In order to understand the issue of the need to draw up a document, ...
The 118th Guards Rifle Regiment as part of the 37th Guards Rifle Division was created on 08/02/1942 by the reorganization of the 211th Airborne Brigade of the 1st Airborne Corps in Lyubertsy. 08/14/1942 118th Guards Rifle Regiment railway transferred to the Ilovlya station, with the task of taking up defensive positions in the bend of the Don, in the area of the farms Trekhostrovskaya, Khlebnaya and Zimoveyskaya, but did not have time to gain a foothold, retreated directly to the right bank of the river and held the defense there, frustrating the enemy’s attempts to force the Don on the move. 08/17/1942 The 118th Guards Rifle Regiment, consisting of the 37th Guards Rifle Division, withdrew beyond the Don under heavy shelling, or rather beyond the Don and to the island of Bystrye Protoki on the river. The division held the defense there until 09/16/1943, launched an offensive with a river crossing, and entrenched itself on a small bridgehead.
On September 28, 1942, the division, battered in battle, transferred the defense to the 24th Infantry Division and the 22nd Infantry Brigade marched to Stalingrad, crossed the Volga forty kilometers north of Stalingrad, near the village of Dubovka, and then arrived at the Gypsy Zarya farm, a few kilometers east of Stalingrad. On the night of 10/02/1942, the first units of the division crossed back to the right bank of the Volga in Stalingrad, went to the Mokraya Mechetka River, and immediately entered into battle.
On 10/14/1942, the remnants of the division were surrounded in the workshops of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.
In mid-November 1942, the division officially transferred its defense line to another formation and was withdrawn to the left bank of the Volga, leaving in Stalingrad only a consolidated detachment based on the 118th Guards Regiment (transferred to the 138th division), a few days later and a consolidated detachment due to heavy losses was withdrawn from the battle. In other words, the division in the battles in the area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant died almost completely, the remnants of the formation were reduced to a detachment, which was also almost completely destroyed. The losses of the division amounted to 95% of the personnel. According to the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command to the commander of the troops of the Stalingrad Front on the withdrawal of formations to the reserve of the Supreme High Command of 12/22/1942, the NKO ordered to withdraw the division from the Stalingrad Front to the reserve of the Supreme High Command by December 27, 1942. According to the plan, the division was supposed to be loaded at the Zaplavnaya station from 18.00 on 12/25/1942 and sent by echelon to Balashov, but only departed on 12/31/1942. On February 13, 1943, she was alerted, and departed in echelons through Borisoglebsk, Gryazi, on December 15, 1943 she unloaded in Yelets, then made a heavy march in the direction of Livny. Divisions arriving at that moment on the northern front Kursk Bulge almost everyone faced a difficult march, in very bad natural conditions, lack of proper (or in the absence of) food, places to rest, etc. After arriving in Livny, the division set out on a new march through Zolotukhino, Fatezh, Dmitriev-Lgovsky, Mikhailovsky, arrived at the place of concentration on 02/24/1943 (total length march was 283 kilometers). 02/26/1944 was drawn into offensive battles, from the Androsovo, Khlynino, Zorino area struck at the enemy in the direction: Veretenino, Sbordnoe, Kamenets, Rastorog and further to Gladkoe, Karpeevsky. The offensive battles that continued throughout March 1943 proved to be of little success. 04/23/1943 the division was withdrawn to the reserve in the district villages of Lubashevo, Gavrilovka, Krasnaya Polyana, Petrovsky, Simple, Chernevka, Studenoksky, Koshkino, Krugly. At the end of May 1943, the division occupied defensive lines near the village of Lubashevo, Dmitrievsky district, Kursk region. In the defensive part Battle of Kursk the division did not participate because it was not in the main attack zone. She went on the offensive from her positions only on 08/07/1943, breaks through the enemy’s defenses and fights for Dmitrovsk-Orlovsky, took part in his liberation, losing only 512 people killed and 1996 people wounded in just 5 days of fighting, then transferred to the Sevsk region, arrived on 14.08 .1943, then advanced along the route Seredina-Buda, Yampol, Shostka. 09/08/1943 the division reached the Desna, two or three kilometers below Novgorod-Seversky, 09/12/1943 crossed it, fought for the bridgehead, then advanced in the direction of Loeva, crossed the Sozh, and then, in mid-October 1943 - the Dnieper, during October -November 1943 fights on the bridgehead and in the vicinity of Loyev, then took part in the Gomel-Rechitsa operation, distinguished herself during the liberation of Rechitsa, reached the line of Ozarichi, Parichi in a ledge in the Polissya swamps towards Bobruisk. At the end of December 1943, she was assigned to the reserve, then participates in the January Kalinkovichi-Mozyr operation, 01/20/1944 took part in the liberation of Ozarichi From 06/23/1944 in the offensive during the Bobruisk operation, advanced south of Bobruisk on Osipovichi, 06/27/1944 reached Osipovichi, participating in securing the encirclement around the Bobruisk grouping of the enemy, continued the offensive towards the western border of the USSR, during the offensive participates in the liberation of Baranovichi (07/08/1944), Slonim (07/10/1944), Cheremkha (07/20/1944) 09/05/1944 advanced units of the division crossed the Narew River, captured a bridgehead in the Pultusk area, fought on the bridgehead until January 1945.
