124th Rifle Division

The division was originally formed at Zhytomyr in the Ukrainian Military District on August 25, 1939, based on a cadre from the 15th Rifle Division. Kombrig Filipp Grigorevich Sushchii, who had previously served as chief of staff of both the 23rd and 5th Cavalry Divisions, was given command in September; he would have his rank modernized to that of major general on June 4, 1940. During the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939 the division was subordinated to the 37th Rifle Corps but it did not see service. At the start of the German invasion on June 22, 1941, it was part of 5th Army's 27th Rifle Corps in the Kiev Special Military District (soon redesignated as Southwestern Front).^[1] At this time its order of battle was as follows:

• 406th Rifle Regiment (located at Horokhiv)
• 622nd Rifle Regiment (located at Poritske)
• 781st Rifle Regiment (located at Tartakove)
• 469th Light Artillery Regiment (located at Branakh)
• 341st Howitzer Artillery Regiment (located at Slasove and Fusove)^[2]
• 202nd Antitank Battalion
• 119th Antiaircraft Battalion
• 193rd Reconnaissance Company
• 225th Sapper Battalion
• 200th Signal Battalion
• 144th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• 120th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
• 118th Motor Transport Battalion
• 147th Field Bakery
• 566th Field Postal Station
• 343rd Field Office of the State Bank

The division had a total of 9,426 personnel on strength, including 925 officers and 1,530 non-commissioned officers, and these were armed with 7,786 rifles, 265 submachine guns, 481 light machine guns, 162 heavy machine guns, 54 45mm antitank guns, four 37mm and four 76mm antiaircraft guns, 34 76mm cannons and regimental guns, 32 122mm and 12 152mm howitzers, 12 120mm, 46 82mm, and 83 50mm mortars, 11 tankettes (T-37, T-38, or T-40), 11 armored cars, 248 trucks, 64 tractors, and 1,771 horses.^[3]

Sushchii's headquarters was at Horokhiv, while forward elements were along the frontier as far as Romosh and Sokal. These detachments, supported by 27th Corps' 21st Artillery Regiment, were in action by 0900 hours. However, the bulk of the division was still marching up when around 1100 it began to encounter advance units of German 6th Army. Under the circumstances there was no choice but to go into combat off the march, and while the rifle regiments put up a stiff fight and even counterattacked in places, they had no fixed defenses, leaving them vulnerable to encirclement. The division was already outflanked, with German units in Stoyanov, about 25km from the border. By 1300 the 14th Panzer Division had opened a 20km-wide gap between the 124th and the adjacent 87th Rifle Division, which was exploited by the following German troops. Both Soviet divisions attempted to hold along the "Molotov Line" but by evening German infantry had reached the railway between Sokal and Vladimir-Volinsky.^[4]

Battle of Brody

The next day the 406th Rifle Regiment was still holding at Horokhiv with the divisional headquarters, while the remaining regiments were facing encirclement in and around Myliatyn. 14th Panzer had diverted to the north, and the 75th Infantry Division was advancing on Horokhiv as 11th Panzer Division pushed eastward through its lines in the general direction of Dubno.^[5] This would lead to arguably the largest tank battle of the war over the rest of June, but the 124th was largely concerned with extricating itself from its impossible position. On June 25 Horokhiv fell after being encircled, and General Sushchii was wounded during a night attack to escape the pocket.^[6] At about this time the division incorporated the remnants of the 90th NKVD Border Guards, which had lost up to 80 percent of its strength in the frontier battles.^[7] By June 27 the scattered elements of the division, now well in the German rear, had partly joined up with its corps-mate, the 135th Rifle Division, and was moving north. This march continued through July 1, crossing the Vladimir-Volinsky–Lutsk highway.^[8]

As of July 10 the 27th Corps had been disbanded and the 124th was under direct command of 5th Army,^[9] although still out of communication. As its retreat continued, primarily through the Pripet Marshes, on July 14 General Sushchii was wounded again, this time fatally. He would be buried en route, while Col. Timofei Yakovlevich Novikov, commander of the 406th Regiment, took over command, which he would hold for the remainder of the existence of the 1st formation. Through this entire withdrawal of some 600km the division managed to hold on to its combat banners, records, and personal weapons.^[10] On July 24 it reached Soviet lines near Belokorovichy with 1,600 personnel still under arms,^[11] and three artillery pieces, plus the remnants of the 34th Tank Division which had joined up during the journey. By the end of the month, as stragglers came in, along with some individual replacements, its strength had increased to about 2,000.

