Soviet 52nd Rifle Division
| Western Rifle Division (1918 – ca. 1923) 52nd Rifle Division (1935–1941) 52nd Rifle Division (1942–1946) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1945 |
| Country |
 Soviet Union
|
| Branch |
 Red Army
|
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry/Cavalry |
| Engagements |
Russian Civil War Polish-Soviet War Soviet Invasion of Poland Winter War Operation Platinum Fox East Prussian Offensive Battle of Berlin |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Stanisław Bobiński Stefan Żbikowski Col. A. Ia. Maksimov |
The Western Rifle Division (Polish: Zachodnia Dywizja Strzelców) was a Red Army infantry division that served during the Russian Civil War. The division also served between the Civil War and World War II as the 52nd Rifle Division. After the first formation of the division was promoted to Guards status as the 10th Guards Rifle Division in late December, 1941, a second formation of the division fought on for the duration in several Fronts.
The Western Division was formed in the summer of 1918 at the initiative of Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the Polish Socialist Party-Left (PPS-Lewica). A Polish communist regiment, the Red Regiment of Revolutionary Warsaw (Czerwony Pułk Rewolucyjnej Warszawy) made up its cadre, and in the beginning it was mostly composed of Polish volunteers. According to its order of battle (below) each of its brigades consisted of two battalions of infantry and one battalion of cavalry.
It first fought in the Southern Front against the White Cossacks of Pyotr Krasnov; later against the forces of Anton Denikin and Pyotr Wrangel. During the Polish-Soviet War it was part of the Western Army, and it fought against the Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence units and later the Polish Army of the newly created Second Polish Republic in the opening phase of the Polish-Soviet War. Spearheading the Russian westward offensive of 1918-1919 ('Target Vistula') it took Wilno in January 1919; it sustained heavy losses during the fights at Baranowicze against forces of Gen. Stanisław Szeptycki (part of Operation Wilno, a Polish counteroffensive).
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