2nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
| 2nd Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
I Formation: 1919–19 September 1941 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | |
| Decorations |
Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner (1st formation)  Order of Kutuzov (3rd formation) |
| Battle honours |
Belorussian (1st formation) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Vladimir Vashkevich |
I Formation: 1919–19 September 1941
II Formation: 26 September–23 November 1941
III Formation: 23 November 1941–29 January 1942
Latvian War of Independence
Polish-Soviet War
Soviet invasion of Poland
World War II
Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner (1st formation)
Belorussian (1st formation)
named for M.V. Frunze (1st formation)
The Soviet 2nd Rifle Division was a rifle division that served during the Second World War. Originally formed in 1919 from the 1st Ryazansk Rifle Division, the division was twice destroyed and reformed during the war. The division contained two or three rifle regiments.
Formed at Moscow, September 1918. Fought at Ufa on the Eastern Front, April–July 1919. Fought against Yudenich with the 7th Army, October–December 1919. Fought in the Polish Campaign in the Western Front, May–August 1920, and against Bulak-Balakhovich, October 1920.
During the war there were four distinct formations that bore the title of 2nd Rifle Division.
Formed in 1919 in the Belorussian Military District. On 22 June 1941 the division was part of the 1st Rifle Corps, 10th Army and took up defensive positions on the right flank of the army stationed in the Bialystok "bulge". The division escaped from the Bialystok pocket only to be annihilated by the German army in a pocket west of Minsk in early July 1941. The division was removed from the Soviet order of battle on 24 July 1941 and officially disbanded on 19 September 1941.
The full honorific title of the division was the 2nd Belorussian Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of M.V. Frunze.
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