01/13/1945 went on the offensive from the bridgehead, by the end of January 1945 reached Graudenz with fighting, fought the hardest battles, besieging the city. 02/16/1945 again launched an attack on the city, in two days it was possible to overcome the entire field system of enemy fortifications around the city, the division moved forward significantly and captured a number of settlements. On the night of February 18, 1945, the soldiers of the division broke into the city several times, but, meeting strong enemy resistance, retreated to the outskirts. Having pulled over the forces of the enemy, she ensured the capture of the city by units of the 142nd Infantry Division
From the beginning of March 1945, at the final stage of the East Pomeranian operation, she was returned to her army, went through about 150 kilometers in several days with battles, advancing on Danzig.
After the liberation of Danzig on March 28, 1945, the 118th Guards Rifle Division was transferred to the west to participate in the Berlin operation, during which they crossed the Oder, fought near Stettin, and ended the war in Rostock.
Distinguished Warriors of the Regiment
Hero Soviet Union Guard Lieutenant Vladimirov Vladimir Fedorovich - company commander of the 118th Guards rifle regiment- 01/15/1944 (posthumously)
Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain Nemkov, Alexei Vladimirovich - Deputy Battalion Commander of the 118th Guards Rifle Regiment - 02/22/1944
Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Senior Lieutenant Nikolaev, Alexander Petrovich - company commander of the 118th Guards Rifle Regiment - 06/30/1945
On September 28, 1942, the division, battered in battle, transferred the defense to the 24th Infantry Division and the 22nd Infantry Brigade marched to Stalingrad, crossed the Volga forty kilometers north of Stalingrad, near the village of Dubovka, and then arrived at the Gypsy Zarya farm, a few kilometers east of Stalingrad. On the night of 10/02/1942, the first units of the division crossed back to the right bank of the Volga in Stalingrad, went to the Mokraya Mechetka River, and immediately entered into battle.
On 10/14/1942, the remnants of the division were surrounded in the workshops of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.
In mid-November 1942, the division officially transferred its defense line to another formation and was withdrawn to the left bank of the Volga, leaving in Stalingrad only a consolidated detachment based on the 118th Guards Regiment (transferred to the 138th division), a few days later and a consolidated detachment due to heavy losses was withdrawn from the battle. In other words, the division in the battles in the area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant died almost completely, the remnants of the formation were reduced to a detachment, which was also almost completely destroyed. The losses of the division amounted to 95% of the personnel. According to the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command to the commander of the troops of the Stalingrad Front on the withdrawal of formations to the reserve of the Supreme High Command of 12/22/1942, the NKO ordered to withdraw the division from the Stalingrad Front to the reserve of the Supreme High Command by December 27, 1942. According to the plan, the division was supposed to be loaded at the Zaplavnaya station from 18.00 on 12/25/1942 and sent by echelon to Balashov, but only departed on 12/31/1942. On February 13, 1943, she was alerted, and departed in echelons through Borisoglebsk, Gryazi, on December 15, 1943 she unloaded in Yelets, then made a heavy march in the direction of Livny. Divisions arriving at that moment on the northern front Kursk Bulge almost everyone faced a difficult march, in very bad natural conditions, lack of proper (or in the absence of) food, places to rest, etc. After arriving in Livny, the division set out on a new march through Zolotukhino, Fatezh, Dmitriev-Lgovsky, Mikhailovsky, arrived at the place of concentration on 02/24/1943 (total length march was 283 kilometers). 02/26/1944 was drawn into offensive battles, from the Androsovo, Khlynino, Zorino area struck at the enemy in the direction: Veretenino, Sbordnoe, Kamenets, Rastorog and further to Gladkoe, Karpeevsky. The offensive battles that continued throughout March 1943 proved to be of little success. 04/23/1943 the division was withdrawn to the reserve in the district villages of Lubashevo, Gavrilovka, Krasnaya Polyana, Petrovsky, Simple, Chernevka, Studenoksky, Koshkino, Krugly. At the end of May 1943, the division occupied defensive lines near the village of Lubashevo, Dmitrievsky district, Kursk region. In the defensive part Battle of Kursk the division did not participate because it was not in the main attack zone. She went on the offensive from her positions only on 08/07/1943, breaks through the enemy’s defenses and fights for Dmitrovsk-Orlovsky, took part in his liberation, losing only 512 people killed and 1996 people wounded in just 5 days of fighting, then transferred to the Sevsk region, arrived on 14.08 .1943, then advanced along the route Seredina-Buda, Yampol, Shostka. 