The 175th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the North Caucasus Military District in July 1940, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It was still in that District at the time of the German invasion, and it was soon moved to the Kiev Fortified Region as part of Southwestern Front. It would remain defending the Ukrainian capital into September, eventually as part of 37th Army, when it was deeply encircled and destroyed.
A new 175th was designated in March 1942, based on a 400-series division that had begun forming the previous December in the Siberian Military District. It was soon moved to the Ural Military District, and after a rushed period of training it joined the reformed 28th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, before that Army was assigned to Southwestern Front. In May it formed part of the Front's northern shock group for the offensive intended to liberate Kharkiv. While initially hampered by the failure to take the German strongpoint at Ternovaya it gradually developed momentum in cooperation with 169th Rifle Division and ended up farther into the German positions than any other formation in the northern group, reaching to just north of Lyptsi, before being struck by an armored counterattack on May 20 and being driven back to near its starting line, at considerable cost. In June it was nearly encircled during Operation Wilhelm, but managed to escape, again with serious losses. When the main German summer offensive began later that month the remnants of the 175th were driven back to the Don River, where a relative handful of personnel and equipment were able to cross after fighting out of encirclement. The division was officially written off on September 4.
The final 175th began as the Ural Rifle Division of the NKVD in October in the Ural Military District. It retained the name "Ural" as an honorific. Early in the new year it, and five similar divisions, were transferred to the Red Army and formed as the new 70th Army. The Army was soon assigned to Central Front, where it joined the advance toward Oryol in late February and March 1943, but proved ineffective due to low standards of training and leadership. Over the following months, as these issues were taken in hand, the 175th helped to prepare for the expected German summer offensive against the Kursk salient. When this began the division was in the Army's second echelon and saw some defensive combat on the western fringe of 9th Army's attack on July 8, where it helped fight off a force of up to 200 panzers. A week later it again began advancing against the Oryol salient, reaching the German defenses at its base by late August, at which time it was transferred to 48th Army, still in Central Front. During September it advanced through northeastern Ukraine, across the Dniepr and into eastern Belarus, where it fought into January 1944, mostly near Gomel, Rechytsa and Shatsilki. At this point it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding and reassignment, but returned about a month later, now as part of 47th Army's 125th Rifle Corps on the long left flank of 1st Belorussian Front. It would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. In a preliminary operation on early July the 175th took part in eliminating a German salient around Kovel, and received its name as a battle honor. During the main Lublin–Brest offensive later that month it advanced through western Belarus and into eastern Poland, eventually running up against the German-held fortifications at Praga. After these were finally taken in mid-September the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. During the winter offensive into Poland in January 1945 the 175th, with its Army, outflanked Warsaw from the northeast, and two of its regiments were given battle honors for helping to take the city. Following this, it advanced into East Prussia and East Pomerania where its subunits received several decorations. In the final offensive on Berlin the 47th Army attacked out of the bridgehead over the Oder at Küstrin and as the operation developed swung north of the city, eventually linking up with units of 1st Ukrainian Front on April 25 in the Potsdam area. During the first five days of May, during and after the surrender of Berlin, the 175th, with its Corps, faced and defeated the largest effort to break out to the west. Following the war 47th Army was assigned to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, but it was disbanded in early 1946 and its units returned to the USSR. The 175th had been itself disbanded by June 1.