The day the 1st formation was deleted from the Red Army order of battle a new 124th was designated in the reserves of Southwestern Front,^[14] near Voronezh. It was based on the command cadre of the original division and Colonel Novikov was in command for just two days before returning to command of the 406th Regiment and being replaced by Col. Aleksandr Kondratevich Berestov. Novikov took command of the 181st Rifle Division on June 1, 1942, but was taken prisoner on August 15 and died in captivity in December 1944. The new division's order of battle was similar to that of the 1st formation:

• 406th Rifle Regiment
• 622nd Rifle Regiment
• 781st Rifle Regiment^[15]
• 46th Artillery Regiment
• 202nd Antitank Battalion (from January 19, 1942)
• 405th Antiaircraft Battery (later 119th Antiaircraft Battalion)
• 531st Mortar Battalion
• 193rd Reconnaissance Company
• 225th Sapper Battalion
• 200th Signal Battalion
• 144th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• 120th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company
• 118th Motor Transport Company
• 147th Field Bakery
• 30th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
• 566th Field Postal Station
• 343rd Field Office of the State Bank

A large number of the personnel were wounded veterans of earlier battles, filled out by recent conscripts. The experienced 46th Artillery Regiment came from the 100th Rifle Division. After a very brief period for forming up the division was assigned to 21st Army in the same front in January for the first attempt to retake Kharkiv, and then to Maj. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko's 38th Army on February 25. Under this command it fought a costly battle alongside the 81st Rifle Division for a bridgehead over the Donets River at Staryi Saltiv in March.^[16] This would serve as a springboard for a new offensive.

While 21st Army had been attempting to reach Kharkiv in January, the 6th, 9th and 57th Armies had broken the German front along the Donets and carved out a salient up to 75km deep between Izium and Barvinkove.^[17] Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, who was now in command of the Southwestern Theatre (Direction), submitted a plan to the STAVKA on April 10 which called for a two-pronged offensive to encircle and liberate Kharkiv; 6th Army would attack northward from the Izium–Barvenkove salient while the 21st, 28th and 38th Armies would strike westward. The 38th Army strike force would consist of the 124th, 226th, and 300th Rifle Divisions plus one regiment of the 81st Division. This would be backed by two tank brigades and almost all of the Army's artillery assets, while the remainder of the 81st and another tank brigade formed the second echelon.^[18]

When the offensive began on May 12 the strike force was deployed on the sector of Dragunovka, Peschanoe, and Piatnitskoe within the Staryi Saltiv bridgehead. The 124th was in the center, tying in with the 226th to its right and the regiment of the 81st to its left. These divisions faced the 513th Regiment of the German 294th Infantry Division. Following a 60-minute artillery preparation, including a 15-20-minute air raid, the attack began at 0730 hours and gained up to 10km during the day, with the 226th making the most progress and capturing Hill 124 in the process. The 124th exploited this success. It had the 13th Tank Brigade in direct support and by day's end had crossed the Bolshaya Babka River, driving German forces out of their strongpoint at Peschanoe with an enveloping attack from the north and east by the 781st Regiment. Moskalenko, who had been observing the battle from Berestov's forward observation post, committed the remainder of the 81st during the day. By evening it was clear to Soviet intelligence that 38th Army was facing two German divisions (the second being the 71st) instead of the one it had been expecting.^[19]

