battalion 125th Reconnaissance Company (later 158th Reconnaissance Battalion) 340th Sapper Battalion 194th Signal Battalion (later 586th Signal Company) 155th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 98th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 22nd Motor Transport Battalion (until October 2, 1941) 22nd Motor Transport Company (until September 10, 1942) 269th Motor Transport Company (until June 25, 1943) 268th Motor Transport Company 335th Field Bakery 1031st Divisional Veterinary Hospital 364th Field Postal Station 505th Field Office of the State Bank Lt. Colonel Vindushev remained in command. On the same day, Army Group North's 18th Army resumed its advance on Leningrad, which was encircled on September 8. Later in the month the Novgorod Operational Group, under Northwestern Front command, was formed, and by October 1 it consisted of the 185th, 180th, and 305th Rifle Divisions, plus the 3rd Tank Division, which had no tanks and was converting to infantry. The Group was defending a 30km sector along the Volkhov River from Dubrovka to Lake Ilmen.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941 - 1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, pp. 63, 66, 91, 561
Battle for Kalinin Army Group Center launched its Operation Typhoon on September 30 in an attempt to capture Moscow before winter. This offensive was an immediate success, with four Soviet armies encircled and largely destroyed by October 10 in the Vyazma area. With their flanks exposed the armies on each side were forced to fall back. Lt. Gen. N. F. Vatutin, the chief of staff of Northwestern Front, was ordered to organize a force to defend the city of Kalinin. Vatutin's Operational Group would consist of the 183rd and 185th Rifle Divisions, the 46th and 54th Cavalry Divisions, the 8th Tank Brigade, 46th Motorcycle Regiment, and an unnumbered Guards Mortar battalion.Sharp and Jack Radey, The Defense of Moscow 1941 - The Northern Flank, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2012, pp. 23-24
During the period since its reformation the 185th had been relatively disengaged from the fighting, and had also received a considerable influx of replacements, so that it now had a strength of 12,046 personnel, armed with 196 automatic weapons, 17 mortars of all calibres, 32 regimental and divisional guns, but just one antitank gun. Despite this latter shortage, the division was unusually strong in numbers for this period of the war. However, most of these men were again poorly trained conscripts filling the ranks around a much smaller cadre of experienced soldiers. As a result, "its performance at Kalinin can only be termed lacklustre." Vatutin directed the division to complete concentration in the area of Svyatsevo, B. Petrovo, and Budovo on the morning of October 17. STAVKA Directive No. 003053, dated 1830 hours the same day, established Kalinin Front, under command of Col. Gen. I. S. Konev, consisting of 22nd, 29th, and 30th Armies plus Vatutin's Operational Group, which now also included the 246th Rifle Division.Sharp and Radey, The Defense of Moscow 1941 - The Northern Flank, pp. 25-26, 258-59
The city of Kalinin had fallen to the 1st Panzer Division of XXXXI Panzer Corps on October 14. On the same day the 8th Tank Brigade, commanded by Col. P. A. Rotmistrov, was racing toward Vyshny Volochyok and Torzhok from Valdai, with the 183rd and 185th Divisions, and the two cavalry divisions, in its wake. The following day the panzers, along with the 900th Lehr Brigade, began crossing the bridge they had seized over the Volga, as the first stage of a grandiose plan to link up with Army Group North through the Valdai Hills, which would encircle Northwestern Front. This plan not only disregarded the continuing resistance of Red Army forces, but also the state of the roads and the logistical shoestring the German forces were operating on. The latter was worsened when the 21st Tank Brigade launched a surprise raid on the supply lines south of the city on October 17.Sharp and Radey, The Defense of Moscow 1941 - The Northern Flank, pp. 29-31, 55-57