The 129th Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in August 1939 in the North Caucasus Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of the following month. It remained in that District until just before the German invasion began in June 1941, when it was moving by rail through eastern Ukraine to join the 19th Army of Western Front near Vitebsk. On its approach to the fighting front in early July it became strung out along the roads and never made effective contact before the 19th was largely destroyed, so it fell back toward Smolensk where it was reassigned to 16th Army. During the following weeks it fought a series of see-saw battles for the northern part of the city while 16th Army was within a deep pocket. By the end of the month it was clear that Smolensk could not be retaken and the badly depleted division was able to escape, soon being reassigned to 20th Army. After being somewhat replenished it took part in several unsuccessful offensive actions from late August into early September, largely along the Ustrom River. When the German offensive on Moscow was renewed in early October it was 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. Only several hundred men escaped, not sufficient to allow it to be rebuilt, and it was disbanded in late November.
The 2nd Moscow Rifle Division began forming in October from worker's regiments in that city, now under immediate threat following Operation Typhoon. Once formed a few weeks later it took up fortified positions in the Moscow Defence Zone near Khimki until January 1942 when it was redesignated as the new 129th Rifle Division. It was soon assigned to 1st Shock Army and began moving north to join Northwestern Front in the vicinity of Demyansk in February. During the following 13 months it remained there, containing and attacking the German forces pocketed there, eventually as part of the Front's 53rd Army. In March 1943, following the German evacuation, the division entered the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and moved south, being assigned to Bryansk Front's 63rd Army north of the German 9th Army's salient around Oryol. When that city was taken on August 5 the 129th was awarded one of the Red Army's first battle honors. After Bryansk was taken in September the Front of that name was disbanded and the division moved, with 63rd Army, to Central Front. During the winter it fought in eastern Belarus, moving to 3rd Army of what was now 1st Belorussian Front in February 1944. Under these commands it fought in the summer offensive against Army Group Center, helping to defeat 9th Army again in and around Babruysk before exploiting this victory toward Minsk and eventually across the old Polish border. For its part in the capture of Białystok it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. During the following winter offensive into Poland and East Prussia, as part of 2nd and then 3rd Belorussian Fronts, it was also decorated with the Order of Kutuzov, while its major subunits won decorations as well. In April 1945 it was moved across eastern Germany to rejoin 1st Belorussian Front in preparation for the final offensive on Berlin, being detached to 33rd Army initially. After clearing Frankfurt-on-Oder it rejoined 3rd Army and fought to destroy the encircled 9th Army southwest of the German capital. Following this it advanced to the Elbe in early May, joining hands with US Army forces. The next month it was loaded up to return to the USSR, and it was disbanded at Polotsk in June 1946.
1st Formation The division was formed at Stalingrad in the North Caucasus Military District in August 1939. Kombrig Yakov Stepanovich Fokanov, who had previously led the 61st Rifle Division, was soon assigned to command, but he left this post in January 1940 to take command of the 18th Reserve Brigade. From July to October it was led by Maj. Gen. Nikifor Gordeevich Khoruzhenko, but on October 25 he left to complete his military education and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Avksentii Mikhailovich Gorodnianskii. At the time of the German invasion on June 22, 1941, the division's order of battle was as follows: 438th Rifle Regiment (until November 13, 1941) 457th Rifle Regiment (until November 9, 1941) 518th Rifle Regiment 664th 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. 66 37th Antitank Battalion 210th Antiaircraft Battalion 192nd Reconnaissance Company (later 192nd Battalion) 40th Sapper Battalion 276th Signal Battalion 196th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 52nd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 212th Motor Transport Battalion 152nd Field Bakery 829th Field Postal Station 38th Field Office of the State Bank At this time it was assigned to 19th Army's 34th Rifle Corps, along with the 158th and 171st Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10
Battle of Smolensk On the day of the German invasion the division was located in the areas of Cherkasy and Bila Tserkva.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 66 19th Army was under command of Lt. Gen. I. S. Konev, and was soon redirected toward the Vitebsk area, where it arrived in piecemeal fashion over several days. In a lengthy after-action report prepared on July 24 by Konev's chief of staff, Maj. Gen. P. N. Rubtsov, the circumstances of this arrival were described in part:Rubtsov went on to note deficiencies in command and control, especially in the use of radio; lack of rear services and reserves; and insufficient reconnaissance.David M. Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1998, pp. 208-09 All these would be reflected in the coming battle.
