345th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

345th Rifle Division (September 9, 1941 – July 17, 1942) 345th Rifle Division (March 13, 1945 – 1946)
Active	1941–1946
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Crimean Campaign Siege of Sevastopol (1941–42) Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Commanders
Notable commanders	Col. Nikolai Olimpievich Guz Col. Vasilii Vasilievich Pyankov

The 345th Rifle Division began forming in September, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea. Its first formation served exclusively in the southernmost parts of the Soviet-German front, specifically in the Caucasus and Crimea. It arrived at Sevastopol in December, and fought stubbornly in defense of the fortress-port until mid-July, 1942, when the city capitulated and the division was destroyed. In March, 1945, a new 345th was formed in the Far East, and a few months later took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, but as it was in a reserve formation it saw little, if any, actual combat.

The division formed for the first time on September 9, 1941, at Makhachkala in the North Caucasus Military District. Just before it was sent to the front, its personnel were noted as being 38 percent Russian, with the remaining 62 percent Central Asian and Caucasian; most of the Caucasian troops were Ossetians and Chechens. Its order of battle was as follows:

The absence of an antitank battalion is notable. Even when it shipped out to Sevastopol it only had six such guns on hand. Col. Nikolai Olimpievich Guz took command of the division on the day it was formed and he remained in command until the first formation was dissolved. The unit had about three months to form up far from the front before going into action. In late December it moved to the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti. As of December 20, the division had the following strengths (actual on hand/Official Shtat):

The division was not badly off for manpower, and was over-strength in howitzers, but was lacking in weapons in general and especially modern weapons. It had less than a tenth of the semi-automatic rifles it should have, and no submachine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, or 37mm anti-aircraft guns at all, just six antitank guns, and 107mm mountain mortars were substituted for 120mm mortars, and only at 75 percent strength. However, many other rifle divisions went to the front in equal or worse shape in that month.

In mid-December, German 11th Army, under command of General Erich von Manstein, began its first deliberate assault on the Sevastopol defenses. During a brief halt in this offensive, on December 23, a five-ship convoy carrying the 345th was escorted into the port, where it joined the Separate Coastal Army, under command of General I. Ye. Petrov; it would remain under these commands for the duration of the siege. It had been intended to land the division near Kerch along with the 302nd Mountain Rifle Division, but the crisis at Sevastopol forced the change in plans. The fresh troops were immediately ordered into the line to replace the 388th Rifle Division, which had been shattered in the earlier fighting.

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Wikipedia