The 163rd Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army just before the Second World War began, in the Tula Oblast, based on the pre-September 13, 1939 shtat (table of organization and equipment). As a reinforced rifle division, it took part in the Winter War with Finland, where it was encircled at Suomussalmi. Despite a rescue attempt by the 44th Rifle Division from the Raate Road (which was also the route used by some of the 163rd's forces) the division was largely destroyed in one of the best-known Finnish victories of the war.
What little remained of the 163rd was moved postwar to Novgorod in the Leningrad Military District to be rebuilt as a motorized division. At the outbreak of war with Germany it was assigned to 1st Mechanized Corps and was part of the reserves of the redesignated Northern Front. In common with most Soviet motorized divisions it was significantly short of trucks and its outdated tanks were lost, mostly to breakdowns, before the end of August. During that month, as part of 34th Army, it took part in the Northwestern Front's counterstrike at Staraya Russa which briefly surrounded two German divisions and inflicted a considerable delay on Army Group North's advance on Leningrad, although at heavy cost.
On September 15, reality was acknowledged and the 163rd was again formed as a regular rifle division. Along with its Army it was forced back toward, and then past, the town of Demyansk, and it would be involved in the fighting around the German-held salient until early 1943. It was then removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and moved south to join the 27th Army in Steppe Military District, soon renamed Steppe Front. By the time it entered the fighting after the German Kursk offensive it was in Voronezh Front and helped to create a major breach in the German lines in early August. As this was exploited the division was briefly transferred to 6th Guards Army and, before that Army was moved north, transferred again to 38th Army, still in Voronezh (soon 1st Ukrainian) Front. Under this command it gained a battle honor for taking the city of Romny. It then closed on the Dniepr south of Kyiv and prepared to force a crossing. After frustrating battles through October it played a leading role in taking the Ukrainian capital and was awarded its name as a second honorific. Following this, the 163rd was ordered to advance in the direction of Zhytomyr but was engaged by German counterattacks in the Fastiv area, being transferred to 40th Army as part of a general regrouping. In January 1944 it was diverted southward to take part in the encirclement battle near Cherkasy, and then advanced through western Ukraine toward the upper Dniestr River. In a period of less than 5 weeks the 163rd was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov, and the Order of Lenin. Now part of 2nd Ukrainian Front it saw little service in the Front's spring campaign into Moldova, and was transferred back to 27th Army prior to the start of the August offensive toward Romania. It would remain in this Army for the duration of the war. The division took part in the defeat of the German 6th Army and earned its fourth decoration, the Order of Kutuzov, for its part in the capture of Ploiești at the end of the month. After Romania came over to the Allied forces the 27th Army entered Hungary, but did not directly participate in the fighting for Budapest. The 163rd moved, with its Army, over to 3rd Ukrainian Front in February 1945 and remained under that command into the postwar. It was one of the most highly decorated regular rifle formations when the war ended, and was moved back into Ukraine, where it was converted into a mechanized division in March 1947.
Formation The division began forming in August 1939, in the Tula Oblast, based on a rifle regiment of the 84th Rifle Division. Col. Andrei Ivanovich Zelentsov was appointed to command that month; he had been serving as commander of tank forces of 3rd Rifle Corps. He was promoted to the rank of Kombrig on November 4 and this would be modernized to major general on June 4, 1940, the day he left the division.
By September the 163rd was already being concentrated on the border with Latvia. In late October - early November it was moved to East Karelia, first as part of the Special Rifle Corps of 8th Army and then into the 47th Rifle Corps of 9th Army, which was under command of Komkor V. I. Chuikov. Over the next weeks it was heavily reinforced, until it comprised: 529th Rifle Regiment (from 54th Rifle Division) 662nd Rifle Regiment 759th Rifle Regiment 593rd Rifle Regiment (from 131st Rifle Division) 81st Mountain Rifle Regiment (from 54th Rifle Division) 365th Reconnaissance Regiment 365th Armored Car Battalion These additional forces raised the personnel strength under Zelentsov to some 13,562 men.http://raatteentie.heninen.net/sotatapahtumat/klio.htm. In Russian. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
Battle of Suomussalmi The provincial town of Suomussalmi, with a population of some 4,000 inhabitants, was a target for the Red Army largely due its position on the east side of the narrow "waist" of Finland, sitting astride the shortest route to Oulu, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia. The roads on the Finnish side of the border were fairly well-developed in this region. When the 163rd crossed the border on November 30 it was burdened with such extraneous frills as a brass band, printing presses, plus truckloads of propaganda leaflets and of good-will gifts for the local populace. Although the possibilities were greatly exaggerated by Soviet intelligence, it was true that voters in the region tended to vote for left-wing parties and policies in national elections. If the town could be taken, good roads led to the rail junction at Hyrynsalmi, from where Oulu was only 240km distant.William R. Trotter, A Frozen Hell, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 2000, pp. 54, 150. This source gives the strength of the division as 17,000.
