The 144th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in September 1939 in the Moscow Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of later that month. It remained in the same District until the beginning of the German invasion in June 1941, initially as part of 20th Army. It was railed to the front, significantly understrength, in the last days of June, rejoining its Army, and was almost immediately pocketed near Smolensk. It took part in a counterattack which briefly retook the town of Rudnya, but rapidly lost strength in this precarious position. In the first days of August the remnants of the division emerged from the pocket and took up defensive positions along the Dniepr River for rebuilding. During August and September it was involved in several abortive attempts to retake Dukhovshchina, and the associated losses put it in a poor state to resist when the German offensive on Moscow was renewed in the first days of October. Still holding near Smolensk it did not come under direct attack but was deeply encircled and had to withdraw over 100km without adequate communications or supplies and only several hundred men escaped. This was enough to allow another rebuilding in early November before it was assigned to 5th Army, where it served through the defense of Moscow. In the same Army it took part in the winter counteroffensive, during which it assisted in the liberation of Mozhaysk. It reached the vicinity of Gzhatsk as the offensive wound down and remained there through 1942, taking only a limited part in the fighting for the Rzhev salient. At the beginning of March 1943 the salient was evacuated and during the pursuit the 144th was one of the first units into Vyazma, before coming up against the Büffel-Stellung at the base of the salient that brought the front to a standstill. The division was soon transferred to 33rd Army, still in Western Front. Under this command it fought through the Smolensk region again during August and September before becoming involved in the long and frustrating battles around Vitebsk through the winter and early spring of 1943/44, after which it returned to 5th Army for the duration of the war. As part of 3rd Belorussian Front it took part in the summer offensive that destroyed Army Group Center, then advanced through Lithuania. In the course of this advance it won a battle honor as well as the Order of the Red Banner for crossing the Neman River near Kaunas, and several of its subunits also won honors. In October it took part in the abortive offensive near Goldap and Gumbinnen in East Prussia, gaining the Order of Suvorov in the process. The 144th helped lead the Army's renewed advance into East Prussia in January 1945, gaining further honors in the process, and while it was not involved directly in the battle for Königsberg it took part in clearing the Sambia Peninsula before loading aboard trains for Siberia and the far east. When the invasion of Manchuria began on August 9 the division played another leading role in the advance on Mudanjiang and the battle for that city, and in the process won its final distinctions. It had a lengthy career in the postwar Soviet Army, remaining in the far east facing China until July 1956 when it was disbanded.
Formation Kombrig Mikhail Andreevich Pronin was given command of the 144th on the day it began forming in Ivanovo Oblast of the Moscow Military District. He had previously led the 175th Rifle Regiment of the 1st Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division. His rank would be modernized to that of major general on June 4, 1940. At the start of the German invasion the division was still in Ivanovo Oblast, under 20th Army of the Reserve of the STAVKA High Command, in 61st Rifle Corps with 110th and 172nd Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10 Its order of battle was as follows: 449th Rifle Regiment 612th Rifle Regiment 785th Rifle Regiment 308th 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. 72 270th Antitank Battalion 158th Reconnaissance Company 226th Sapper Battalion (later 310th) 217th Signal Battalion (later 217th Signal Company) 205th Medical/Sanitation Battalion (later 50th) 86th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 155th Motor Transport Company (later 228th) 284th Field Bakery 193rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 926th Field Postal Station 656th Field Office of the State Bank As of July 1 the 144th was still in the Reserve, but now as part of the separate 20th Rifle Corps with the 160th Rifle Division. It was already moving west, where on July 2 it rejoined 20th Army as a separate division. The Army was now under command of Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 18, 23 In a July 27 report by Lt. Gen. P. A. Kurochkin he described the state of some of his units as they arrived at the fighting front:The report further stated the Army's signal units had only 25-30 percent of their communications equipment and transport. On the same day the 144th rejoined the Army, it was struck by elements of German 4th Army.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co. Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., chs. 2, 4 Battle of Smolensk
