113th Rifle Division

The 113th Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army on September 8, 1939, in the Oryol Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that month. After playing a very minor role in the Soviet invasion of Poland under 4th Army it was stationed near Minsk for several months as it went through a series of partial demobilizations and remobilizations. It was finally mobilized for movement to the Finnish border in mid-December and went into combat as part of 7th Army in February 1940. Its initial attacks against a section of the Mannerheim Line were costly failures, but once the line was broken on another sector it was able to advance toward Viipuri, and in the last days of the war it cleared territory in the Vyborg Bay area. Later in 1940 it was moved to western Belarus (former Polish territory) and was deployed as part of 10th Army toward the frontier on the southern flank of the Białystok salient just before the German invasion. In this very vulnerable position, without time to develop its defenses, it was quickly overrun and destroyed, and finally written off on September 19.

The 5th Moscow People's Militia Division began forming on July 2, and by July 9 was marching to a training ground to the southwest of Moscow. On July 16 it was assigned to 33rd Army of Reserve Front, despite being under strength and largely unequipped. As its training and equipment status improved it was redesignated as the new 113th on September 26, just prior to the start of the final German offensive against Moscow. It was in the process of transferring to 43rd Army of the same Front when the attack began, and was soon encircled.

The original 113th was formed at Rylsk in the Oryol Military District on September 8, 1939, on the basis of the 164th Rifle Regiment of the 55th Rifle Division. Maj. Aleksandr Nikolaevich Nechaev, commander of the 164th, was appointed to command of the division and was soon promoted to the rank of colonel. The division was barely assembled when it was loaded on to trains and moved west to the vicinity of Minsk for possible deployment in the invasion of Poland, which began on September 17. After offloading, its personnel and equipment began a road march toward Baranavichy. The division was incorporated into the 10th Rifle Corps of 4th Army on October 5 and crossed the Polish border at two points. The Polish government surrendered the next day, and by October 8 the 113th had concentrated back at Baranavichy. It soon established permanent quarters at Pukhavichy, near Minsk.^[1]

Through October and November the 113th went through a confusing series of partial demobilizations and remobilizations which largely disrupted any coherence as a fighting unit. On November 30 the USSR invaded Finland, and on December 12 Nechaev was alerted to bring his division to full combat readiness and prepare for redeployment, although he was not informed of the destination. The first trains left from Pukhavichy on December 16 for Orsha, but the loading was not completed until December 30. The division crossed the frontier at Mainila on the Karelian Isthmus on January 5, 1940, assigned to 28th Rifle Corps, and then went into a period of intensive training under command of 7th Army. Upon arriving near the front line on January 30 elements of the 113th relieved the 768th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division.^[2]

The division's objective was to break through the Karhula fortified area of the Mannerheim Line by taking Hill 38.2 from up to two companies of the Finnish 11th Infantry Regiment. The attack would be led by the 513th Rifle Regiment against the northeast and east slopes and the 725th Regiment against the west slopes; the 679th Regiment would move one battalion to a point 1.5km northwest of Siprola. These moves were made without any prior reconnaissance. Following a 40-minute artillery preparation the attack began at 1040 hours on February 5 and was met with intense machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire from the hill. Only minor penetrations were made in a full day of fighting, at the cost of considerable losses, and Nechaev ordered a withdrawal to the start line. As a result he was relieved of his command, being replaced by a Colonel Kuznetsov as acting commander.^[3] On July 15, 1941, Nechaev would take command of the 283rd Rifle Division and would serve with distinction through the war with Germany, being promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in September 1943 and commanding both the 28th and 106th Rifle Corps.

A further attack by the 679th and 513th Regiments on February 7 also failed. The next day a further effort followed a two-hour artillery preparation, focused on a hill called "Pear" and Hill 38.2, but although the advanced obstacles were reached and crossed, Finnish fire again forced the riflemen back to their start line with considerable casualties. On February 9 the 3rd Battalion of the 513th managed to take the hill called "Grusha", but was immediately counterattacked and nearly encircled. The headquarters of Northwestern Front ordered an offensive across the entire Karelian front for February 11, and the same day Col. Kristofor Nikolaevich Alaverdov was appointed to command of the division.^[4] This cavalry officer had most recently served as an instructor at the Frunze Military Academy. He would remain in command for the rest of the existence of the 1st formation, being promoted to the rank of Kombrig on March 21, which would be modernized to major general on June 4.

