184th Rifle Division (II) (1941-1946) 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division (1946-1949; 1978-present) |
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Active | 1941-1949; 1978-present |
Country | Soviet Union |
Allegiance | Russian Ground Forces |
Type | fortification artillery formation |
Part of | Eastern Military District |
Garrison/HQ | Goryachiye Klyuchi, Kurilsky District, Sakhalin Oblast |
Nickname(s) | Dukhovshchinskaya (Духовщинская) |
Engagements |
Battle of Kursk, Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Smolensk, Third Battle of Kharkov, Dukhovshchinsk-Demidovo Operation |
The 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division is a division (military) of the Russian Ground Forces.
It was first formed as the 184th Red Banner Rifle Division (Russian: 184-я Краснознамëнная стрелковая дивизия, abbreviated: 184-я сд) which was a Soviet Red Army division during World War II (till 1940 – 2nd Division of Lithuania). It was with 29th Rifle Corps of 11th Army on June 22, 1941, as part of the Baltic Military District. Most of the soldiers rebelled and joined the cause of the Lithuanian Activist Front. Some of its remnants went to make up the Second Formation of the 16th Rifle Division. Its Second Formation was activated in October 1941, a redesignation of the 4th NKVD Rifle Division, which had been active in the Crimea since September 1941. The Division fought as part of the 62nd Army during the Battle of Stalingrad under Colonel Koida from July 17 to September 15, 1942.
Among the most notable division members was Roza Shanina. On July 12, 1944, the division liberated Trakai jointly with the 45th Rifle Corps. During the counter-offensive in Eastern Prussia the division hoisted the flag of the Soviet Union on the Soviet state border. It was then transferred to the Far East and fought as part of 45th Rifle Corps, 5th Army, during the invasion of Manchuria.