303rd Rifle Division

The 303rd Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army

303rd Rifle Division (July 10 –
rifle division shortly after the German invasion, and in its first
formation fought in the central part of the Soviet-German front for a December 27, 1941)
few months, taking part in the first offensive success of the Red 303rd Rifle Division (January 1,
Army at Yelnya, before being encircled and annihilated in the 1942 – 1946)
fighting around Vyasma. A second 303rd was raised a few months
later and fought on, mainly in the central sector of Ukraine. The men
and women of the division first distinguished themselves during the
summer offensive of 1943, making an assault crossing of the Dniepr
River at Verkhnodniprovsk and gaining a battle honor for it. A
second such honor was won in the spring of 1944 for the division's
role in the liberation of the city of Beltsy in Moldova. It ended the
war at Prague, after advancing through Romania, Hungary and
Austria. The division was disbanded in 1946.

Contents
1st Formation Maj. Gen. K. S. Fyodorovskiy, Hero
2nd Formation of the Soviet Union

Advance Active 1941–1946

Postwar Country Soviet Union

References Branch Red Army

Citations Type Division
Bibliography Role Infantry
External links Engagements Operation
Barbarossa
Yelnya Offensive
1st Formation Operation
Typhoon
The division began forming on July 10, 1941 at Voronezh in the Operation Blue
Oryol Military District.[1] Col. Nikolai Pavlovich Rudnev was
Battle of Kursk
appointed as commanding officer on the same day. The division's
Battle of the
order of battle was as follows:
Dniepr
845th Rifle Regiment First Jassy–
847th Rifle Regiment Kishinev
849th Rifle Regiment Offensive
844th Artillery Regiment Second Jassy-
561st Sapper Battalion Kishinev
Offensive
741th Signal Battalion
Siege of
365th Reconnaissance Company[2]
Less than a month after forming, the 303rd was assigned to Reserve Budapest
Front, moving to 43rd Army of that Front on August 10, just as that Prague Offensive
Army was itself forming up. By the end of August it had been
Decorations Order of the
shifted to 24th Army, and took part in the third counteroffensive
against the Yelnya salient, beginning on August 30. The division led Red Banner
the southern Shock Group as part of the planned concentric attack to Battle honours Upper Dniepr
seal off the salient, and advanced 2km on the first day, and again on Beltsy
the second. After standing off German counterattacks for two days,
Commanders
it again advanced on September 3, with assistance from a tank
battalion. It was still about 8km short of linking up with the northern Notable Col. Nikolai
Group when German Army Group Center ordered its forces to commanders Pavlovich
withdraw from the salient, which was carried out over the next four Rudnev
days. Army General G.K. Zhukov gave the 303rd little credit for this Col. Alexsandr
success, stating that "The 303rd... operated poorly and without Gavrilovich
initiative". Consequently, it was not chosen to become one of the
Moiseevskiy
first four Guards rifle divisions. As of September 12 the rifle
Col. Lev
regiments of the division averaged only 400 men each, indicating
Ivanovich
excessive casualties.[3]
Ostroukhov
By the end of September the division was reassigned yet again, to Maj. Gen.
49th Army of Reserve Front some 200km to the north in the area of Konstantin
Sychevka. Before this move could get well underway, the 303rd was Stepanovich
swept up in the German Operation Typhoon, and by October 10 was Fyodorovskiy
deeply encircled north of Spas-Demensk.[4] By the end of the month Col. Ivan
the division was effectively destroyed as a fighting unit, but a cadre Dmitrievich
survived, and Col. Alexsandr Gavrilovich Moiseevskiy was
Panov
appointed to its command on October 31. The division lingered on
the official order of battle until December 27.[5]

2nd Formation
A new rifle division, initially numbered the 448th,[6] began forming on January 1, 1942, at Topki in the
Siberian Military District. Its first commander, Col. Lev Ivanovich Ostroukhov, was assigned on that date. It
was largely formed from men drafted out of the Kuzbass coal mining region, and in March was re-
designated as the second 303rd Rifle Division. At this time its composition by nationality was recorded as
40% Russian and 60% Siberian and others.[7] It remained in the Siberian District until April. Its order of
battle remained the same as that of the 1st formation, although an unknown numbered antitank battalion
would have also been included.

Late in that month it moved to the Moscow Military District and was assigned to the 2nd Reserve Army in
the STAVKA reserves. By July the division was in 3rd Reserve Army when it was re-designated the 60th
Army for front-line service. On July 19 that Army went into Voronezh Front, and on that same date, Col.
Konstantin Stepanovich Fyodorovskiy was promoted from chief of staff to divisional command. Promoted
to the rank of Major General on January 17, 1944, he remained in command until late December of the same
year.[8] The 303rd spent the remainder of 1942 in that Army in that Front, mounting an aggressive defense
against what the STAVKA anticipated to be a German drive to the northeast towards Moscow. In early 1943
it was moved to 40th Army, and then for a month in Voronezh Front reserves for rebuilding.[9]

Following this the 303rd was transferred to Southwestern Front, and in April to 57th Army of that Front.
Following the Battle of Kursk, 57th Army was moved to Steppe Front (soon to be renamed as 2nd Ukrainian
Front) and in September the division was reassigned to the 7th Guards Army. The 303rd was destined to
remain in that Front for the duration.[10]
Advance
It was in this period, during the Battle of the Dniepr, that the division was recognized for its efforts in a
river-crossing operation at the town of Verkhnodniprovsk, and received the following unusual honorific:

"UPPER DNIEPR - Liberated on October 22, 1943 by troops of 2nd Ukrainian Front in the
attack on the Krivoy Rog direction during the battle for the Dniepr... 303rd Rifle Division (Col.
Fyodorovskiy, Konstantin Stepanovich)... By order of the Supreme High Command is given
this name."[11]

The division was further recognized on January 8, 1944, with the award of the Order of the Red Banner.[12]
In February it was moved to the 52nd Army as part of the 78th Rifle Corps, in which it liberated the
Moldovan town of Beltsy on March 26, and earned its second battle honor:

"BELTSY - 303rd Rifle Division (Maj. Gen. Fyodorovskiy, Konstantin Stepanovich)... The
troops who participated in the battles during the crossing of the Dniestr and the liberation of
Beltsy... by order of the Supreme High Command and a commendation in Moscow on 26
March 1944 are saluted with 24 salvoes from 324 guns."[13][14]

However, the Corps' advance ran out of steam the next month outside the Romanian city of Iași.[15]

In June the 303rd was again redeployed, this time to 4th Guards Army. In late August, after the start of the
2nd Jassy-Kishinev Offensive the division was moved to Front reserves for re-building during the swift
advance through Romania. Re-building complete, in October it was back in 7th Guards Army, this time for
the duration, and now serving in Hungary. For most of that period it was under the 27th Guards Rifle Corps,
although in the last two months it also served in both the 24th and 25th Guards Rifle Corps.[16] During the
Debrecen operation on October 19 the 303rd was urgently summoned to the Mezőtúr area in response to a
surprise German tank attack. Mezőtúr was taken on October 23, and the east bank of the Tisza River was
reached on the 25th. On November 1 an assault crossing was forced, and over the next four days, in
cooperation with the 227th Rifle Division, the city of Szolnok was captured. For its contribution to the latter
feat the 847th Rifle Regiment was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd Degree. On the afternoon of
November 6 the division began an advance in the direction of Kharomkhaz and on the 14th, along with the
27th and 409th Rifle Divisions, penetrated the southern suburbs of Jászberény.[17]

From September 18 to December 5, the 303rd was officially credited with the destruction of up to 1,000
enemy soldiers and officers, 22 tanks, 3 self-propelled guns, 4 armored personnel carriers, 4 other vehicles
and 16 machine guns, as well as capturing 75 prisoners-of-war, 20 machine-guns, and other enemy
equipment. During the Siege of Budapest in December, the division accounted for up to 200 more enemy
troops, 8 mortars, 4 guns and 17 machine-guns destroyed, plus 3 tanks, 3 prime movers, 13 guns, 34 other
vehicles, 37 machine-guns, and another 105 prisoners-of-war captured. From September 18 to December 14,
soldiers of the division were awarded a total of 1,007 orders and medals, including one Order of Lenin, eight
Orders of the Red Banner, 12 Orders of Alexander Nevsky, 166 Orders of the Great Patriotic War, 96 Orders
of the Red Star, and 724 medals.[18]

While this offensive continued in Hungary, in the face of bitter enemy resistance, on December 21 the
division reached positions from Savditse to Setikh. During this advance Major General Fyodorovskiy was
mortally wounded by enemy fire, and died of his wounds a week later.[19] Col. Ivan Dmitrievich Panov
replaced him in command on December 24, and led the division for the duration of hostilities. On Victory
Day the 303rd was just south of Prague. By this time the men and women of the division had earned the full
title of 303rd Rifle, Upper Dniepr, Beltsy, Order of the Red Banner Division. (Russian: 303-я стрелковая
Верхнеднепровская Бельцская Краснознамённая дивизия.)

Postwar
The division was initially part of the Central Group of Forces. [20] The division was transferred with the
23rd Rifle Corps to the Stavropol Military District during the summer of 1945. It was based in
Nevinnomyssk. The division was disbanded there before the summer of 1946, when the 23rd Rifle Corps
became part of the North Caucasus Military District.[21]

References

Citations
1. Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 76
2. Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December, 1941,
Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, 1996, p. 69
3. David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 330-
57
4. David Stahel, Operation Typhoon, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2013, map on
p. 79
5. Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 69
6. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys, p. 100
7. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 594
8. Aleksander A. Maslov, Fallen Soviet Generals, trans. & ed. D. M. Glantz, Frank Cass
Publishers, London, 1998, p. 165
9. Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle
World War II, Vol. X, 1996, p. 114
10. Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 114
11. http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-1.html
12. Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 249.
13. http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-1.html
14. Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 114
15. Glantz, Red Storm over the Balkans, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2007, p. 177-
79
16. Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 114
17. Maslov, p. 165-66
18. Maslov, p. 166
19. Maslov, p. 165
20. Feskov et al 2013, p. 414
21. Feskov et al 2013, pp. 516–517

Bibliography
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. 36, 109,
275-76
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 I. 1920 - 1944 гг (h
ttps://cloud.mail.ru/public/1336025b4bbd/%D0%A7%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C%20
1%20(1920-1944).pdf) [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 I. 1920–
1944] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow.
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.

External links
Konstantin Stepanovich Fyodorovskiy (http://www.generals.dk/general/Fedorovskii/Konstantin_
Stepanovich/Soviet_Union.html)

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