20th Army was now part of the Group of Reserve Armies which had been assigned to Western Front and it had been ordered to prepare defenses along a sector on the approaches to Orsha. The Front was now under command of Marshal S. K. Timoshenko; he quickly assigned the 5th and 7th Mechanized Corps, with a total of over 1,500 tanks, to the support of the Army. At 0030 hours on July 5, as directed by Timoshenko, General Kurochkin ordered his Army to "prepare and conduct an attack against the flank and rear of the enemy grouping operating along the Polotsk axis." This counterblow effectively came to nothing apart heavy losses in tanks. By July 12 the 144th was attempting to hold crossings over the Dniepr River in the sector from Rossasna to Klimenki. Meanwhile Timoshenko was planning a massive counteroffensive scheduled to begin the next day in which 20th Army would destroy the German forces that had crossed the Dniepr near Astroŭna. Given the actual situation, no part of Timoshenko's plan was even remotely feasible. The next day the Marshal modified his directions to the Army; it was now to liquidate the penetrations in the Orsha and Shklow areas by the end of July 16 but this was no more realistic.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 2, 3
In heavy fighting on July 15 the 17th Panzer Division captured Orsha and, together with much of the rest of 2nd Panzer Group, drove the bulk of 20th and 19th Armies, including the 144th and up to 19 other divisions of various types, into an elongated pocket along and north of the Dniepr west of Smolensk. Despite this, Timoshenko was able to report on July 16 at 2000 hours that the division, now part of 69th Rifle Corps of 20th Army, had "seized Lyady from two companies of enemy infantry and 5-7 tanks" with an advanced battalion. In a further report two days later the stated, in part:Kurochkin was by now in command of all forces in the pocket and set about regrouping his units so as to keep in contact with Group Rokossovskii, which was holding open the line of communications to the east.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 4, 6The fighting at Rudnya on July 14 was notable for the first combat use of the Katyusha rocket launcher. Georgii Zhukov, Marshal of Victory: The Autobiography of General Georgy Zhukov, Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, UK, 2013, p. 495.
Timoshenko's next report at 0800 hours on July 21 first asserted that Western Front's forces "continued to conduct sustained fighting with enemy units..." before specifically stating:In a further report at 2000 hours on July 23, 20th Army was said to have regrouped to attack the German forces penetrating toward the city while also defending the north bank of the Dniepr, while the 144th had been hit by sustained ground and air attacks, after which it had withdrawn to a line from Molevo Boloto to Bolshaya Ploskaya Station by 1100 on July 22.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4 It was at about this time that the 270th Antitank Battalion was removed from the division in order to help form a separate antitank regiment within the Army.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 72
As the fighting continued Army Group Center was determined to disengage its panzer divisions to forestall further Red Army counterattacks from the east and to, hopefully, restore momentum to the drive on Moscow. Infantry corps had begun arriving in the area on July 18 and the panzers began moving on July 23, barely anticipating Timoshenko's new counteroffensive which would be led by 20 divisions of the Front of the Reserve Armies. It was crucial to the plan that the 16th, 19th, and 20th Armies in the pocket remain in the fight. Timoshenko directed that the 16th and 20th, both now under Kurochkin's overall command, retake Smolensk while also making local attacks on the perimeter to try to link up with the advancing groups of Reserve Front. The counterstroke began on a staggered fashion on July 23, with the full 20 divisions committed only two days later.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 4, 5
Timoshenko again reported to the STAVKA on July 24 in optimistic terms. 20th Army was said to be "repulsing attacks by up to 7 enemy divisions, defeated two German divisions, including 5th ID attacking toward Rudnya with three volleys of Katyushas..." At 2100 hours the next day Kurochkin stated that 20th Army was "defending and preventing an enemy penetration to Smolensk", and 69th Corps (now containing the 144th and 229th) was:The headquarters of Western Front signaled at 0800 on July 26 that the 144th, 153rd, and 57th Tanks were engaged in day and night fighting with 5th Infantry. General Pronin received orders to withdraw his division into Army reserve overnight on July 26/27 to the Matyushino, Zamoshe, and Kozarevo area, 8-10km north-northeast of Smolensk, with the 153rd covering the move.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 5
Despite these reports the pocket was shrinking, and by July 27 the counteroffensive was waning. The Front of the Reserve Armies was reorganized into Reserve Front on July 30, with Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov in command.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 5 On July 26 Kurochkin had prepared a strength return which stated the 144th had 30 artillery pieces remaining, roughly average for his Army's rifle divisions at that point.Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1998, p. 209 At the same time he recommended that his Army could prevent a German advance from north of the pocket with the 73rd, 153rd, and 144th while the remainder attacked the flank and rear of 7th Panzer Division at Dukhovshchina in an effort to keep the pocket open in cooperation with Group Rokossovskii.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 5