300th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
| 300th Rifle Division (July 10, 1941 – April 16, 1943) 300th Rifle Division (August 9, 1943 – April 14, 1946) | |
|---|---|
 Maj. Gen. Andrei Pavlovich Karnov
| |
| Active | 1941–1946 |
| Country |
 Soviet Union
|
| Branch |
 Red Army
|
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Engagements |
Operation Barbarossa Battle of Kiev (1941) First Battle of Kharkov Second Battle of Kharkov Operation Blue Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Little Saturn Battle of Rostov (1943) Soviet invasion of Manchuria |
| Battle honours | Harbin (2nd Formation) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
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The 300th Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion, and fought in the southwestern part of the Soviet-German front for nearly two years following. It was able to escape the encirclement east of Kiev in September, 1941, and then fought to defend, and later to try to liberate, the city of Kharkov during 1941-42. After falling back under the weight of the German 1942 summer offensive, the division began distinguish itself during Operation Uranus in late 1942, when it helped defeat the German attempt to relieve Sixth Army and later in the pursuit of the defeated Axis forces and the second liberation of Rostov-na-Donu. In recognition of these successes it was raised to Guards status as the 87th Guards Rifle Division. A second 300th Rifle Division was raised a few months later and fought briefly but very successfully against the Japanese in Manchuria in August 1945. The second formation became the 3rd Tank Division in the Far East postwar and was redesignated as the 46th Tank Division in 1957 before disbanding in 1959.
The division began forming on July 10, 1941 at Krasnograd in the Kharkov Military District. Its order of battle was as follows:
Col. Pavel Ionovich Kuznetzov was appointed to command of the division on the day it began assembling.
Just a month after forming, the 300th was assigned to 38th Army of Southwestern Front, just as that Army was itself forming up. It first began to reach the front on August 12 and remained in that Army and that Front until May, 1942. On September 1 it was helping to contain the 1st Panzer Army's bridgehead across the Dniepr River at Kremenchug. As the German attack penetrated the Soviet lines, most of the division fell back to the east, and so avoided being encircled in the Kiev pocket.
On October 2, Col. Serafim Petrovich Merkulov took over command of the division from Colonel Kuznetzov. The 300th fought in the defense of Kharkov in October, after which, in November, it was reported as having been reduced to a strength of 2,684 men. In spite of this, the division went on to take part in the winter counteroffensive.
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Wikipedia