09/08/1943 the division reached the Desna, two or three kilometers below Novgorod-Seversky, 09/12/1943 crossed it, fought for the bridgehead, then advanced in the direction of Loeva, crossed the Sozh, and then, in mid-October 1943 - the Dnieper, during October -November 1943 fights on the bridgehead and in the vicinity of Loyev, then took part in the Gomel-Rechitsa operation, distinguished herself during the liberation of Rechitsa, reached the line of Ozarichi, Parichi in a ledge in the Polissya swamps towards Bobruisk. At the end of December 1943, she was assigned to the reserve, then participates in the January Kalinkovichi-Mozyr operation, 01/20/1944 took part in the liberation of Ozarichi From 06/23/1944 in the offensive during the Bobruisk operation, advanced south of Bobruisk on Osipovichi, 06/27/1944 reached Osipovichi, participating in securing the encirclement around the Bobruisk grouping of the enemy, continued the offensive towards the western border of the USSR, during the offensive participates in the liberation of Baranovichi (07/08/1944), Slonim (07/10/1944), Cheremkha (07/20/1944) 09/05/1944 advanced units of the division crossed the Narew River, captured a bridgehead in the Pultusk area, fought on the bridgehead until January 1945.
01/13/1945 went on the offensive from the bridgehead, by the end of January 1945 reached Graudenz with fighting, fought the hardest battles, besieging the city. 02/16/1945 again launched an attack on the city, in two days it was possible to overcome the entire field system of enemy fortifications around the city, the division moved forward significantly and captured a number of settlements. On the night of February 18, 1945, the soldiers of the division broke into the city several times, but, meeting strong enemy resistance, retreated to the outskirts. Having pulled over the forces of the enemy, she ensured the capture of the city by units of the 142nd Infantry Division
From the beginning of March 1945, at the final stage of the East Pomeranian operation, she was returned to her army, went through about 150 kilometers in several days with battles, advancing on Danzig.
After the liberation of Danzig on March 28, 1945, the 118th Guards Rifle Division was transferred to the west to participate in the Berlin operation, during which they crossed the Oder, fought near Stettin, and ended the war in Rostock.
Distinguished Warriors of the Regiment
Hero Soviet Union Guard Lieutenant Vladimirov Vladimir Fedorovich - company commander of the 118th Guards rifle regiment- 01/15/1944 (posthumously)
Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain Nemkov, Alexei Vladimirovich - Deputy Battalion Commander of the 118th Guards Rifle Regiment - 02/22/1944
Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Senior Lieutenant Nikolaev, Alexander Petrovich - company commander of the 118th Guards Rifle Regiment - 06/30/1945
According to one of the previous publications of this project, the reader could already see how units of the German 58th Infantry Division proceeded through Pskov. Today I want to return to the photographs of this division. This time it is the album of the company commander of the 158th anti-tank battalion (PanzerJäger Abteilung 158) Lieutenant Detlef Lippold (Detlef Lippold, who was born on February 4, 1916 in Wilhelmshaven, was wounded near Leningrad in December 1942. He died on December 27, 1942 in 608- m military hospital in Riga).
The 58th Infantry Division was part of the 18th Army (XXXVIII Army Corps) and by the beginning of July 1941 was on the right flank of the army. After the capture of Riga, the 18th Army with its right wing along the Riga-Pskov highway, with the forces of two corps, rushed to the city on Velikaya. Despite the efforts made, the infantry of the 18th Army did not have time for the battles that unfolded near Pskov. However, the 58th Infantry Division succeeded with the forces of the reconnaissance battalion, reinforced anti-tank artillery, take part in the battle for Gdov.
The goal of the Germans in Gdov was the airfield, without which the Luftwaffe was forced to fly to the area of the Luga bridgehead a couple of hundred kilometers away. Gdov was defended by the battered 118th, which was retreating from Pskov for replenishment in the Luga region. rifle division. It was Golovatsky's division that became an obstacle on the way to the Gdov airfield, so necessary for the Germans. The Germans attacked Gdov on July 14 from two sides, from the southeast with the forces of the 36th motorized division and from the south, along the Pskov-Gdov highway with the forces of the 58th infantry division.
On the evening of July 16, the 36th motorized division managed to cut the roads northeast of Gdov, the 118th rifle division was surrounded.
