The 44th Kievskaya of the Red Banner Rifle Division of Nikolay Shchors, or 44th Kievskaya for short, was an elite military formation of the Soviet Union. Created during the beginnings of the Russian Civil War. It was destroyed during the Winter War, after being ordered to help the 163rd Rifle Division break a Finnish siege on the Raate road as part of the Special Rifle Corps 9th Army, together with the 54th Rifle Division. Afterwards it was levied and dissolved multiple times throughout the 40s and 50s until its final dissolution in 1959.[2]
Early history
Creation
The unit is also famous for being one of the first military formations out of which was formed the short-lived Ukrainian Soviet Army (November 30, 1918 – June 1, 1919). It was formed by the order no.6 of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine on September 22, 1918, as the 1st Insurgent Division along with the 2nd Insurgent Division. The 1st Insurgent Division was formed out of insurgent squads of Tarashcha and Novgorod-Sieversky uyezds. The chief of division (nachdiv) was appointed N.Krapivyansky and the chief of staff S.Petrikovsky (Petrenko).
2nd Insurgent Regiment, later called Tarashcha (V.Balyas, later M.Baron, and then V.Bozhenko)
3rd Insurgent Regiment of Bogun, later called simply Bogun (Nikolay Shchors)
4th Insurgent Regiment (Ya.Kisel)
By the end of September, the Division grew to 6700 bayonets, 450 sabers, 14 [artillery] guns, and from 10 to 18 machine guns "Maxim", 5 to 6 Colt, 20 to 30 Lewis. Because of that, selected regiments were reorganized into brigades. However, the name for the units were nominal as the brigade's headquarters were never formed, and functions of kombrigs were performed by the regimental commanders (colonel).
1st Brigade of Red Cossacks (1st Regiment and 2nd Regiment) (Vitaly Primakov)
Around that time at the divisional headquarters a security company was formed out of some 700 soldiers. That new unit was planned to be transformed into the 5th Regiment and used as a reserve. Also the 4th Insurgent Regiment was recommissioned as the 6th Insurgent Regiment (commander T.Chernyak) and along with the 1st Regiment of Red Cossacks was soon transferred to the 2nd Insurgent Division. In their places, were created the 3rd Insurgent Regiment, later called Novgorod-Sieversky (T.Chernyak) and the 4th Insurgent Nezhyn Regiment (P.Nesmeyan) transformed out the security company.
Ukrainian-Soviet War
During the preparations for an assault on Kharkiv most of the division, however, refused to obey orders except for the Red Cossacks and the 4th Insurgent Nezhyn Regiment. For that the divisional commander N.Krapivyansky was dismissed and court martialed. I Lokatosh was appointed the new chief of division and I. Panafidin the political commissar. The name of the division also changed to the Special Insurgent Division (order of Military Council of Kursk direction group of forces of November 21, 1918) as well as its formation consisting of now only two brigades:
1st brigade (P.Kovtun) (Novgorod-Sieversky Regiment - T.Chernyak and Nezhyn Company - P.Nesmeyan)
2nd brigade (N.Shchors) (Bogun and Tarashcha Regiments)
The 44th Rifle Division, part of the 12th Army, was formed from units of the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Army by a 16 June 1919 order. Reorganized as the 44th Border Rifle Division on 5 August when it absorbed the 3rd Border Division, it merged with the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Division to become the 44th Rifle Division on 16 August.[3]
Winter War (destruction at the Battle of Raate Road)
The 44th Rifle Division participated in the Soviet invasion of Poland in autumn 1939. Later, during the Finno-Russian Winter War, the division was sent to the Finnish front as reinforcement for the Soviet 163rd Rifle Division which had attempted to advance into central Finland and become surrounded after capturing the town of Suomussalmi and was suffering heavy casualties.[4] The 163rd Division, which was running short of food, was almost completely annihilated in combat with the Finnish 9th Infantry Division (Winter War) (fi:9._divisioona_(talvisota)) before the 44th Rifle Division could reach its position. With no ski troops, the 44th Rifle Division was completely road bound in the deep snow. The Finns, mounted on skis, and carrying superior arms (Kp-31 submachineguns), were able to break the route of march of the 44th Division on the road leading to Suomussalmi. By breaking the division into pieces along the road, after Finnish radio intelligence had confirmed that the whole division had entered the Raate road,[5] the Finns were able to annihilate the entire unit. According to Robert Edwards, the division's Commander A. Vinogradev managed to escape, but later, on the orders of Stalin's emissary, Lev Mekhlis, he was shot for incompetence following a sham trial. Of the 44th Division's 17,000 troops, 1,000 were captured and 700 escaped. The rest died.[4]
Other records suggest that Commander (kombrig) Alexei Vinogradov was sentenced in January 1940 to the Highest Degree of Punishment (VMN) by the Military Tribunal of the 9th Army.[6] along with his chief of staff Onufri Volkov.[7] On January 11, he was publicly executed in front of formation.
On April 24, 1941, according to the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (SNK) of April 23, 1941 No. 1112-459ss, the 44th Rifle Division was reformed into a mountain rifle formation with the abandonment of the previous insignia.
"Captured Soviet Generals" says that the division commander, Major General S.A. Tkachenko, was captured by the Germans. The division was immediately caught up in conflict and suffered heavy losses. By 21 July 1941 the division was already short of shtat (establishment or Table of Organization and Equipment) by over 4,000 soldiers, 199 cargo trucks, and over 3,000 rifles and carbines. Divisional morale fell despite some small victories. Ultimately the division was wiped out in combat in the Battle of Uman near the village of Podvyskoe in the Kirovograd and Uman region.[9]
The division was recreated at Leningrad in October 1941. It fought in northern Russia and Kurland with the 54th Army of Volkhov Front in January 1944 and the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front in May 1945.
Edwards, Robert, The Winter War, Pegasus Books, New York, 2008 ISBN978-1-933648-50-7
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. ISBN9785895035306.
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