The 179th Vitebsk Red Banner Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.

179th Rifle Division
Active
  • 1940–1948 (1st formation)
  • 1953–1955 (2nd formation)
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Engagements
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner
Battle honoursVitebsk

World War II

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Formation

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Established at Vilnius on 17 August 1940 as part of the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps on the basis of the 1st Infantry Division of the Lithuanian Army:

Lithuanian Army units from

which the Soviet unit was formed

Soviet units
1st Division's HQ,

Lithuanian Army's Staff

HQ
1st Division's HQ,

Lithuanian Army's Staff,

9th Infantry Regiment,

2nd Cavalry Regiment

215th Rifle Regiment
1st, 8th Infantry Regiments,

1st Cavalry Regiment

234th Rifle Regiment
2nd, 3rd Infantry Regiments,

3rd Cavalry Regiment

259th Rifle Regiment

Battles

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With 29th Rifle Corps of 11th Army on June 22, 1941. Fought at Kalinin, Gomel, and Vitebsk; with 4th Shock Army of the Kurland Group (Leningrad Front) May 1945.

After World War II

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It was reduced to the 27th Rifle Brigade in 1948 at Uralsk. It became a division again in October 1953.[1]

In 1955, the division became the 4th Rifle Division at Buzuluk in the South Ural Military District.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 149, Table 4.1.4
  2. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 150, Table 4.1.5

Books

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  • 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. ISBN 978-5-89503-530-6.
  • Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. ISBN 0-89141-237-9.
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