For this attack the division was reinforced with artillery and tanks of the 1st Tank Division, but again failed to take Hill 38.2, although minor gains were made elsewhere. The goal for the next day was to use these gains as a base to reach the crossroads 500m from the village of Yläkylä in order to bypass the strongpoint at Karakhul and take Hill 38.2 from a new direction. This was stopped at or just beyond the barbed wire, again at high cost. The 725th Regiment again made minor gains near the Yazyk Grove, but failed to support the 650th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Division on its right. Between February 9-12 the division lost 341 men killed, including 12 junior officers, plus 466 wounded (93 junior officers), while one 76mm gun, one 45mm antitank gun, and 20 heavy machine guns, were disabled.^[5]

Late on February 13 the 123rd Rifle Division completed its breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line near Lähde, and while the 113th prepared on February 15 for a further attack on Hill 38.2 Mannerheim authorized the general Finnish retirement to the Intermediate Line at 1600 hours. During February 17 resistance in front of the division gradually melted away. By February 20 it was advancing on Viipuri behind the left flank of the 138th, encountering notable resistance near Porlampi and Hannukkalan-saari. The commander of the 513th Regiment, Maj. Timofei Stepanovich Ozerov, was killed in action in the battle for the railway station at Sommee. This place was protected by the remains of an old fortified line, part of the Intermediate Line, and the fighting continued until February 23 when the station was captured. The division remained along this line until February 27 when it was tasked with the taking of Nuora and the Lihaniemi Peninsula. This was largely successful until March 2 when a fort on the eastern end of Turkin-Sari Island was unexpectedly encountered. Machine gun fire from this position caused serious casualties among the riflemen crossing the ice of Vyborg Bay. This fighting continued until the morning of March 9, when Finnish troops began withdrawing in small groups across the bay. In the final days before the ceasefire on March 12 the division continued clearing the peninsula and several islands offshore.^[6]

Following the Winter War the 113th returned to Belarus and was stationed at Slutsk. In May 1941, along with four other divisions of the Western Special Military District, it left the District reserves to move closer to the new frontier with Germany.^[7] As of June 22 it was stationed at the town of Siemiatycze and nearby villages under command of 10th Army's 5th Rifle Corps (with 13th and 86th Rifle Divisions).^[8] Its order of battle was as follows:

• 513th Rifle Regiment
• 679th Rifle Regiment
• 725th Rifle Regiment
• 451st Artillery Regiment^[9]
• 416th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
• 239th Antitank Battalion
• 49th Antiaircraft Battalion
• 149th Reconnaissance Battalion
• 204th Sapper Battalion
• 228th Signal Battalion
• 201st Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• 150th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon
• 113th Motor Transport Battalion
• 139th Field Bakery
• 195th Divisional Repair Depot
• 350th Artillery Repair Park
• 83rd Field Postal Station
• 406th Field Office of the State Bank

The defense sector allocated to the division stretched from Ciechanowiec in the north to the boundary with the 49th Rifle Division of 4th Army to the south. Across the Bug River, Army Group Center deployed the right flank of IX Army Corps (292nd Infantry Division) and the left flank of XXXXIII Army Corps (252nd Infantry Division).^[10]

10th Army, and the Białystok salient in general, was highly vulnerable as it was already surrounded on three sides, with panzer groups to the north and south. This was made worse by the late deployment to the frontier, which gave General Alaverdov and his men no time to prepare plans, construct fortifications, or coordinate with neighboring units. Furthermore, the OKH was aware of the boundary between 10th and 4th Armies, the natural target for a penetration operation once the Bug was crossed. On the first morning of the war the 113th was struck hard by artillery fire and then overwhelmed by the infantry advance, largely by the 292nd Infantry. The 725th Regiment withdrew to the positions of the 49th Division while the remaining survivors fell back toward Białystok.^[11] Already by July 1 the division had disappeared from Western Front's order of battle.^[12] On the same day Alaverdov, who had been wounded in the thigh on the opening day, was captured with a number of his subordinates, although he remained in nominal command until August 17. Initially imprisoned at Biała Podlaska he was eventually sent to Flossenbürg concentration camp for pro-Soviet agitation among his fellow prisoners. He would be executed there in April 1942. The 113th was officially written off on September 19, along with most of the other units trapped in the Białystok pocket.