Chuikov had deployed his Army in three columns. 54th Division (less the regiments attached to the 163rd) took the southern route, with the objective of reaching the town of Kuhmo. The center column was made up of the 163rd and the 44th Rifle Division moving on two roads toward Suomussalmi. In the north the 122nd Rifle Division advanced on Salla in an effort to link up with 14th Army's 88th Rifle Division.John R. Elting, Battles for Scandinavia, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, VA, 1981, p. 25 In common with all the Red Army thrusts into the central and northern wildernesses the Finns were taken aback that the Soviets were even bothering to attack there, and in such massive strength. The 163rd pushed off from its base at Ukhta, on the Murmansk Railroad, along one of the many forest roads that had been secretly built to access the border.Trotter, A Frozen Hell, p. 150
Two roads led to Suomussalmi. The northern Juntusranta Road ran southwest before joining a main north–south route that led through the town and then by separate routes to Hyrynsalmi and to Peranka. The southern Raate Road intersected the HyrynsalmiPeranka route in the middle of Suomussalmi. Of the two, the Raate Road was the most improved, and the Finns were expecting it to be used if a Soviet attack came. Zelentsov, however, sent two of his regiments along the Juntusranta Road, gaining complete tactical surprise and overwhelming a 50-man company of border guards. The two regiments pressed on and reached the Palovaara junction overnight on December 5/6. Meanwhile, another regiment was moving into Suomussalmi itself via the Raate Road after overcoming the resistance of two platoons of border guards and a pair of improvised roadblocks by the end of December 1. Thereafter, it faced several reserve companies from Kajaani which slowed, but did not stop its progress. By the morning of December 7 all civilians had been evacuated from the town, and most of its buildings were set afire, but it was a hasty job and some were missed while others were saved by Zelentsov's men after they entered. Altogether there were enough to shelter several hundred men. Of the two regiments on the Juntusranta Road, one turned north toward Peranka and the other reached Suomussalmi later that day to link up with the regiment from the Raate Road.Trotter, A Frozen Hell, pp. 150-51
The Finnish command was responding to the situation by committing companies and battalions of reinforcements as they mobilized. The thrust on the Juntusranta Road appeared to be the more significant threat, and the independent infantry battalion ErP-16 began arriving at Peranka at 0100 hours, on December 6. By noon the whole battalion had taken up good defensive ground near Lake Piispajärvi, in time to meet the probing attacks of the lead elements of the 662nd Rifle Regiment, which had orders to reach Peranka by nightfall. This led to 24 hours of skirmishing, during which the initiative gradually passed to the Finns, despite being outnumbered about two-to-one. By now, all the Finnish forces operating north of the Palovaara road junction were grouped into "Task Force Susi" under command of Lt. Col. Paavo Susitaival, and the force was able to contain the 662nd, led by Colonel Sharov, with relative ease. In part this was due to one of Zelentsov's first of many costly mistakes; he had retained one of Sharov's battalions as his divisional reserve. Sharov made his situation worse on December 11 by sending a radio message to the rear, soon deciphered by Finnish intelligence, in which he complained that his men lacked boots, snowsuits, and adequate food. Further communications revealed that one of the divisional political officers had been "fragged" by some of his men, and a transmission on December 13 reported 160 battle casualties and 48 frostbite cases in the regiment to date, some 10 percent of its active strength, all while skirmishing.Trotter, A Frozen Hell, pp. 151-52
Sharov tried to regain the initiative on December 14-15 and managed to make a temporary advance from Haapavaara to Ketola, but this was halted by mortar and Maxim machine gun fire. The lead battalion suffered 150 casualties, which brought his cumulative casualties to roughly 20 percent. With his soldiers reaching the end of their physical strength, Sharov ordered them over to the defensive. Meanwhile, Zelentsov had concentrated two regiments and most of his heavy weapons in Suomussalmi and the immediate area, and the Finns expected a new drive to commence on Hyrynsalmi. Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim had already ordered the sole uncommitted regiment of the 9th Infantry Division, JR-27, under command of Col. Hjalmar Siilasvuo, to the area to deal with the threat. Under the operational plan, JR-27 was to form the core of an ad hoc task force of approximately brigade strength which was to destroy the 163rd. This was an ambitious objective as Zelentsov had attached tanks and organic artillery, as well as being numerically stronger in manpower. JR-27, on the other hand, had no heavy weapons at all, and lacked a full inventory of such basics as tents and snowsuits.Trotter, A Frozen Hell, pp. 152-54
However, Siilasvuo's force had plenty of skis and men with experience in their use. Most were from small northern towns, many had worked as loggers, and they knew the forests well. Already there were over 30cm of snow on the ground. What the Finns lacked in firepower they could counter with mobility. Siilasvuo established his headquarters at Hyrynsalmi and concentrated his troops there, some 40km south of Suomussalmi. When elements of the 163rd advanced on that place on December 9 they were surprised to come under heavy machine gun fire just 1-2km from their jumping-off line.Trotter, A Frozen Hell, p. 154 Finnish Counterattack