310th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

310th Rifle Division (July 15, 1941 – 1945)
Maj. Gen. N. F. Zamirovski, first commander of the 310th
Active	1941–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Siege of Leningrad Lyuban Offensive Operation Novgorod–Luga Offensive Svir–Petrozavodsk Offensive Vistula-Oder Offensive East Pomeranian Offensive Berlin Strategic Offensive
Decorations	Order of Lenin  Order of the Red Banner
Battle honours	Novgorod
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj. Gen. Nikifor Matveevich Zamirovski Col. Mikhail Andreevich Orlov Col. Nikolai Vasilevich Rogov

The 310th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 15, 1941 in Kazakhstan before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, where it spent most of the war, sharing a similar combat path with its "sister", the 311th Rifle Division. The soldiers of the division fought until early 1944 to, first, hold open some sort of lifeline to the besieged city, then to break the siege and drive off the besieging German forces. They then participated in the offensive that drove Germany's Finnish allies out of the war. Finally, the division was redeployed to take the fight to the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war north of Berlin with a very creditable combat record for any rifle division.

The 310th began forming in mid-July, 1941 in Kazakhstan in the Akmolinsk region of the Central Asia Military District. The personnel of the division were mostly Kazakhs at this time. Its order of battle was as follows:

Col. Nikifor Matveevich Zamirovski was assigned to command on July 15, and he would hold this assignment until May 30, 1942, being promoted to Major General on January 22. The division was given about six weeks to form up before it was sent by rail all the way to the Northwestern Front, ending its journey in the Tikhvin area east of Leningrad. It was first assigned to the 52nd Army, but was reassigned to the 54th Army when that army was first formed on September 2.

German forces cut off and isolated the city on September 8. The 310th took part in the First Sinyavino Offensive beginning on September 10; during the following 16 days of off-and-on heavy fighting the 54th Army advanced only 6 – 10 km, and even some of these gains were later retaken by the German XXXIX Motorized Corps. The offensive was judged a failure and led to the cashiering and court-martial of Marshal G.I. Kulik, but it benefited the Soviets overall by pulling German reserves away from the Moscow axis and also delaying the transfer of the XXXXI Motorized Corps to Army Group Center.