From the combat report of the commander of the 118th Infantry Division, Major General Glovatsky N.M. 07/18/1941: "Period 21.00-23.00 16.7.41, the pr-ku managed to bypass, and partially destroy the advanced barriers, using a mass of small-caliber artillery, mortars and artillery on a mechanized tractor. He occupied firing lines northeast of GDOVA 3-5 km. and took under heavy fire, sweeping away all along the way, all exits from GDOVA."
It should be noted that in the battles for Gdov there were both heroes and anti-heroes. The anti-hero was the division commander, Major General Glovatsky, who, in fact, abandoned the encircled division and sailed away from Gdov on a boat with part of the headquarters (in Vasknarva on the evening of July 17, the division headquarters, led by divisional commander Glovatsky, went ashore and headed towards Kingisepp). On July 19, Major General Glovatsky was arrested, court-martialed and then convicted under Art. 193-20. Sentenced to capital punishment.
Together with the headquarters, the Chud flotilla was able to take out about a thousand personnel from Gdov. The rest had to fight their way out of the encirclement along the highway and along the lake shore. The breakthrough was led by the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Mizitsky (on July 17 he was wounded, went out to his own in the Narva region).
Here is how Trubetskoy A.V. describes him, in July 1941 - a Red Army soldier 527 SP 118 SD. (Trubetskoy A.V. Ways are inscrutable: (Memoirs of 1939-1955). - M .: Kontur, 1997. - 413 p.: portrait, ill.):
“We quickly go to Gdov. On the road there are traces of a recent bombing: the corpses of horses dumped on the side of the road (they say that among them is the same Strelka, the horse of the battalion commander on which I learned to ride), broken wagons, fresh mounds - the graves of the dead. Evening is falling in the distance, clumps of trees and the houses of Gdov. At night we entered the city. There are many troops in it: our division, two regiments of the Leningrad militia and someone else. In the center of the city near the fence old church under the huge sprawling trees the divisional authorities. It encourages the approaching soldiers, but it is felt that the authorities are puzzled and even, perhaps, frightened and confused. And the soldiers go hungry, tired and some already indifferent. A rumor is circulating: we are surrounded, we must break through. Rare are heard from afar long queues machine guns - German (ours don’t hit like that) and quieter automatic bursts.
We leave on the northern outskirts of the city. Our artillery is already there. Early morning. Short stop, we regroup and start moving forward. On the right along the road is the first battalion, led by commander captain Kravchenko. He has a revolver in his hand. It goes cheerfully, confidently, but, it is felt, with great tension. On the left side of the road - our second battalion. Truckloads of soldiers rode ahead, bayonets fixed just like in revolutionary photographs. On cabs light machine guns. The impression is strange - a good target for the Germans. Shoot ahead. I unsheathed the bayonet of a self-loading rifle and attached it. For some reason, this has never been done before. The seriousness of what is happening is felt in the air. More shooting ahead. Sometimes they are ordered to stop and shoot, but where, at whom, it is not clear. We passed an empty village, and I notice that there are no casualties, but there is no building either, and there are fewer and fewer people. There are twenty of us left.
And then I felt that something terrible was about to happen to me. It was some strange, previously unknown to me, heavy feeling of something inevitable, fatal. The feeling that there is no way you can escape what is about to happen.
The fire intensified all around, and we walked along the ditch along the road, crouching. There was no longer a unified leadership. There was only a general desire to break out of the encirclement. From somewhere out of the rye, an unfamiliar soldier ran up with a request to help the seriously wounded commander. Bending down, we followed him into the rye. The major is lying, wounded in both legs, bandaged. Silently looks at us. What to do? We stood, stood and, without looking at him, left ... Bending down, we go along the ditch forward again. Somehow I ended up going first. There is a terrible weight on my heart. Heavy fire all around. The Germans hit with tracer bullets: their white threads penetrate everything around, and it paralyzes. The ditch runs into some kind of hillock. You have to climb through it, but the white threads stop you. There is also a water pipe under the road. We decide to climb on it to the other side. There are very few of us, ten people. Nobody wants to go first, and everyone just says to each other: "come on, come on, come on," but no one moves. I got in. The pipe is narrow, barely stuck through, crawled through. Everyone else gets out. We are sitting in a ditch again. "Well, let's go ahead," - and again no one moves. All around there is a terrible chatter and a web of white threads. Down the ditch, bending down, an unfamiliar lieutenant runs towards him with a German machine gun in his hands and shouts: "Come on, go ahead! Ours are breaking through!" - and runs on. Leaning low, I went first. In the ditch lies the dead, our fighter, with his face buried in the ground. You have to go through it. And for some reason, it was very unpleasant for me to do this. I thought: "Let me jump out onto the road, pass it with one jump and jump into the ditch again."
