123rd Rifle Division
Military unit
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The 123rd Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in September 1939, in the Kalinin Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that month. It was barely formed when it was moved to the Leningrad Military District, joining the 7th Army on the Karelian Isthmus just before the start of the invasion of Finland on November 30. Along with the remainder of the Red Army units facing the Mannerheim Line it fared poorly in the attacks beginning on December 17 and was driven back with heavy losses. The remnants of the 123rd were pulled back behind the lines, fleshed out with numerous replacements, and given extensive training against mock-ups of the Finnish fortifications they would again face. The division returned to battle in February 1940 and succeeded in breaking the Line, for which it was awarded the Order of Lenin, the only division to be decorated before the armistice. Afterward it became part of 23rd Army, and remained on the Finnish border until the start of the Continuation War in July 1941.
| 123rd Rifle Division (September 1939 – January 1946) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1939–1946 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army (1939-46) |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Winter War Battle of Summa Continuation War Battle of Porlampi Siege of Leningrad Operation Iskra Mga offensive Leningrad–Novgorod offensive Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha offensive Madona offensive Baltic offensive Riga offensive (1944) Courland Pocket |
| Decorations |  Order of Lenin |
| Battle honours | Luga |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Col. Viktor Fyodorovich Stenshinskii Col. Philipp Fyodorovich Alyabushev Col. Evgenii Efimovich Tsukanov Col. Yakov Afanasyevich Panichkin Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Pavlovich Ivanov Col. Tikhon Savelevich Shumskii |
Formation
The division was formed at Vyshny Volochyok in the Kalinin Military District in September 1939, based on the 146th Rifle Regiment of the 49th Rifle Division. Before the end of the month it was assigned to 8th Army, on the border between the USSR and Estonia, but was soon redirected to the Leningrad Military District, which was under command of Komandarm 2nd rank K. A. Meretskov. Col. Viktor Fyodorovich Stenshinskii was not appointed to command until November, just weeks before the start of the invasion of Finland on November 30. The major units of the 123rd were the 245th, 255th, and 272nd Rifle Regiments, plus the 323rd Artillery Regiment. It was assigned to the 19th Rifle Corps of 7th Army, which deployed on the Karelian Isthmus initially under command of Komandarm 2nd rank V. F. Yakovlev with, eventually, 14 rifle divisions, three tank brigades, and a mechanized corps. The Army was tasked with breaking through the Mannerheim Line and reaching Viipuri before sweeping west to Helsinki.[1]
Winter War
The invasion began at 0700 hours on November 30 with an opening bombardment by 600 guns on the isthmus frontier. The infantry and tanks began to advance at 0730. While the Finns were expecting an attack, its weight and scope "exceeded our worst apprehensions", according to the Finnish commander-in-chief, Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim. The Finns fell back, more quickly than planned due to Soviet tanks, until 7th Army halted just short of the Mannerheim Line on December 6. For the next 10 days the front went quiet, giving the Finns a respite to regroup.[2] Meretskov took direct command of 7th Army from Yakovlev on December 9.
Battle of Summa
19th Corps faced the center of the Mannerheim Line in the Summa sector, defended by the Finnish 5th Infantry Division. The first large assault on the sector began at 1000 hours on December 17, following five hours of artillery fire and strikes by up to 200 aircraft. The attack was on two axes: on the left against Summa itself; and on the right along the Lähde Road, 2km to the northeast. Lähde itself, an important road junction, was several kilometres behind the line. Soviet sappers led the push, blowing up antitank boulders and wire entanglements, and were followed by 50 tanks in an unsupported wedge formation; coordination between the infantry and armor was almost non-existent.[3] The 123rd was in the Corps' second echelon and penetrated the Line near Hill 65.5, but was cut off by bypassed Finnish units and forced to break out, at the cost of some 1,500 killed and wounded.
A heavier strike against the Lähde positions began the next day, with 86 tanks backed by heavy artillery and air strikes. Finnish artillery knocked out 10 vehicles while still behind the line, and another 15 were disabled in close combat. The infantry failed to pass the line of boulders. On December 19 the "Poppius" bunker, a major fortified complex, was battered by close-range tank fire so that many of its steel embrasures were jammed. Overrun by infantry, it held out for 48 hours until a Finnish counterattack freed the ground around the position. 19th Corps was now low on ammunition and supplies, and had suffered enormous casualties. The fighting died out by December 22.[4] The 123rd had lost most of its combat personnel.
Postwar
In March, 1st Shock Army became part of the Kurland Group of Forces, tasked with containing and reducing the German forces trapped in Latvia. In April 112th Corps left the Kurland Group and ended the war in 67th Army, still in Leningrad Front.[5] When the shooting stopped the men and women of the division shared the full title of 123rd Rifle, Luga, Order of Lenin Division. (Russian: 123-я стрелковая Лужская ордена Ленина дивизия.) Following the German surrender it was relocated to Ukraine, where it was disbanded in January 1946.