1st Formation The division first began forming on July 23, 1940, at Prokhladny and Mozdok in the North Caucasus Military District. Its order of battle on June 22, 1941, was as follows: 560th Rifle Regiment 632nd Rifle Regiment 728th Rifle Regiment 630th 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. 86 171st Antitank Battalion 454th Antiaircraft Battalion 212th Reconnaissance Company 190th Sapper Battalion 454th Signal Battalion 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion 515th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 259th Motor Transport Battalion 431st Field Bakery 157th Field Postal Station 55th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Semyon Mikhailovich Glovatskii was appointed to command the same day the division began forming.According to Commanders of Corps and Divisions (see Bibliography) Glovatskii left the division on July 15, 1941 and no other commanders of the 1st Formation are listed. According to https://osetia.kvaisa.ru/1-rubriki/01-budem-pomnit-vsegda/zabytyj-korpus/ he remained in command until he became missing in action in mid-September. At the start of the German invasion it was part of 64th Rifle Corps, with the 165th Rifle Division.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 12 After a brief period to complete its mobilization it began moving by rail, with its Corps, toward the front in early July, concentrating at Brovary by July 12.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 86 64th Corps was now in the reserves of Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 24
Defense of Kyiv
The 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions reached the Irpin River west of Kyiv on July 11 after breaking through Southwestern Front near Zhytomyr. The German command was divided on plans to directly attack Kyiv to seize its crossings over the Dniepr River, but by July 13 German reconnaissance made it clear that Soviet fortifications and troop concentrations ruled out any possibility of taking the city by surprise. Kyiv would remain in Soviet hands for more than two further months. At about the same time the 64th Corps moved into positions along the Irpin, with the 175th west and southwest of Boiarka, and the 165th further southwest.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 77-80 During the first 10 days of fighting along this line the 175th lost nearly 20 percent of its personnel.
During late July and into early August the XXIX Army Corps of German 6th Army made numerous attempts to capture Kyiv, but all of these were foiled. As German forces advanced on Boiarka 64th Corps was split apart, with the 165th pushed across the Dniepr and the 175th falling back by August 11 into the Kiev Fortified Region, defending the city's southwestern sector.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 81, 84-85 As of the beginning of the month the Corps was being disbanded and the 175th came under direct command of Southwestern Front. Later in August it was subordinated to the new 37th Army,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 33, 43 which was tasked with continuing the defense of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. By September 10 the remnants of 5th and 37th Armies were grouped north of Kozelets but 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 Colonel Glovatskii went missing on September 15 and the situation rapidly deteriorated. The remnants of the division managed to get across the Dniepr on September 18, but there was no possibility of breaking through the German lines from so far west. The division was effectively destroyed two days later, but in common with most of the encircled divisions of Southwestern Front it officially remained on the books until December 27, when it was finally written off.
2nd Formation The 444th Rifle Division began forming in December 1941 in the Siberian Military District.Glantz states that it was formed at Tyumen in the Ural Military District; David M. Glantz, Kharkov 1942, Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, UK, 2010, p. 114 In March 1942 it was redesignated as the new 175th Rifle Division.Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 99 Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 1st formation: 560th Rifle Regiment 632nd Rifle Regiment 728th Rifle Regiment 630th Artillery RegimentSharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 71 171st Antitank Battalion 143rd Antiaircraft Battery 113th Mortar Battalion 212th Reconnaissance Company 190th Sapper Battalion 454th Signal Battalion 262nd Medical/Sanitation Battalion 515th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 259th Motor Transport Company 431st Field Bakery 896th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1675th Field Postal Station 1117th Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Demyanovich Kuleshov had been assigned to command of the 444th on January 23. This officer had led the 85th Rifle Division during 1934-37 before taking command of the Special Railway Corps, but was arrested on March 17, 1938 during the Great Purge. After his release in November 1939 he served as a senior instructor, and then led the 64th Rifle Corps throughout its original formation in 1941. He would remain in command of the 175th for the duration of its second formation. In March the new division was noted as having 95 percent of its personnel of Siberian, Bashkir, and Tatar nationalities, most between 33 and 42 years of age, and some 30 percent of whom had been released from prison camps.Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 592 During that month it was assigned to the reformed 28th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. In April this Army came under command of Southwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 73, 85
Second Battle of Kharkiv 28th Army, under command of Lt. Gen. D. I. Ryabyshev, also contained the 13th Guards, 38th, 162nd, 169th, and 244th Rifle Divisions, plus a cavalry corps and four tank brigades.Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 112-14