125th Rifle Division

The division was formed at Kirov in the Urals Military District on August 19, 1939. Kombrig Pavel Petrovich Bogaychuk, who had recently graduated from the Frunze Military Academy while also serving as deputy commandant for combat training, Sverdlovsk Infantry School, was given command the same day; he would have his rank modernized to that of major general on June 5, 1940. In February 1940 the division began moving by rail to Arkhangelsk, where it came under the SGK Reserve, but was soon moved again to western Belarus, with its headquarters at Pinsk. At the start of the German invasion on June 22, 1941, it was part of 8th Army's 11th Rifle Corps in the Baltic Special Military District (soon redesignated as Northwestern Front).^[1] At this time its order of battle was as follows:

• 466th Rifle Regiment
• 657th Rifle Regiment
• 749th Rifle Regiment
• 414th Light Artillery Regiment
• 459th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (until September 21, 1941)^[2]
• 183rd Antitank Battalion (from June 22 to September 21, 1941, then from January 14, 1942)
• 348th Antiaircraft Battery (later 345th Battalion, until May 25, 1943)
• 390th Mortar Battalion (from October 17, 1941, until August 15, 1942)
• 196th Machine Gun Battalion (from August 17, 1942, until May 25, 1943)
• 165th Reconnaissance Battalion [included a company of light tanks] (later 165th Company)
• 189th Sapper Battalion
• 191st Signal Battalion (later 204th Signal Battalion, 204th Signal Company)
• 147th Medical/Sanitation Battalion
• 272nd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company (later 125th)
• 210th Motor Transport Company (later 206th)
• 331st Field Bakery (later 126th)
• 22nd Divisional Veterinary Hospital
• 70th Divisional Artillery Workshop
• 996th Field Postal Station (later 853rd)
• 678th Field Office of the State Bank

At this time it was on the left-center of its Army, tying into its Corps-mate, the 48th Rifle Division, on its left, and the 90th Rifle Division of 10th Rifle Corps on the right, well to the west of Raseiniai.^[3] General Bogaychuk had his headquarters southwest of Batakiai, with elements of the division spread along the German border on the line Pagramantis–Tauragė–Gaurė–Skaudvilė,^[4] a line up to 40km in length. This placed it directly in the path of XXXXI Motorized Corps and the 269th Infantry Division.^[5] The division had the 51st Corps Artillery Regiment in support.

The District commander, Col. Gen. F. I. Kuznetsov, had disregarded the instructions of the NKO and General Staff to avoid any action that might be taken as a provocation. On June 15, alarmed by intelligence reports of the German buildup, issued orders to increase force readiness along the frontier. Without directly mentioning the buildup he stated, "Today, as never before, we must be fully combat ready. Many commanders do not understand this. But all must firmly and clearly understand that at any moment we must be ready to fulfill any combat mission." After receiving further intelligence two days later Kuznetsov ordered his forces to full military readiness on June 18. While his actions were brave in going against orders from the top and militarily correct, it's unlikely that they made any real difference when the war began.^[6]

The invasion began with an artillery preparation at 0310 hours. In the initial hours the 90th Division was partially surrounded and its commander was killed in action. The 48th, with its main forces marching from the Riga area, had only forward detachments near the frontier, leaving the 125th to hold the line largely alone. Overnight the 1st and 6th Panzer Divisions had crossed the Neman River without being detected by Soviet intelligence and went over to the attack after just five minutes of artillery fire. However, according to Colonel Ritgen of 6th Panzer,

Enemy resistance in our sector turned out to be much stronger than expected. Our path was obstructed by six anti-tank ditches, covered by infantry and snipers hiding in trees. Fortunately for us, they had no anti-tank artillery or mines. Since none would surrender, we took no prisoners. Nevertheless, our tanks soon ran out of ammo - something that had never happened in the Polish and French campaigns. Replenishment of ammo depended on trucks stuck in a jam somewhere in the rear.

Another senior officer of 6th Panzer, E. Raus, noted that after crossing the border south of Tauragė and clearing the village of Siline one of his combat groups reached "a forest east of this place, [where] two Russian companies put up an exceptionally strong fight. Our infantry managed to neutralize the last pocket of resistance only at 16.00 hours, after a fierce action in the forest." Meanwhile, the 48th was caught on the march and suffered 70 percent casualties to armor and air attacks.^[7]

1st Panzer, on the left flank of the 6th, attacked straight off the march and reached Tauragė by 1300 hours, where it took a pair of bridges over the Jūra River. However, the town was defended by the 657th Regiment, under command of Major Georgievskii, and street fighting soon erupted, eventually requiring the panzer pioneers to employ flamethrowers and demolition charges. By 2400 the remaining defenders had been forced into the northeastern outskirts.^[8] The 749th had fallen back to a line held by the 9th Antitank Artillery Brigade by evening, while the 466th, having suffered some 40 percent losses, was reorganizing near Skaudvilė. During the next day the division, along with 9th Antitank, plus survivors of the 48th and the 2nd Tank Division, fought with some success near Raseiniai before the 125th withdrew under orders toward Šiauliai.

By July 1 the division had crossed to the north bank of the Daugava River, with some 700 "bayonets" (riflemen and sappers) still on strength. A strength return on July 4 broke this down as:

• 466th Regiment - 210 men, one 45mm antitank gun, three heavy machine guns;
• 657th Regiment - 185 men, two 76mm regimental guns, one antiaircraft machine gun, two heavy machine guns;
• 749th Regiment - 250 men, one 76mm gun, eight mortars, two antiaircraft machine guns;
• 414th Light Artillery Regiment - 35 men, one 76mm cannon;
• 459th Howitzer Artillery Regiment - eight guns total;
• 165th Reconnaissance Battalion - 15 men, two tankettes.

A week later the situation had improved considerably. Bogaychuk reported to 11th Corps that the division had a total of 3,145 personnel, armed with 53 machine guns of all types, seven 45mm antitank guns, plus 22 other guns and mortars. At the time this was above average for Northwestern Front, where most rifle divisions had less than 2,000 troops.^[9]

When the shooting stopped the men and women of the division shared the full title of 125th Rifle, Krasnoye Selo, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov Division. (Russian: 125-я стрелковая Красносельская Краснознамённая ордена Кутузова дивизия.) According to STAVKA Order No. 11096 of May 29, part 8, 117th Corps and the 125th were listed as among those to be "disbanded in place".^[10] In accordance to this directive the division was disbanded in July.