Questions on the History of the 191st Rifle Division

1. Where and when was the 191st Rifle Division formed?
   • In early March of 1941 north of Leningrad in the Levashovo, Agalatovo, and Lembolovo settlements.
2. Who was the first commander of the division and how many commanders were there in total?
   • Lieutenant Colonel Sonnikov. There were 15 commanders in total.
3. What units made up the 191st Rifle Division?
   1. Three rifle regiments: 564th, 552nd, 559th
   2. 484th Artillery Regiment
   3. 504th Howitzer Regiment
   4. 8th Independent Anti-tank Battalion
   5. 330th Independent Engineering Battalion
   6. 253rd Independent Reconnaissance Battalion
   7. 381st Independent Anti Aircraft Battalion
   8. 554th Independent Signals Battalion
   9. 176th Chemical Defense Company
   10. 293th Automobile Company
   11. 15th Independent Medical Battalion
   12. 82nd Field Bakery
4. Where was the division located and who was in command at the start of the war?
   • On May 19th 1941 the division took up the line starting at the Gulf of Finland going through Ust-Luga, Narva, Kingisepp, Slantsy, and ending at the Chudskoye Lake (Lake Peipus). This line of defense was a part of the Luga line of defense. Colonel Dmitri Lukyanov was in command from that point until October 28th 1941
5. When did the division engage the Germans?
   • From the first days of the war the division was bombed and attacked from the air. The division engaged the Germans on the ground on July 15th near Dolgoye Lake east of Slantsy
6. How many losses did the division take and how many did they inflict in the first three weeks of fighting?
   • Our losses: 1664 men wounded, killed, and missing. The division received reinforcements, including reinforcements from local populations. As of August 25th the 559th Rifle Regiment had 200 men in action, the 546th – 300.
   • German losses: 1562 men killed, 56 tanks, 15 armoured cars, 15 trucks and other vehicles destroyed.
7. How long did the defense of Kingisepp last?
   • 33 days. This was a record for 1941. The 191st Rifle Division never once left its position without orders. Despite heavy losses, Colonel Lukyanov did not once ask for permission to retreat.
8. Why was the memorial in Kernovo installed?
   • For the first time in the Great Patriotic War, the enemy was stopped near Kernovo on September 2-3rd 1941 and did not move forward another inch. This was the westernmost point of the Oranienbaum bridgehead. It was held by soldiers of the 191st Rifle Division, sailors of the Baltic Fleet, and other divisions of the 8th Army.
9. Where did the 191st Rifle Division fight in September-October 1941 and what losses did it take?
   • After the enemy was stopped at Kernovo and along the Voronka river, the 191st Rifle Division was transferred to the east side of the bridgehead to protect the approach to Leningrad. For a month the 191st Rifle Division held the line south of Oranienbaum and Petergof.
   • 60% of the division, including more than 1000 sergeants and 336 officers, were killed or wounded in the first 10 days.
   • As of October 1st 1941 the rifle regiments had only 3 heavy machine guns, 18 light machine guns, and 11 mortars left. The artillery regiments had only five 76 mm guns. 
   • The 552nd Rifle Regiment had 205 men remaining, the 559th had 310, the 546th had 308.
   • On October 13th the 504th Howitzer Regiment was dissolved and the division incorporated 574 men from it into its ranks.
   • By October 16th the division had carried out its objective to defend and secure the Oranienbaum bridgehead. It was recalled to Leningrad and later moved to Tikhvin to stop a German breakthrough.
10. What was the strategic significance of the Oranienbaum bridgehead?
    • If the Germans could capture it then they could reach the coast of the Gulf of Finland, putting them within 6-7 km of Kronstadt. From there, they could fire at the Baltic Fleet and therefore its ships would not be able to help Leningrad during the siege.
11. How did the 191st Rifle Division earn the Order of the Red Banner battle honour?
    • In mid-September of 1941 the Leningrad Front was planning an offensive to break through the siege and restore the link to Leningrad. The Germans beat them by 4 days and started their own offensive towards Tikhvin. They penetrated the defenses of the 52nd Army and planned on linking up with the Finns, placing Leningrad in a double encirclement.
    • The 191st Rifle Division was moved to plug the gap. The 559th Rifle Regiment was moved by air while other units were moved by ships of the Ladoga Fleet. When the regiment made contact with the Germans near Lipnaya Gorka it had no supply tail, no artillery, and no mortars. The 546th and 552nd regiments arrived a day later. After fierce battles against overwhelming numbers, the 191st Rifle Division left Tikhvin on November 9th. However, the Germans took such heavy losses that they could attack no further. The objective of linking up with the Finns failed. This was an achievement of the 191st Rifle Division.
    • From that point, command of the Front began to plan the liberation of Tikhvin, as a strategically vital railroad ran through it. Without it, Leningrad’s situation would have been even more dire.
    • The order to liberate Tikhvin was given on November 19th, 1941. The 191st Rifle Division attacking from the north and north-west and the 65th Rifle Division attacking from the south and south-west liberated Tikhvin on December 9th, 1941. 
    • Only 741 Germans from a 10,000 strong division that opposed them remained.
    • For the liberation of Tikhvin, the 191st Rifle Division was granted the battle honour of the Order of the Red Banner. In total, 973 soldiers of the 4th Army were decorated for this offensive, 324 of them from the 191st Rifle Division.