During the first half of the following day, 38th Army's shock group made impressive gains as the German lines fell back; taking advantage of this success the 13th Guards and 244th Rifle Divisions of 28th Army also advanced. However, starting at 1300 hours, a concerted German counterthrust, led by 3rd and 23rd Panzer Divisions and supported by three infantry regiments, struck the 124th and 81st Divisions "on the nose" and sent them reeling back. Under this pressure, the shaken rifle divisions withdrew as best they could to the Bolshaia Babka River. The 124th was the focus of the attack and took heavy casualties. The 622nd Regiment, under command of Maj. V. A. Mamontov, was moving on Chervona Roga when it encountered about 80 tanks of 3rd Panzer with infantry support. A battery of the 46th Artillery and the regiment's antitank and regimental guns destroyed 12 panzers, but nevertheless it was essentially crushed. The 781st on its left was also forced back, leading to both being encircled at Peschanoe by armored spearheads. The fighting continued until evening until Moskalenko organized a relief force based on the 133rd Tank Brigade which broke through the German perimeter. Covered by army-level artillery fire the battered divisions managed to stabilize on the new line, but after suffering thousands of casualties the 38th Army's offensive capabilities were finished. Worse, from Timoshenko's point of view, the two panzer divisions had only 10-20 percent of their armor knocked out, leaving them in good shape to intervene elsewhere.^[20]

On May 15 Timoshenko ordered Moskalenko 38th Army to maintain the defensive. The offensive was resumed on May 18 in an effort to pin down the panzers before they could move south; the 124th and 226th Divisions gained up to 2km and the depleted tank brigades were ordered to exploit, but this came to nothing. While this was happening a disaster was brewing in the Izium–Barvenkove salient where three Soviet armies were encircled by May 24 and soon destroyed. The 124th escaped this fate, but had been significantly depleted during the offensive.^[21]

By June 28 the division had returned to 21st Army, still in Southwestern Front. On the same date the main German offensive began. 21st and 40th Armies were the chief targets for encirclement by Army Group South in the initial phase. 21st Army had seven rifle divisions, including the 124th, in the first echelon and two in the second. Once the storm broke, during the month of July, the division and its Army could do little except stage a costly fighting withdrawal across the steppes.^[23] On July 6 Colonel Berestov left the division and was replaced by Col. Aleksandr Ivanovich Belov. This officer had previously led the 1st and 33rd Motorized Rifle Brigades. In the Red Army General Staff report of July 12 it was stated:

21st Army is defending its previous positions along the eastern bank of the Don River with the forces of 3rd Cavalry Corps, 124th Rifle Division, 4th Antitank Brigade, and 51st Guards-Mortar Regiment. After pressing back its combat security, the enemy occupied the northwestern outskirts of Staraia Kalitva at 0530 hours on 11 July.

By August 1 it had been incorporated into the new Stalingrad Front, fighting west of the Don.^[24] Between July 7 and August 6 the remaining personnel and equipment of the 226th Division were incorporated into the 124th and 76th Rifle Divisions.^[25]

By mid-August, as German 6th Army prepared for the next phase of its offensive, the 21st was defending along a sector some 40km wide on the north bank of the Don from the area of Melokletsky west to the Khoper River, 30km west of Serafimovich. It had five divisions, with the 124th in the center from Podpeshinsky to Sychevsky, plus the 343rd Rifle Division in the 4th Tank Army's bridgehead south of the river and the 63rd Rifle Division in reserve. The main attack was directed at 4th Tank and began on August 15. This Army's forces were quickly either encircled or withdrawing, and by August 17 was "no longer combat capable." 21st Army was ordered to take over a sector on the right flank of 1st Guards Army and assist what remained of 4th Tank in holding what remained of its bridgehead.^[26]

In an effort to retrieve the situation the Front commander, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, issued orders for coordinated counterattacks to tie down 6th Army on August 19-20. 21st Army was to attack on a line from Zimovskii to Kuznechikov (15km east of the Khoper) toward Verkhne-Fomikhinskii with the 96th and 304th Rifle Divisions. If successful this would be followed by a general attack by the Army's remaining forces. In the event this effort made little impact on the German plan to advance to the Volga on August 21.^[27]

When the August campaign ended, the division was given credit for its performance by receiving the name of the Khingan range as its second honorific, making its final full title 124th Rifle, Mga-Khingan, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division (Russian: 124-я стрелковая Мгинско-Хинганская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия). The division was disbanded in the fall of 1945 along with the 53rd Army.^[29]