The 5th Moscow Opolcheniye Division was formed between July 2-6, 1941, chiefly in the Frunzenskii City District (today largely within the Western Administrative Okrug). It was one of 12 such divisions formed in accordance with a decree of the State Defense Committee made officially on July 4, with an initial target of raising 200,000 volunteers, with weapons and equipment to be supplied by the Moscow Military District. By July 5 68,000 men plus 10,500 officers and NCOs had been signed up. The 5th contained a high percentage of well-educated personnel, including newly-graduated students.^[13] Its order of battle until September 1 was as follows:

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd Rifle Regiments^[14]
• 45mm Antitank Battalion
• 76mm Artillery Battalion
• Reconnaissance Company
• Sapper Battalion
• Signal Battalion
• Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• Auto Transport Company

Maj. Gen. Ivan Andreevich Presnyakov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. This officer had last commanded a rifle regiment in 1928 before moving to the training establishment, most recently as chief of combat training for the Arkhangelsk Military District. Early on July 9 his soldiers, with horse-drawn guns, began a march of some 40km on the Borovskoye Highway to its training ground, an ordeal for the city-born men. Once there, they were issued with captured Polish rifles, without ammunition, and black uniform shirts.^[15] As of July 15 the division had 7,391 personnel on strength, but the equipment situation had barely improved. The following day it was assigned to the newly-formed 33rd Army in Reserve Front. By July 28 the total manpower had increased to 11,700, nearly its authorized strength, but the supply of small arms was a mixed bag; one regiment reported having 1,680 Mosin–Nagant rifles, 340 SVT-40 semiautomatic rifles, 32 old light machine guns, and 42 Colt medium machine guns. This regiment had no mortars at all or any other heavy weapons.^[16] On July 30 the division was at Tishnevo near Borovsk when its personnel took the oath of allegiance to the USSR, and three days later took up positions near Spas-Demensk. The divisional and regimental banners were received on August 12-13, perhaps prematurely because on September 1 the subunits all received new numbers:

• 1288th, 1290th, 1292nd Rifle Regiments
• 972nd Artillery Regiment
• 696th Antiaircraft Battalion
• 471st Reconnaissance Company
• 860th Signal Battalion
• 494th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• 333rd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
• 330th Auto Transport Company
• 263rd Field Bakery

In accordance with a decree of September 19 the 5th Moscow Militia Division was redesignated as the new 113th Rifle Division on September 26.

General Presnyakov remained in command of the division, which remained in 33rd Army on October 1,^[17] but was in the process of transferring to the second echelon of 43rd Army. Current and future changes or additions to its order of battle were as follows:

• 239th Antitank Battalion
• 275th Antiaircraft Battery (later 275th Battalion, until May 6, 1943)
• 149th Reconnaissance Company (later 471st)
• 204th Sapper Battalion (later 456th)
• 228th Signal Battalion (later 674th Signal Battalion, 860th Signal Company)
• 201st Medical/Sanitation Battalion (later 494th)
• 150th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
• 203rd Auto Transport Company
• 21st Divisional Veterinary Hospital
• 932nd Field Postal Station
• 1140th Field Office of the State Bank

In addition, in the first days of the coming offensive the division would be supported by the original Guards Mortar unit, the "Flerov" battery of BM-13 130mm launchers.^[18]

Army Group Center launched its final drive on Moscow on September 30 in the south, and October 2 in the north. 33rd Army was still in its second echelon defenses before Spas-Demensk, behind the first-echelon 24th and 43rd Armies. In theory, Reserve Front, under command of Marshal S. M. Budyonny, formed the backup for the front line, but its four armies, mostly consisting of untried troops, were stretched over a line 258km long.^[19]

Upon arriving in 43rd Army the 113th was assigned a second echelon sector from Gar to Sergeevka to Yasnaya Polyana. The Army commander, Maj. Gen. P. P. Sobennikov, was well aware of increased German activity across the Desna River, and further confirmation of the impending attack came with the arrival of three deserters of three Heer soldiers of Czech nationality. At 0850 hours on October 2 Budyonny's headquarters reported to the STAVKA:

... at 0615 the enemy opened a hurricane of artillery and mortar fire on the entire front of 43rd Army and at 0630 went on the attack with up to a battalion in the Novosel'tsy area and up to a battalion in the center. Serebniaka has been taken.

