311th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

311th Rifle Division (July 14, 1941 - May 29, 1945)

Maj. Gen. B.A. Vladimirov, Hero of the Soviet Union
Active 1941 - 1945
Country  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
Type Division
Role Infantry
Engagements Siege of Leningrad
Lyuban Offensive Operation
Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda
Novgorod–Luga Offensive
Baltic Offensive
Vistula-Oder Offensive
East Pomeranian Offensive
Berlin Strategic Offensive
Decorations Order of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Battle honours Dvinsk
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Maj. Gen. F.N. Parkhomenko
Col. V.I. Zolotarev
Maj. Gen. Boris Vladimirov

The 311th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 14, 1941 at Kirov before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, where it spent most of the war, sharing a similar combat path with its "sister", the 310th Rifle Division. The men and women of the division were fully engaged in the struggle for Leningrad until early 1944, fighting in several offensives to drive a lifeline through the German positions to the besieged city, and then to finally drive the besiegers away. When this was accomplished, the division was redeployed to take the fight into the Baltic States in 1944, then into the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war north of Berlin after compiling a very distinguished record of service.

Formation

The 311th began forming in mid-July, 1941 at the city of Kirov in the Urals Military District.[1] Its order of battle was as follows:

The division was given about six weeks to assemble before it was moved by rail all the way to the area east of Leningrad in August - September. It was first assigned to the 48th Army. That army's defenses were pierced by the German XXXIX Motorized Corps in late August, forcing the 48th to withdraw and abandon the key railroad station at Mga. Marshal Kliment Voroshilov ordered that Mga be retaken by September 6 at all costs. The 311th, along with the 128th Rifle Division, 1st Mountain Rifle Brigade, and an NKVD division of border guards, drove the German forces from Mga on August 30, but it was lost again the following day.[3]

Battle of Leningrad

German forces cut off and isolated the city on September 8.

On November 8 Tikhvin fell, while another German thrust towards Volkhov was slowly forcing four rifle divisions back towards that city, driving a wedge between the 4th and 54th Armies.[4] It was at this time that the 311th began operating alongside its "sister" 310th Rifle Division.

In March 1943, Major General Boris Vladimirov took command of the division, which he led until the end of the war.[5]

Novgorod Offensive

In late 1943, the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic Fronts began planning the operations that would finally drive the besiegers away from Leningrad and, if all went well, destroy one or both of the armies of German Army Group North. The assault began on January 14, 1944.

As the offensive continued, the Volkhov Front was dissolved on February 13, and the division was reassigned to the Leningrad Front, still in the 99th Rifle Corps which was now assigned to the 54th Army.

Baltic Offensive

In the spring of 1944, 54th Army was in the new 3rd Baltic Front, and the 311th was moved to the 7th Rifle Corps for a couple of months. In June the division was reassigned to the 14th Rifle Corps, which moved to the 4th Shock Army in July.[6] In the second week of July it was in the vicinity of Sharkovshchina, advancing into the so-called "Baltic Gap" between German Army Groups Center and North.[7] On July 27 the 311st was recognized for its role in the liberation of Dvinsk in Latvia, and granted the name of that city as an honorific:

"DVINSK"...311 Rifle Division (Colonel Vladimirov, Boris Aleksandovich)... the troops who participated in the battles with the enemy, and the liberation of Dvinsk, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 27 July, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, is given a salute of 20 artillery salvos from 224 guns.[8]

As the offensive continued in early September, the division fought its way further west, to the vicinity of Biržai, southeast of Riga.[9]

Advance

In October, the division was transferred to the 60th Rifle Corps, still in the 4th Shock Army; then that corps was shifted to the 61st Army, still in the same Front until December, when that army was moved to the 1st Belorussian Front. At about the same time, the 311st joined the 89th Rifle Corps, still in the 61st Army, and it would remain in that Front, army and corps until it was disbanded.[10]

Maj. Gen. Vladimirov distinguished himself in the first stages of the Vistula-Oder Offensive. As a result of a well thought-out and skilfully organized battle plan the 311th successfully broke through the deep defenses of the German forces at the Magnuszev bridgehead over the Vistula river.[11] In pursuit of the enemy, from January 16 to 28 the division advanced about 400 km against scattered resistance, with minor losses in manpower and materiel. Vladimirov's troops were among the first to enter the main territory of Nazi Germany (west of East Prussia) and took the city of Schneidemuhl on February 14. In the process, the division captured huge trophies, including 30 trains loaded with food and military equipment. In recognition of this:

"For exemplary performance of his command assignments at the front of the struggle against the German invaders, and for displaying courage and heroism, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 6, 1945, Major General Vladimirov, Boris Aleksandrovich, is awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.[12]

When hostilities ceased, the division carried the official title of 311th Rifle, Dvinsk, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division. (Russian: 311-я стрелковая Двинская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия.)

Postwar

According to STAVKA Order No. 11095 of May 29, 1945, part 6, the 311th is listed as one of the rifle divisions to be "disbanded in place".[13] It was disbanded in Germany in accordance with the directive during the summer of 1945.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 77. Dunn shows the division being assigned to the 48th Army in August, but also to the 7th Army in September; the latter appears incorrect.
  2. ↑ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 71
  3. ↑ David M. Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941 - 1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, p. 65
  4. ↑ Haupt, Werner (1997-01-01). Army Group North: The Wehrmacht in Russia, 1941-1945. Schiffer Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 9780764301827.
  5. ↑ "Boris Vladimirov". Герои страны ("Heroes of the Country") (in Russian).
  6. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 71
  7. ↑ The Gamers, Inc., Baltic Gap, Multi-Man Publishing, Inc., Millersville, MD, 2009, p. 14
  8. ↑ http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-2.html. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ The Gamers, Inc., Baltic Gap, p. 29
  10. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p.71
  11. ↑ Soviet General Staff, Prelude to Berlin, ed. and trans. Richard W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016, p. 40
  12. ↑ "Boris Vladimirov". Герои страны ("Heroes of the Country") (in Russian).
  13. ↑ Stavka Order No. 11095
  14. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 380–381

External links

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