12. Where was the 191st Rifle Division in 1942?
    1. On the Volkhov Front. The 191st Rifle Division took part in the Luban Offensive Operation and fought for half a year at Myasnoy Bor.
       • By May 16th 87 riflemen, 46 machine gunners, and 86 mortar gunners remained.
       • By June 20th the 546th Rifle Regiment had 29 riflemen. The other regiments had about the same.
       • On June 23rd the commander reported to the Army HQ that the 552nd and 559th Rifle Regiments had just 40 officers, 11 sergeants, and 22 privates, just 73 men without any supply personnel. The 546th Rifle Regiment had 6 officers and 40 sergeants and privates. The rifle regiments shrank to the size of less than one company.
       • In this difficult situation the commander of the 2nd Army General Vlasov gave an order on June 2nd: escape encirclement however you want. This decision undermined morale and disorganized his forces. However, the command of the 191st Rifle Division remained strong and effective. It continued to hold the completely exposed gap of the encirclement for 26 days and allowed for the 2nd Shock Army to escape. 16,000 men were able to make it through the gap in this time. 6000 more were killed and 8000 didn’t make it out and went missing.
    2. Sinyavino Operation:
       • In the summer of 1942, German High Command prepared for a new assault on Leningrad: Operation Feuerzauber. Soviet command didn’t wait for the offensive and decided to deliver their own attack against a fortified area near Sinyavino, a series of hills overlooking peat bogs.
       • The 191st Rifle Division had 7886 men: 5282 privates, 1697 sergeants, and 887 officers.
       • Our division jointly with other divisions pushed the Germans off of their positions and to a fair depth back. The Germans had to commit additional forces to displace the 191st Rifle Division from the Sinyavino heights.
       • In 13 days of fighting the 191st Rifle Division lost 3481 men. There was no hope for reinforcements and on September 27th the commander of the Volkhov Front Meretskov ordered a retreat. The retreat was conducted in an organized fashion under cover of artillery fire. The goal of the Sinyavino operation, the breaking of the Leningrad blockade, was not achieved. However, this offensive ruined the Germans’ plans of assaulting Leningrad.
13. Which operations did the 191st Rifle Division take part in during 1943, 1944, and 1945?
    1. In January of 1943 the division took part in breaking through the Leningrad blockade.
       • At the start of the offensive, the 191st Rifle Division numbered 7156 men. The location for the breakthrough was chosen south of Lake Ladoga where German occupied territory was 17 km deep along a 12-15 km wide front. 
       • The operation began on January 12th, 1943. The 191st Rifle Division was attacking towards Sinyavino. On January 18th after difficult but successful battles the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts linked up. However, it proved difficult to hold Sinyavino. Fighting over it continued for several weeks.
       • The 191st Rifle Division took heavy losses over a month of fighting. It started with 7156 men and ended with 2730. 4426 men were wounded or killed.
       • After receiving reinforcements, the 191st Rifle Division actively defended the right bank of the Volkhov river from February to September. On October 4th it moved closer to Novgorod. At that point it had 5863 men.
    2. The Leningrad-Novgorod Operation began on January 14th, 1944.
       • In 6 days of successful fighting, the 191st Rifle Division cleared the nearby villages of Germans and on January 20th it entered and liberated Novgorod. 
       • The 559th Rifle Regiment took the heaviest casualties as a result of being attacked from the flank: 419 men killed and wounded (64%)
       • On January 21st, the 191st Rifle Division was awarded the battle honour of Novgorod as the division that distinguished itself in the liberation of the city and became the 191st Order of the Red Banner Novgorod Rifle Division.
       • During the fighting for Novgorod from January 9th to 19th the division killed 1016 Germans and took 62 prisoners. 415 men of the 191st Rifle Division were killed and 1649 wounded.
       • When the 191st Rifle Division entered Novgorod only 40 houses stood out of 2346. Only 30 residents remained in the city. All others were killed or forcibly taken to Germany.
    3. After the liberation of Novgorod, the 191st Rifle Division took part in the Novgorod-Luga Operation. The enemy was pushed back into the Baltics. The 191st Rifle Division arrived in Narva and Kingisepp where it started the war on March 1st, 1944.
    4. The 191st Rifle Division took part in the Narva and Tartu Operations, crossed the Chudskoye Lake and took part in the liberation of Estonia.
    5. The Riga Operation liberated Riga and Latvia.
    6. The East Prussia Operation. The 191st Rifle Division was a part of the 2nd Belorussian Front under the command of Rokossovsky. In it, the division fought its way through Poland, East Prussia, and Pomerania.
    7. Having crossed the Oder, the 191st Rifle Division took part in the Berlin Operation. On April 30th the 191st Rifle Division took Neustrelitz. On May 4th it reached the Elbe and linked up with the British 2nd Army. On the same day, the 191st Rifle Division reached Parchim and Schwerin.
    8. In total, the 191st Rifle Division took 100 settlements in Germany, liberated 21,420 Red Army POWs, 4518 Soviet civilians, 3620 other POWs, 2868 civilians of other nations. The 559th Rifle Regiment liberated 3 concentration camps.
    9. As of May 30th the 191st Rifle Division had 6528 men in its ranks. On June 20th the 191st Rifle Division was disbanded and merged with the 171st Rifle Division which was a part of the Soviet occupation forces in Germany. The division’s banner was sent to the Novgorod state museum.