In fact, Reserve Front had been struck by 15 divisions of 4th Army and 2nd Army, four of which were panzer or motorized. By noon the first line had been penetrated by infantry supported by tanks and aircraft; a panzer and a motorized division of XXXXVI Motorized Corps were being committed into the gap to exploit toward Spas-Demensk.^[20]

The 53rd Rifle Division had taken the main blow and its remnants fell back to a wooded area northwest of Zhilino. By 1430 hours up to 100 tanks had broken through to Betlitsa Station, which was 22km in the rear. Sobennikov decided to counterattack with two regiments of the 149th Rifle Division, supported by the 149th and 144th Tank Brigades, to block the Warsaw Highway. This effort was broken up by air attacks, and by day's end the leading units of 3rd Panzer Group had covered 40km, coming up against the defenses of 33rd Army. The 113th, which had not had time to prepare defenses, was caught in the middle. On October 3 the XXXX Motorized Corps continued to advance on Spas-Demensk and Yukhnov. Budyonny had by now realized that 43rd Army was being attacked across its entire front and was withdrawing without orders. He directed Sobennikov to take up a new line along the Shuitsa and Snopot rivers, 35-40km behind the original front. By the end of the day up to 100 German tanks had reached the Snopot. The battered 113th, 53rd and 149th Divisions passed through the sketchy defenses of the 17th Rifle Division along this line during the day.^[21]

At 1420 hours on October 4 Reserve Front headquarters reported, in part:

3. The army commander [Sobennikov], despite an order of the Front commander to defend the Snopot' River, issued an order for the retreat of the 53rd Rifle Division in the direction of Nikolskoe and further on toward Spas-Demensk, and of the 149th and 113th Rifle Divisions and the 148th Tank Brigade to the area of Novo-Aleksandrovskoe, where they were to take up a defense.

Budyonny was, in fact, out of contact with Sobennikov and had sent his deputy, Lt. Gen. Bogdanov, at 0400 to restore order in the Army and even take over command if necessary. 33rd Army was also out of contact. Later, on October 9, that Army's military council would report to the STAVKA's L. Z. Mekhlis on the rapid penetration, in which it mentioned that the 1316th Rifle Regiment of its 17th Division had been forced to defend a 15km-wide sector which had been held by the entire 113th before it was moved to 43rd Army.^[22]

Budyonny issued his Combat Order No. 34/op at 0555 hours on October 6, issuing new assignments to his armies. The 43rd, now with five divisions, was to "occupy and firmly defend the line Gorodechnia–Buda–Kliuchi–Glagol'nia–Mosal'sk–Serpeisk–Lomakino." This line had already been taken by German forces in several places. The Front itself would move its headquarters to Maloyaroslavets. Budyonny's priority was to delay the German advance on Vyazma in hopes of rescuing the deeply pocketed 24th Army. A report sent at 0200 on October 7 to Reserve Front headquarters by Kombrig Lyubarsky of Sobennikov's staff stated in part that "there has been no information on the situation of the 113th and 149th Rifle Divisions." The condition of the Army can be determined from a further statement that "The divisions no longer exist as combat units, and there are small groups of infantry soldiers, specialized elements and artillery who have become demoralized by enemy aviation." On the same day the main German encirclement was closed near Vyazma.^[23]

Under the terms of the decree that created the Southern Group of Forces from 3rd Ukrainian Front on June 15 the 113th is listed as one of the divisions to be "disbanded in place". It was accordingly disbanded in July.^[24]

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• Grylev, A. N. (1970). Перечень № 5. Стрелковых, горнострелковых, мотострелковых и моторизованных дивизии, входивших в состав Действующей армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 гг [List (Perechen) No. 5: Rifle, Mountain Rifle, Motor Rifle and Motorized divisions, part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 56, 211
• Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 154-55

• Aleksandr Nikolaevich Nechaev
• Kristofor Nikolaevich Alaverdov
• Ivan Andreevich Presnyakov
• Evgenii Stepanovich Alekhin
• Aleksei Mitrofanovich Vlasenko
• Pavel Nikolaevich Naidyshev
• Vasilii Arkadevich Kindyukhin
• Combat Log of the 113th Rifle Division (1st Formation)
• Document redesignating 5th Moscow Militia as 113th