And as soon as I jumped out onto the road, bent over in three deaths, and took one step, as in front, a little to the left, a bright spot instantly appeared on the roadbed, thunder, a blow. All this was perceived not by separate sense organs, but somehow by all of me, and, falling into the ditch, I said loudly to myself, and, perhaps, shouted: "ALL-E-E!" And then there was silence...
According to the report of the 36th motorized division in the Gdov region, they captured 1700-2000 prisoners. They estimated the losses of the Soviet side at about 1200 people. In addition, 2 aircraft at the airfield, 7 heavy and 13 light anti-aircraft guns, 5 quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns, 22 anti-tank guns, 7 armored vehicles (wrecked), 100 trucks, 800 horses were captured.
In the battles for Gdov, the 36th motorized division lost 77 people killed, 117 wounded. We do not yet have data on the losses of the 58th Infantry Division.
Mikhail Tukh, especially for the Pskov Information Agency
It was formed in Kostroma on July 6, 1940 on the basis of the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1193-464ss of 07/06/1940
On June 22, 1941 was in the city of Kostroma and was part of the 41st SC (111.118 and 235th divisions) of Major General I.S. Kosobutsky.
From June 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941, it is loaded in Kostroma and by rail through Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Bologoye, Staraya Russa, Porkhov is transferred to Pskov, bombed along the way, unloaded in Karamyshevo From June 30, 1941, it was supposed to be deployed in the Pskov fortified area, however, it was late with the arrival, so by the evening of July 2, 1941, only 13 echelons arrived, by the morning of July 4, 1941, 20 echelons arrived, 2 more were on the way. She took positions near Pskov, along the Velikaya River and the Cherekha River, adjoining Lake Pskov on the right flank, and on the left flank to the mouth of the Keb River. On July 5, 1941, it was deployed in the Korly, Vasilyevo, Palkino sector, Cherskaya station, Ogurtsovo, the concentration had not yet been completed. She took her first battle on July 5, 1941 with the 6th Panzer Division.
Pskov Ostrovsky and Sebezh UR
As early as July 4, on the sector of the left-flank 111sd XXXXIMK, the enemy managed to break through the line of fortified areas on the old border and capture the city of Ostrov and two bridges across the Velikaya River. Having repulsed the counterattacks of the 111th Rifle Division and units of the 1MK, from July 7 the enemy began to develop an offensive from Ostrov to the north in the direction of Porkhov. As a result of the night battle from July 7th to 8th, the 1st division of the Germans managed to break through along the highway and reach the southern outskirts of Pskov in the Krestov area. This created a real threat of encirclement of those parts that were behind the Great. General N.M.Glovatsky appealed to the headquarters of the corps with a request to allow the withdrawal of troops from across the river to the city, but was refused.
On the morning of July 8, 1941, the division remained at its former lines, without an active enemy in front of it. However, seeing stalemate, parts of the division, leaving the fortified area, began to retreat to the city, but did not have time to cross the bridges that had been blown up. Crossing on improvised means through the Great Division suffered significant losses in manpower and ammunition. Having passed the central part of the city, the division commanders decided to retreat along divergent lines: the 118th to Gdov, and the 111th to Luga. The capture of Pskov for one day was delayed only by the blowing up of bridges on the Velikaya River.
In Pskov, control of the division was finally lost, and from July 10, 1941, the division in disorder mostly retreats along the eastern coast Lake Peipus to Gdov, and by some units to Luga and Dno. Closer to Gdov, control was restored; from July 11, 1941 to July 18, 1941, the division was engaged in heavy fighting on the eastern shore of Lake Peipsi, defending Gdov. (On July 16, the division had two joint ventures that suffered losses of up to 35% of their strength. The artillery regiments had 7-76mm guns and 17-122mm guns). The enemy, meanwhile, also decided to take Gdov and the airfield in the city. Gdov attacked units of 36md from the east, and 58pd approached from the south. By the evening of July 16, 36md cut the roads leading to the s-v. 118sd, as well as two regiments from the Leningrad militia, were surrounded in Gdov. At that moment, the 58th Infantry Division approached and broke into Gdov. The division commander Golovatsky left his division, the evacuation of which from Gdov was carried out by the rivermen of the Chudskaya military flotilla. On the evening of July 17, Holovatsky crossed on a boat to Vasknarva. Together with the headquarters, the Chud flotilla was able to take out about a thousand personnel from Gdov. The rest had to fight their way out of the encirclement along the highway and along the lake shore. The breakthrough was led by the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Mizitsky (on July 17 he was wounded, went out to his own in the Narva region). The remnants of the division left its encirclement in the Narva area by July 20, 1941. The Germans announced the capture in Gdov of 1200 people as prisoners, 5 quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns, 22 anti-tank guns, 7 armored vehicles (padded), 100 trucks, 800 horses.
On July 19, 1941, Major General Glovatsky, being at the front, was arrested on charges of withdrawing a division from the Pskov fortified area without the written permission of the corps commander. The visiting session of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR at a court hearing in Leningrad on July 26, 1941 found Glovatsky guilty and sentenced him to capital punishment with confiscation of property and deprivation military rank. The sentence was carried out on 3 August.
In early August, the replenished division, along with the fresh 268sd, was transferred to the 11SK 8A, which fought in Estonia. Parts of the German XXVIAK advancing northward sought to separate the forces of 10 and 11SK. By the time the reserve Soviet divisions were unloaded, the enemy was already approaching Tapa and threatened to cut the Tallinn-Leningrad railway. On August 2, the first at st. Kadrina unloaded 398sp, which was ordered to immediately take up defense. Having concentrated the main forces of 294pd in the Tapa area, the Germans occupied Tapa on August 4. The recently replenished 118sd, brought into battle from wheels, did not differ in high combat effectiveness and, according to the statement of the 8A command, its units fled after the first shots of the enemy.
The 8A command developed a counterattack against the grouping of German troops in the Tapa area. The main striking force was to be played by the fresh 118th and 268th rifle divisions. The start of the offensive was planned for the morning of 7 August. The German command preempted our troops in the offensive. Having concentrated units 254, 291 and 93pd in the Tapa area, the enemy went on the offensive in the morning of August 6, trying to encircle our troops in the Rakvere area. The 118sd regiments were knocked out of their positions in the Kadrin area and retreated in disorder to with-in the direction. Seeing the departure of the regiments, the head of the political department of 8A brig. Commissar Mareev tried to stop the fighters, but was shot dead. The regiments of the division by this moment did not exceed 200 people in number. each, 604 legs, consisted of 11 guns. The total number of the division was about 1500 people. On August 7, the division retreated to the line of the river. Kunda, and then on the river. Pada. But even here it was not possible to stay. On August 9, the division was withdrawn to the 8A reserve. August 12 reintroduced into fight s-z Art. Kohla. By this time, the enemy had somewhat weakened his pressure on the 8A troops, sending his 254pd to storm Tallinn. However, all connections 8A after incurring big losses numbered several thousand and even hundreds of people. By August 17, the division was withdrawn beyond the river. Narva, and then beyond the river. Meadows. She retreated to Koporye, then launched a counterattack, rolled back to the settlement of Iliki, from there she was transferred to Kipen, where the enemy came closest to Leningrad on August 23.
On August 22, 1941, the division consisted of only 3025 personnel, 17 guns and 54 machine guns. The division waged battles for Kipen very stubbornly. The village passed from hand to hand, but the enemy did not pass. September 10 was surrounded after the capture of Ropsha. On September 14, she left the encirclement and is fighting near Ropsha. Since September 16, 1941, it has been advancing on Gostilitsy, managed to move forward 3-5 kilometers, but was cut off by the Germans south of Mikhailovsky.
On September 25, the division consisted of 2279 people. 7 76mm guns, 1 45mm, 1 122mm, 3 mortars, and 104 vehicles.
On September 29, 1941, the division was disbanded without the knowledge of the People's Commissar of Defense, the remnants of the personnel were transferred to the 48th Infantry Division.
Chronicle of tragedy
In July, our city received guests from Kostroma. The visit was connected with a mournful date - the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and the past of the Gdovsky region, on the territory of which, in July of the forty-first year, the 118th rifle division took bloody battles and fell into the enemy's encirclement. It was formed before the war in Kostroma, and there were many natives of this region in it. Thousands of soldiers of the 118th Infantry Division laid down their lives on Gdov land. This is not the first time that Kostroma searchers have come to us in memory of fellow countrymen. Today they brought a memorial plaque to the obelisk, installed near the Grove of Memory and the village of Verkholyane. At the rally dedicated to this event, the commanders of two search detachments met - Sergey Shiyanov from Kostroma and Marat Falyakhiev from Gdov. They know a lot about the tragic events of 70 years ago, and they prepared an article for the readers of Gdovskaya Zarya about how it happened. Based on historical documents and memoirs of witnesses and participants. The directive of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated July 8, 1940, numbered 0/1/104591, stated: by August 15, 1940, the 118th rifle division of 3,000 people (Yaroslavl, Kostroma) should be formed. Thus was born the 118th Rifle Division. It included: three rifle regiments - 398th (military unit 40327), 463rd (military unit 34453), 527th (military unit 44158); two artillery (604th light artillery and 621st howitzer artillery regiment), 191st separate anti-tank battalion; 132nd separate reconnaissance battalion; 283rd separate communications battalion (military unit 11880); 282nd separate engineer battalion (military unit 19665); 472nd separate anti-aircraft artillery division; 259th separate medical and sanitary battalion; 260th separate company chemical protection; 663rd motor transport battalion; 442nd field bakery; 581st field post station; 439th field cash desk of the State Bank. Until the spring of 1941, the division was kept in peacetime states. By the time it was sent to the front, it had more than 14 thousand people. The division had three T-38 tanks and 13 armored vehicles. The division stood in Kostroma and was understaffed in wartime. The 527th regiment received teams of conscripts mainly from the Arkhangelsk district and Ukraine, the 463rd - from Kostroma, the 398th - from Ivanovo, Tula, Kaluga and Vladimir regions. And the 621st and 604th regiments - from Kostroma and the Kostroma region. The composition of the division was repeatedly replenished in the future, already in the course of hostilities, by natives of the Arkhangelsk, Leningrad, Pskov, Vologda regions, and the Chuvash ASSR. Parts of the division began to go to the front on June 26, 1941. One by one, the battalions were sent for loading. The echelons were unloaded 25 km from Pskov at the Karamyshevo station. The division, consisting of 14 thousand people, took up positions in the Pskov fortified region, on the border of the region with Estonia. At the end of June 1941, the German army crossed the Western Dvina with the forces of the 4th Panzer Group, the 16th and 18th field armies and from July 1 began to develop a rapid offensive in the direction of Rezekne, Ostrov. On July 6, the 118th division with two regiments (463, 527) took up defense in the Staro-Pskov fortified area in a strip 26 km wide. The defense fronts were unnecessarily stretched, the division occupied a larger line of defense than expected. The norm was a strip along the front no more than 4-5 km. Between the 118th and 111th divisions, a battalion of the 62nd rifle regiment took up the defense. Against the forces of the Red Army were three divisions of the 41st German motorized corps - the 1st and 6th tank and the 36th motorized. Parts of the first tank division of the enemy broke through the defense Soviet troops and by the evening of July 4 they took possession of the Island. Commander of the Northwestern Front, General P.P. Sobennikov set the division commanders the task of destroying the enemy who had broken through into Ostrov and capturing the city. At 16.00 on July 5, the detached units went on the offensive and, after a fierce battle, captured the Island, pushing the enemy back across the Velikaya River. However, the Germans, having pulled up the sixth tank, by the morning of July 6 pushed our units to the northern outskirts of the city. In the afternoon of July 6, the enemy resumed the offensive after a heavy artillery attack and bomber attack. The first German tank division began to move quickly to Pskov, and the sixth to Porkhov. The war diary of Army Group North notes: “The enemy tried to delay the offensive of the 4th Panzer Group with strong rearguards. The fighting was fierce. During July 5 and 6, the 1st Panzer Division destroyed over 140 tanks in the Ostrov bridgehead. On July 8, the commander of the North-Western Front ordered the troops to move to a stubborn defense at the turn of the Pskov fortified area - the Velikaya River - the Cheryokha River and further along the eastern bank of the Velikaya to Opochka and to the south. But this order could not be carried out. The Pskov fortified area was abandoned by units of the 118th Infantry Division by the end of July 8th. The premature explosion of the Pskov bridge across the Velikaya River led to a disorderly retreat on improvised means of the units of the 118th, 111th rifle divisions that remained on the western bank of the river, as well as to heavy losses in people and military equipment and appeared main reason the abandonment of Pskov and the subsequent withdrawal of troops in directions to Gdov. As a result of premature undermining of bridges, part of the forces of the 118th and 111th rifle divisions did not have time to cross the Velikaya River. After the retreat across the river, the commander of the 118th division, General Glovatsky, took some measures to organize the defense, but heavy losses in personnel, his demoralization and the final loss of communication with the headquarters of the 41st rifle corps made the defense unsustainable. The withdrawal of the remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division and the 3rd motorized rifle regiment from the southern outskirts of Pskov on the evening of July 8, put the left flank of the division at risk of envelopment and pressing it to Lake Pskov. All this forced the command of the division to withdraw units to Gdov. The fighting on the line of fortified areas along the Velikaya River did not produce the expected results. The first defensive operation of the Northwestern Front ended in failure, and a real threat breakthrough formations of Army Group "North" to Leningrad. After the loss of Pskov, units of the division rolled back in the eastern and northeast directions. True, these were really units, or rather, fragments of that formidable force that the division was a few days ago. Regiments, battalions, companies and just individual fighters dispersed, not controlled by anyone. As soon as the command learned of the loss of Pskov, the scattered remnants of the units were given the task of immediately launching a decisive offensive and liberating the city. But parts moved away from the city. By July 12, parts of the division took up defensive positions from the south and east. From the memoirs of N.M. Lazarev (a fighter of the combined battalion marines, formed from cadets of the Leningrad Engineering School): July 12, 1941. ... Twice we crossed the artillery positions of the 118th Infantry Division, located near the road. The Red Army soldiers were preparing to meet the enemy. Company vehicles passed settlements Lipyagi, Vyazka, Mazikha, Afonosovo. Units of the 118th Infantry Division were no longer encountered on our way (Lazarev N.M. “1941 from June 22 to September 17”, M., 2000, p. 63). To understand how everything happened, it is necessary to consider the dynamics of the battles by the location of the parts of the division. We must start from Chernev, because it was along this road, precisely from the east, that the 36th motorized German division. Near the village of Zalyubovye, our positions were located on the dominant height, which is crossed by the road to Gdov, approaching the city from the east. It was the road that was closed by parts of the division. They did not prepare for serious battles. As a result of a short-lived battle, they left their positions and retreated to Chernev, although here we can talk about a battle with a German landing force. According to information published in the Book of Memory of the Pskov Region, a German landing was thrown out in the Chernev region, which was soon destroyed (“The Book of Memory of the Pskov Region”, vol. 1, p. 250). To destroy the landing force, not only fighter battalions, but also division units could be attracted. Throughout all the positions from the villages of Mazikha and Vyazka, crossing the road to Gdov, there are no signs of a battle. Perhaps Chernev had a combat guard of the division or individual divisions, and Mazikha and Vyazka have the main artillery forces, this assumption is also confirmed by the memoirs of N.M. Lazarev. On July 14, the first and second special-purpose fighter regiments (militiamen from Leningrad) arrived at the Zamogilye station. They established contact with the command of the 118th Infantry Division, which fought defensive battles in this direction (Militiamen, Lenizdat, 1975. People's militia in the battle for Leningrad). The 527th regiment of the division operated in a southerly direction from Gdov, along the eastern shore of Lake Peipus. Here, together with two regiments of militia, he opposed the 58th German Infantry Division. On July 15, the fight moved directly to the vicinity of Gdov. Here, units of the 118th division entered the business. German troops with the help of their forces, as part of a motorized division from the east and an infantry division from the south, they took Gdov in pincers, cut the Gdov-Narva and Gdov-Pskov roads. By the evening of July 17, units of the 118th division made several attempts to get out of the ring, but all roads were blocked. The division's horse transport was blocked in the port. He several times swept at high speed either in the northern or in the southern directions along the shore of the lake in the hope of breaking out of the port and the city, but each time he returned to his original lines. At the very last moment, in despair, the riding soldiers and the commanders of the convoy, seeing the hopeless situation, began to shoot the horses. The division is dying, there is panic all around, incomprehensible movements turning into throwing. And the commander of the 118th division, Major General Glovatsky Nikolai Mikhailovich, at that time evacuates himself on an armored boat to the northern, safe coast, where there are still no Germans. In Vasknarva, on the evening of July 17, the division headquarters, led by division commander Glovatsky, went ashore and headed towards Kingisepp. But ordinary soldiers performed a feat, showed courage and courage. Here is one of the examples that the search engine Igor Fedorovich Ivanov from the village of Trutnevo found out: “The retreating units, in order to break away from the Germans, left a barrier. The withdrawal was covered by a Red Army machine gunner, who was wounded in both legs. He took a very good defensive position on the hill, and it was very difficult to outflank him. The Germans went on the attack many times, but were pinned to the ground by the well-aimed shooting of our soldier. Many enemy fighters ended the war under this hill. When the machine gunner died and the height was captured, a German general arrived there and ordered to bury our soldier with full military honors. Describing the battle for Gdov, the German author Haupt is not too flattering about the division. Citing as an example the self-sacrifice and courage of the fighters of the second division militia and cadets of the Leningrad Infantry School, he calls the resistance of the units of the 118th division only energetic and nothing more. However, describing the battles, it is stipulated that the forces of the 58th German infantry division were not enough to take the city. “... A reinforced advance detachment broke into the city on July 17. The 118th Rifle Division vigorously defended the city blocks and left only after the units of the 36th Motorized Division, which had captured the airfield the day before, got involved in street battles ”(W. Haupt“ Army Group North. Battles for Leningrad. 1941 -1944").
Search squad leaders
Kostroma Sergey Shiyanov,
Gdovsky district
Marat Falyakhiev
