34th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

34th Rifle Division
Active 1923–1945; 1955–1956
Country Soviet Union
Allegiance Red Army
Branch Infantry
Garrison/HQ Samara (as territorial division)
Engagements Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Decorations  Order of the Red Banner (1st formation)
Battle honours

Middle Volga (1st formation)

In the name of Valerian Kuybyshev (1st formation)

The 34th Rifle Division (Russian: 34-я стрелковая дивизия) was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed twice. The division was first formed in 1923. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. Postwar, it became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division. The 34th was reformed from the 216th Rifle Division in 1955 but disbanded in 1956.

History

The 34th was originally formed as a territorial division of the Volga Military District in accordance with orders of 14 and 23 September 1923, from the cadre of the mobilization unit colocated with the 33rd Samara Rifle Division. It was given the honorific Middle Volga on 10 July 1930. In March 1934, it attained Cadre status and was transferred to Far East, joining the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) in April. On 10 June 1935, it received the honorific named for Valerian Kuybyshev.[1] On 1 July 1938 the OKDVA was broken up and the division became part of the 2nd Army, which became the 2nd Red Banner Army on 4 September of that year. On 1 July 1940 it became part of the newly formed 15th Army when the 2nd Red Banner Army was split.[2]

It was part of the 15th Army and the 18th Rifle Corps[3] and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. In the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the division participated in the offensive across the Sungari River.[4] It became part of the 5th Rifle Corps from 3 September 1945. For its combat service,[1] it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 14 September 1945.[5] In the fall of 1945, the division became part of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District at Vyazemsky.[6] It became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division in 1948.[7]

In 1955, it was briefly reformed from the 216th Rifle Division at Baku with the 4th Army. It was disbanded on 7 July 1956.[8]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division.[1][9]

  • Semyon Avvakumovich Spilnichenko (1925)
  • Mikhail Khozin (1926–1932)
  • Komdiv Vilyam Rokhi (?-1937) - arrested and shot during the Great Purge
  • Colonel Aleksei Ivanovich Prilepsky (26 March 1941 – 7 February 1942)
  • Major General Nikolai Alekseevich Kichaev (8 February 1942 – 27 April 1943)
  • Colonel Ignat Andreevich Vetvitsky (28 April–14 December 1943)
  • Colonel (promoted to Major General 13 September 1944) Stepan Vladimorovich Kolomiets (15 December 1943 – after 3 September 1945)

Composition

The division included the following units during World War II.[9]

  • 83rd Rifle Regiment
  • 134th Rifle Regiment
  • 327th Rifle Regiment
  • 63rd Artillery Regiment
  • 145th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
  • 75th Separate Antitank Artillery Battalion
  • 478th Separate Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
  • 7th Reconnaissance Company
  • 59th Sapper Battalion
  • 89th Separate Signals Battalion
  • 12th Medical Battalion
  • 14th Separate Chemical Defense Company
  • 9th Repair and Reconstruction Company
  • 58th Auto Transport Company
  • 102nd Field Bakery
  • 62nd Divisional Artillery Workshop Battalion
  • 33rd Field Mobile Hospital
  • 217th Veterinary Field Hospital
  • 69th Field Postal Station
  • 265th Field Cash Office of the State Bank

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "34-я Средне-Волжская Краснознаменная стрелковая дивизия им. В. Куйбышева" [34th Middle Volga Red Star Rifle Division in the name of V. Kuybyshev]. samsv.narod.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  2. ↑ Dvoinykh, Kariaeva, Stegantsev, eds. 1993, pp. 117, 446–447.
  3. ↑ "34-я Средне-Волжская Краснознаменная стрелковая дивизия им. В. Куйбышева" [34th Middle Volga Red Star Rifle Division in the name of V. Kuybyshev]. rkka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Glantz, David (2004-08-02). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: 'August Storm'. Routledge. ISBN 9781135774998.
  5. ↑ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 417.
  6. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, p. 579
  7. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, p. 581
  8. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, p. 152
  9. 1 2 Avanzini, Michael; Crofoot, Craig (2004-10-01). Armies of the Bear. Tiger Lily Publications LLC. ISBN 9780972029629.

Bibliography

  • Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945 - 1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow.
  • Dvoinykh, L.V.; Kariaeva, T.F.; Stegantsev, M.V., eds. (1993). Центральный государственный архив Советской армии [Central State Archive of the Soviet Army] (in Russian). 2. Minneapolis: Eastview Publications. ISBN 1-879944-03-0.
  • 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.
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