The 171st was transferred to Southwestern Front, and was replaced in the Corps' order of battle by the 38th Rifle Division. The 129th officially entered the fighting forces on July 2, when 19th Army became part of Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 23 In a report to the STAVKA late on July 13, the Front commander, Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, stated that he had designated a line behind the Dniepr and Sot Rivers in the Yartsevo and Smolensk regions as the concentration area for the 34th Corps and the 127th Rifle Division "to avoid feeding 19th Army's concentrating forces into combat in piecemeal fashion." In the event, the Corps would be strung out along the roads between Vitebsk and Smolensk.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., ch. 3
Timoshenko reported on the situation east of Vitebsk on the afternoon of July 16, stating in part that 19th Army had regrouped to prepare to retake that place, and that the 129th was "marching to jumping-off positions for the offensive by 2200 hours, with the head of its column at the intersection of the Moscow and Leningrad highway." By now 19th Army was severely disrupted and would soon be disbanded.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 6 Encirclement west of Smolensk The XXXXVII Panzer Corps, consisting of 29th Motorized Division in the lead, followed by 18th Panzer Division (17th Panzer Division was keeping 20th Army tied down at Orsha), had begun advancing from Horki early on July 13. The left wing rifle divisions of that Army were shoved aside and by dusk the town of Krasnyi, 56km southwest of Smolensk, was in German hands. Meanwhile, 17th Panzer had cleared Orsha and was pushing 20th Army into an elongated pocket north of the Dniepr west of Smolensk by July 15. In addition, the pocket contained the 129th and 158th, three divisions of 25th Corps, remnants of 5th and 7th Mechanized Corps, and various other formations totaling 20 divisions of several types and states of repair. However, XXXXVII Panzer was extended over 112km and 18th Panzer, as an example, was attempting to take up blocking positions at Krasnyi with just 12 tanks still operating.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 3
16th Army, led by Lt. Gen. M. F. Lukin, was tasked with the defense of the south approaches to the city, but had only two rifle divisions (46th and 152nd) and the 57th Tank Division under command. Despite serious resistance the 29th Motorized reached the southern outskirts of Smolensk on the evening of July 15; a three-day battle for the city center began the next morning with the 152nd and the 129th, which was now under 16th Army. General Gorodnianskii had reinforced his division with a collection of subunits formed from stragglers and now had some 10,000 personnel on strength. Reaching the city from the north at dawn on July 16 the division attempted to throw out the 29th Motorized but was forced to give up their gains in the northern half with heavy losses from continuous attacks and counterattacks. Lukin ordered the effort to continue, and Gorodnianskii regained much of his lost ground in a night attack on July 16/17, but this was lost to further counterattacks during the afternoon.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 3, 4
At 2300 hours on July 17 Lukin reported that:The 3rd Battalion of the 457th Rifle Regiment was said to be attacking alongside the 1st Battalion of the 46th's 314th Regiment into Korolevka, with support from the assets of 34th Corps. Lukin ordered the assault to resume the next day, reinforcing what was now being called Gorodnianskii's Detachment with the remnants of 158th and 127th Divisions from the disbanded 19th Army.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 4
By day's end on July 18 Smolensk was mostly in German hands, and 16th Army was partially encircled, along with the remnants of the 19th and other formations retreating from the frontier. Despite this success, it was increasingly clear that 29th Motorized and 18th Panzer were incapable of linking up with XXXIX Motorized Corps' 7th Panzer Division advancing from the north to complete the encirclement. Soviet forces were continuing to resist strongly, and the German mobile forces did not have sufficient infantry to seal the gaps. As the V Army Corps and IX Army Corps closed on Smolensk from northwest and southwest respectively to relieve the motorized troops the 129th and 152nd continued to incorporate many company and battalion-size groups from defeated divisions and put them into action in a battle that continued for ten days. Timoshenko had received orders from the STAVKA to hold (or retake) the city "at all cost." On July 19 Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko took over Western Front, while Timoshenko remained in command of the Western Direction. By this time Lukin had begun moving his two divisions from the west and southwest part of the pocket to concentrate them for the recapture of Smolensk. The 129th still had a foothold in the northern part of the city.
At 2000 hours that day Lukin was finally able to report to Front headquarters on his Army's situation, which included: On July 20 Timoshenko's commissar, N. A. Bulganin, correctly informed Stalin as follows: