Who was the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division. The combat path of my grandfather - Georgy Nikolaevich Starodubtsev

My grandfather, Georgy Starodubtsev (in some documents Egor) Nikolaevich, was born in 1902 in the village of Starodubtsy, Svechinsky district. He got married there, and my mother was born there. His father Nikolai Starodubtsev, according to relatives, had a mill and a bakery. In 1930-31, during the dispossession of kulaks, great-grandfather Nikolai gathered his family one day and left at night towards the Gorky region. Grandfather's brother, Starodubtsev Kupriyan Nikolaevich, and his family settled at the Sharya station in the Kostroma region. The rest settled in the village of Syava, which is under construction in the Gorky region. Grandfather, Georgy Starodubtsev, worked on the construction of a timber chemical plant, and after the start-up he worked as a compressor unit operator at the same plant. When the Great Patriotic War began, my grandfather 08.24. In 1941 he was called up to the front by the Shakhunsky RVK and sent to the 322nd Infantry Division, 1089 rifle regiment. This division was formed in Gorky. On October 2, 1941, after a rally on Minin Square, the soldiers marched solemnly to the railway station, loaded into carriages and set off for the city of Kuznetsk, Penza Region. This is the only division that the Gorky people openly and solemnly escorted to the front.

A short combat training took place in the city of Kuznetsk. The soldiers learned to shoot accurately, quickly dig in, and storm enemy positions. At the end of November, an order was received to move the division to the front. 322 SD was included in the 10th Army of the 3rd formation under the command of Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov and was created for a counterattack against the Nazi invaders near Moscow. Colonel Pyotr Isaevich Filimonov was appointed commander of the 322nd SD. From the memoirs of Army Commander P.F. Golikov about his days of study: « We accustomed the infantrymen to artillery and mortar fire over their heads and to the fire of machine guns, anti-tank guns and regimental guns in the gaps of the units. Much attention was paid to overcoming tank fear. The soldiers were taught to make bunches of grenades and use them boldly, to light tanks with bottles of gasoline, and when necessary, to take cover in a trench and under no circumstances run from tanks. Whenever possible, we told the soldiers about the armor-piercing power of our 45-mm battalion guns, about firing armor-piercing and incendiary cartridges.

The fighters were instilled with resistance against detours, infiltration and breakthroughs by the enemy. They instilled the need to bypass and encircle the enemy themselves, not to attack the enemy “head-on”, but to boldly penetrate into unoccupied gaps in his position, to envelop the enemy from the flanks, and to go to his rear. ... In November, the troops of the 10th Army were inspected by K. E. Voroshilov. Being present at a training exercise in the 322nd Infantry Division, he delved into all the issues, was interested in everything, and gave many instructions and suggestions...”

On November 24, 1941, the redeployment of army units from Kuznetsk to the area southwest of the city of Ryazan began. The deployment of the army was slow due to the lack of rolling stock on the railways. To transport the army, 152 trains were required.

But already on December 5, the army commander received a directive from the Military Council of the Western Front to deliver the main blow in the direction of the cities of Mikhailov, Stalinogorsk, Venev, Kurakovo through the town of Serebryanye Prudy. The immediate task of the 10th Army was to defeat the troops of Guderian's 2nd Tank Army and capture the area from Stalinogorsk (now Novomoskovsk) to Uzlovaya station. From the memoirs of Army Commander P.F. Golikov:

“From the unloading areas to the deployment line to go on the offensive, a number of our divisions had to walk 100 - 115 kilometers along country roads covered with snow. Due to lack of transport, people carried ammunition on themselves. But what a rise reigned in the units and formations! And how many songs they sang! And “Boldly, comrades, in step”, and “International”, and “Varyag”, and “Ermak”, and “Holy War”, and “Eaglet”, and “Kakhovka...”.

Occupying the right flank, the 322nd SD received its baptism of fire on December 6, 1941 in the battle for the regional center of Serebryanye Prudy near Moscow. They were opposed by the 10th, 29th motorized and 18th tank divisions of the enemy's 2nd Tank Army. The battle took place in difficult weather conditions: with temperatures below 28–35 degrees below zero and strong snowstorms, the snow cover in some places reached 80 cm.

From the memoirs of F.I. Golikov, commander of the 10th Army.

“We threw the entire 322nd Division against the reinforced regiment of the enemy’s 29th Division in Serebryanye Prudy. The weather was favorable for our offensive: a snowstorm arose, and enemy aircraft could not operate.”

From the operational report of the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division:
“From 8:00 on December 7, 1941, after a short artillery bombardment, units of the division, delivering a concentrated attack from three sides, captured Serebryanye Prudy. The enemy garrison, consisting of two battalions of the 15th Infantry Regiment with 6 guns, fled in panic after the battle in a westerly direction to Venev. Our division captured a large number of trophies: more than 200 trucks, cars and special vehicles, 20 motorcycles, 4 guns, a large number of heavy machine guns, rifles, cartridges, a lot of food, ammunition and equipment. They captured the battle flag and cash register of one of the regiments of the 29th motorized division, about 50 prisoners and many trophies. The trophy count continues."

After the liberation of Serebryanye Prudy, the 322nd Infantry Division continued to advance and liberated the cities of Venev and Stalinogorsk-1. After a fierce battle, at dawn on December 14, the Uzlovaya railway station, which is of strategic importance, was liberated. The offensive continued without interruption and into the night. During the offensive operation, our troops inflicted a serious defeat on the enemy, eliminating the threat of bypassing Moscow from the south.

From December 19 to December 30, 1941, having met stubborn enemy resistance, soldiers of the 322nd SD consistently drove the Germans out of populated areas and fought forward. On December 22, the city of Odoevo was taken with fighting. On the morning of December 27, fighting began for the city of Belev. The Nazis prepared Belev with its ancient buildings, monasteries and many churches, with the villages adjacent to it from the north and south for a long defense. There were bunkers, dugouts, machine gun nests in many stone buildings, areas with barbed wire, minefields, direct fire guns in blockhouses, scarps with icy slopes along the banks of the Oka River. In a number of areas, the approaches to the city were mined. For two days our troops fought fierce offensive battles. More than once it came to bayonet fights. Our units stubbornly recaptured every inch of land across the river from the enemy. Oka. They fought for long hours under deadly enemy fire, moving along the ice of the river. The enemy put up fierce resistance. During the fighting, the settlements of Beregovaya, Besedino, Kalizna, Fedinskoye changed hands several times. And yet a turning point occurred. The Germans were unable to rebuild their defenses when the commander of the 10th Army encircled the enemy from the southeast and northwest. By the evening of January 1, 1942, the Germans began to retreat, then retreat from the city. The city of Belev was liberated from German troops.

Having suffered failures in battles and having lost the line of the Oka River, the fascist German troops, retreating to the west under the attacks of our units, sought to stay in other, previously prepared positions. Such positions were the important railway junction of Sukhinichi, the areas of Mosalsk, Meshchovsk, Kirov, Lyudinovo, Zikeevo, Zhizdra and other strongholds and centers of resistance, which the enemy continued to strengthen, pulling up reserves from the rear.

After January 5, 1942, the 10th Army received an additional task - to speed up access to the Vyazma-Bryansk railway road and capture the cities of Kirov, Lyudinovo, Zhizdra. After the army reached the Oka River, the 322nd SD was moved to the left flank towards Bryansk, in order to then approach Zhizdra.

On January 8 - 9, 1942, the 322nd SD entered the battle for the Zikeevo railway station, five kilometers west of the city of Zhizdra. Having struck the lead regiment of the enemy’s fresh 208th Infantry Division that had arrived from France, our division forced it to retreat to the village of Zikeevo, where it surrounded it, but was unable to defeat it immediately. On January 12, 1942, the German offensive began against the left flank of the 10th Army, accompanied by intense fascist air raids. Under pressure from a numerically superior enemy, the 322nd Rifle Division was forced to withdraw from the Zikeev area to the northeast.

On January 21, 1942, the administration and headquarters of the 16th Army of General Rokossovsky received an order to surrender their troops to neighboring armies, and to move from the Volokolamsk-Gzhat direction to the area of ​​​​the city of Sukhinichi and take over part of the divisions of the 10th Army of General F.I. Golikova. On January 27, the command of the 16th Army took over part of the troops of the 10th Army. And 322 SD became part of the 16th Army. Colonel Terentyev Guriy Nikitich was appointed commander of the division.

The divisions accepted into the 16th Army were exhausted in battle and needed replenishment, weapons and ammunition. The task set by the front did not correspond to the forces and means. It was decided to mislead the enemy: let him think that the entire 16th Army, already known to the Germans from hot battles, was moving towards Sukhinichi.

The attack was planned for the morning of January 29. At dawn, artillery began shelling enemy fortifications. Then the infantry moved, and at noon the city of Sukhinichi was already liberated from the Nazis - the Germans abandoned it after a short fierce battle, abandoning a lot of equipment, ammunition, and fuel.

In the combat report dated January 31, 1942, sent signed by the chief of staff of the army Malinin to the front headquarters, the last paragraph states:

“The weather condition is an incessant snowstorm that has swept away all the roads... The movement of all types of transport is impossible. The supply of all types of material support for the troops stopped. The rear and artillery cannot move.”

In the most difficult conditions of off-road conditions and deep snow cover, Rokossovsky’s troops still successfully completed their assigned tasks, striking successively at one or the other enemy defense center. At the end of January, fascist German troops were again thrown back in a southwestern direction.

Stubborn fighting with varying success for both sides in the Zhizdra direction continued until May 1943. 322 SD continued to conduct offensive battles, but, having encountered stubborn enemy resistance, was unsuccessful.

At the beginning of March 1942, K.K. Rokossovsky was seriously wounded by a shell fragment that flew into the window of the headquarters. The notebook of the army chief of staff Mikhail Sergeevich Malinin contains a note on a page dated March 8 about this alarming incident: “At 22.30 Rokossovsky was wounded...”. The commander returned from the hospital in May. His duties during this period were performed by M.S. Malinin

In April 1942, due to illness, my grandfather was sent to a hospital in Gorky, where he underwent treatment for a month, then he was given leave for two weeks.

On May 29, 1942, my grandfather, Georgy Nikolaevich Starodubtsev, was again called up to the front. His further combat path took place on the Southern Front in the 37th Army of the 295th Infantry Division.
The army commander is Major General Kozlov, the division commander is Colonel N.G. Safaryan.

After the Battle of Kharkov on May 21-29, 1942, the troops of the Southern Front suffered heavy losses: about 280 thousand Red Army soldiers were killed or captured, a group of troops was surrounded in the Barvinkovsky ledge, which in small groups broke out of the encirclement. The tasks of liberating Kharkov and creating conditions for an attack on Dnepropetrovsk were not completed.
The fascist German command, having seized the strategic initiative in the spring of 1942, prepared a summer general offensive in the South with the goal of defeating Soviet troops, capturing the Stalingrad region and entering the Caucasus.

On June 28, German army troops launched an offensive in the Voronezh direction, breaking through the defenses on the Bryansk Front. The Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation began on June 28 - July 24, 1942. On June 30, the defenses of the Southwestern Front were broken through. The troops of the Southern Front continued to defend Donbass. Throughout June 1942, the 295th SD defended on the right flank of the front in the area from the settlement of Krasny Liman, east of Slavyansk, Artemovsk on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River.

On July 6, 42, the Germans occupied Voronezh and turned south towards Rostov-on-Don, fulfilling the task of encircling and defeating the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts. On the night of July 7, the troops of the right wing of the Southern Front began to retreat. The regiments of the 295th SD retreated to the left bank of the river. Seversky Donets. Soviet intelligence reported that the Germans were strengthening their group of troops against the right wing of the Southern Front in the area of ​​​​Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

On July 10, 1942, by directive No. 170490, the Supreme Command Headquarters, in order to avoid encirclement, authorized the immediate, organized withdrawal of troops of the 37th Army to the Novo-Astrakhan-Trekhizbenka line.

295 SD began to withdraw on the night of July 10-11. It was necessary to walk along sandy roads for a distance of 17 to 25 km. German reports also indicated the difficulties of passing this area. The enemy did not give a break and continued to strike blow after blow.
By 12-00 o'clock. Red Army soldiers of the 295th SD, hungry and tired, took up defense in front of the positions of the 74th fortified area at the line: Novo-Astrakhansky - Chabanovka - the eastern outskirts of Smolyaninovo. Issues of interaction with the 74th fortified area were not linked; the headquarters of the 295th SD was not connected with the headquarters of the 74th SD. By 16-18 o'clock, the enemy's advanced units with a force of up to 30 tanks and an infantry battalion pushed our units behind the SD, and they retreated to the area of ​​​​the popasnoye settlement. On the morning of July 12, the 885th Infantry Regiment occupied the line: the northwestern outskirts of Novo-Aidar-Oknino and by 12-00 o'clock. was attacked by enemy tanks. 884 SP, approaching the line of defense, was also attacked by the enemy. The regiments of the 295th Infantry Division retreated to the east in disarray. On the approach to Alekseevka they were attacked again and retreated to the southern outskirts of the village of Mikhailyukov. The withdrawal of units and subunits turned into a disorderly movement of unorganized masses rushing to the crossings across the Seversky Donets. Traffic jams were created on the roads and especially crossings, making them a good target for enemy aircraft. The daytime air temperature was more than 35 degrees Celsius. There was no communication between the formations and the army headquarters, there were few cars and horse-drawn transport, so the artillery installations had to be dragged by the Red Army soldiers themselves. Food warehouses had previously been transferred to the rear and on July 10-11 the soldiers were left without food. The equipment was abandoned, convoys of military units mixed with the evacuating civilian population. Daily marches of 30-35 km, over shifting sands, under the scorching July sun and continuous bombing, exhausted the forces of the fighters, the division became unfit for combat, turning into a disorganized and uncontrollable mass of people.
On July 12, 1942, near Voroshilovgrad, my grandfather, Georgy Nikolaevich Starodubtsev, was captured. The prisoner of war card notes that at the time of captivity the grandfather was ill. Grandfather was sent to the prisoner of war camp Stalag 302 (II H) Gross-Born Rederitz. Grandfather died on December 30, 1942. He was buried in the cemetery in the prisoner of war camp. Now this is the territory of Poland. So far there are only birch crosses there, installed by foresters several years ago. Until 1992, this was the territory of the training ground of the Northern Group of Forces of the Soviet Army and no one took care of the cemetery. The administration of Borne Sulinovo and employees of the forestry department, which is located in this city, are planning to develop a cemetery.

Mom and grandmother received a notification that grandfather had gone missing without knowing anything about him.

1085th Tarnopol Red Banner Rifle Regiment
1087th Tarnopol Red Banner Rifle Regiment
1089 Rifle Lviv Red Banner Order of Kutuzov III Class Regiment
886th Artillery Tarnopol Red Banner Order of Kutuzov III Class Regiment,
297th separate anti-tank fighter division Tarnopol,
290 anti-aircraft artillery battery (610 separate anti-aircraft artillery division) - until 23.3.43,
385 separate reconnaissance company,
603rd separate sapper (engineering) Dembitsky battalion,
774th separate communications battalion (76th separate communications company),
408th separate medical battalion,
401 separate chemical protection company,
388 separate motor transport company,
177 field bakery,
746 divisional veterinary hospital,
600 field postal station,
764 field cash desk of the State Bank.

On October 2, 1941, after a rally on Soviet (now Minin and Pozharsky) square in the city of Gorky, at which the formation was presented with the Red Banner from the Sormovsky plant, and a parade, units and units of the division went to the railway station of the Myza station of the Gorky railway, from where they were redeployed to the city of Kuznetsk Penza region. On November 1, 1941, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 10th Reserve Army, formed on the basis of the Directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters of October 21, 1941 No. 004038 in the Volga Military District. On November 29, 1941, army units (according to directive No. op/2995 of November 24, 1941) were redeployed to the Ryazan region, the 322nd Infantry Division to the city of Rybnoye. The concentration of the army was ordered to be completed by the evening of December 2. While traveling by rail near the Ryazhsk station on November 27, 1945, the echelon of the 1085th Infantry Regiment came under an enemy air raid and the division suffered its first losses - 42 commanding and enlisted personnel were killed.
On December 6, 1941, the 10th Army was included in the Western Front. But already on December 5, the army commander received a directive from the Military Council of the Western Front with the task of delivering the main blow in the direction of the cities of Mikhailov, Stalinogorsk (now Novomoskovsk), Venev, Kurakovo of the Tula region through the regional center of the Tula (now Moscow) region, the village of Serebryanye Prudy. The immediate task of the 10th Army was the defeat of the troops of Guderian's 2nd Tank Army and the capture of the area from the city of Stalinogorsk to the Uzlovaya station in the Uzlovsky district of the Tula region.
Taking part in the Tula offensive operation (December 6 - December 16, 1941) of the troops of the left wing of the Western Front - an integral part of the Moscow strategic offensive operation (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942), the 322nd rifle division of Colonel Pyotr Isaevich Filimonov as part of the 10th Army combat She was baptized on December 7, 1941. From the operational report of the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division:
“From 08:00 on December 7, 1941, after a short artillery shelling, units of the division, delivering a concentrated attack from three sides, captured Serebryanye Prudy. The enemy garrison, consisting of two battalions of the 15th Infantry Regiment with 6 guns, fled in panic after the battle in a westerly direction to Venev. Our division captured a large number of trophies: more than 200 trucks, cars and special vehicles, 20 motorcycles, 4 guns, a large number of heavy machine guns, rifles, cartridges, a lot of food, ammunition and equipment. They captured the battle flag and cash register of one of the regiments of the 29th motorized division, about 50 prisoners and many trophies. The trophy count continues."
Continuing the offensive, the 322nd Infantry Division liberated the cities of Venev on December 9, Stalinogorsk-1 (Sotsgorod) on December 12. After a fierce battle at dawn on December 14, units of the division liberated the Uzlovaya railway station, which is of strategic importance. The offensive continued without interruption and into the night. With the entry of the left wing troops to the Tula-Plavsk line, the Western Front completed the Tula offensive operation. Guderian's tank army was forced to retreat to the Oka River in Belev-Bolkhov-Mtsensk. During the Tula offensive operation, the troops of the 10th Army inflicted a serious defeat on the enemy, eliminating the threat of bypassing Moscow from the south.
The Kaluga-Belev offensive operation (December 17, 1941 - January 5, 1942) was aimed at: the exit of Soviet troops to the Oka River, the liberation of operationally important enemy defense centers - Kaluga and Belev, the defeat of retreating enemy troops and the envelopment of Army Group Center from the south. . In the offensive zone on the city of Belev - the administrative center of the Belevsky district of the Tula region, the 10th Army of Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of Lieutenant General P.A. Belov, and part of the forces of the 61st Army of Lieutenant General P.A. operated in full force with eight divisions Popova M.M. The German command attached great importance to the defense of Belev, the junction of the active Soviet fronts - Western and Southwestern. In the area of ​​Belyov and adjacent villages, the defense was held by 112, 56 infantry, 4 tank divisions, a separate SS regiment "Great Germany", as well as the remnants of the enemy infantry divisions 31, 131, 167 and 296 "Deer's Head" defeated near Tula. The strength of the German defense was created by the stone buildings and structures used in the city itself, in which strong points were equipped. The Nazis prepared Belev with its ancient buildings, monasteries and many churches, with the villages adjacent to it from the north and south for a long defense. There were bunkers, dugouts, machine gun nests in many stone buildings, areas with barbed wire, minefields, direct fire guns in blockhouses, scarps with icy slopes along the banks of the Oka River. In a number of areas, the approaches to the city were mined. On December 22, troops of the 10th Army fought to take the city of Odoev, Tula Region. In the period from December 25 to 27, the main forces of the 10th Army, overcoming the resistance of the retreating enemy forces, approached the Oka River at the line between the village of Snyhovo and the village of Fedinskoye, Belevsky district. Six first-echelon rifle divisions were concentrated on a narrow strip 25 km wide, the 322nd rifle division was concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Sestriki and the village of Temryan. At the first stage of the battles for Belev on December 25 - 26. The 322nd and 328th rifle divisions were the first to approach the city. These formations tried to break through the defenses and occupy the city with scattered frontal attacks on fortified positions. The actions of these divisions were not successful. Over the next two days, the troops of the 10th Army of the Western Front fought fierce battles, trying to carry out a two-way envelopment of Belev from the flanks - south and north. The enemy put up fierce resistance. During the fighting, the settlements of Beregovaya, Besedino, Kalizna, Fedinskoye changed hands several times. Under enemy counterattacks, Soviet units were forced to retreat to the eastern bank of the Oka. At the third stage of the fighting, the command of the 10th Army made the only correct decision - to carry out a deep bypass of Belev from the north during the period of December 29-30. On December 30, units of the 328th and 330th rifle divisions, having liberated Ishutino and Ganshino, deeply captured Belev from the north and west. The enemy now had only an open exit to the south. Early in the morning of December 31, the 330th Infantry Division began an assault on the city from the east. The 328th Infantry Division broke into the city from the southwest at 12 noon. By evening, German troops began to retreat to the south, where, upon leaving the city, they came under devastating fire from artillerymen of the 322nd Infantry Division, operating from Temryan and Sestriki. After the liberation of the cities of Belev-Tula region and Sukhinichi, Kaluga region, the Germans formed a wide gap along this front, into which formations of the 50th and 10th armies and the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps rushed. The troops of the Western Front brilliantly completed the counteroffensive near Moscow. We've arrived favorable conditions transition to a general offensive in the winter campaign of 1942. Until January 5, 1942, the 322nd Infantry Division was left in the city of Belev as its garrison with the task of securing the left flank of the army.
After January 5, 1942, the 10th Army received an additional task - to speed up access to the Vyazma-Bryansk railway road and capture the cities of Kirov, Lyudinovo, Zhizdra in the Oryol (now Kaluga) region. The 322nd Infantry Division was moved to the left flank towards Bryansk in order to then approach Zhizdra. On January 8 - 9, 1942, the division entered the battle for the Zikeevo railway station in the Zhizdra district of the Oryol (now Kaluga) region, five kilometers west of the city of Zhizdra. Having struck the leading 337th Infantry Regiment of the enemy's fresh 208th Infantry Division, which arrived from Bryansk, the division forced it to retreat to the village of Zikeevo, where it was surrounded, but could not immediately defeat it. On the morning of January 9, the enemy attacked the 1089th Infantry Regiment of the division. By the end of the day, the Nazis, with significant losses for them, were thrown back to Zikeevo. A prisoner captured in battle revealed that he belonged to the 35th tank regiment of the 10th motorized division. This regiment, together with the 337th Infantry Regiment, recently arrived in Zikeevo from Bryansk. In stubborn battles, the Zikeevo station changed hands several times. And here enemy aviation was active. For the thinned parts of the division, these battles were very difficult. In December, the division's losses reached almost 5 thousand people. The companies consisted of 30–40 people. The damage to the command staff in the units was especially great. On January 12, 1942, the German offensive began against the left flank of the 10th Army, accompanied by intense raids by fascist aviation. Under enemy pressure, the 322nd Infantry Division, having lifted the blockade of Zikeev, retreated to the north and northeast of it, to the line of the villages of Ilyushenka and Petrovka, Zhizdrinsky district.
On January 27, 1942, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 16th Army of the Western Front. On January 29, 1942, Colonel Terentyev Guriy Nikitich was appointed division commander. Under his command, the 322nd Infantry Division, until the fall of 1942, held a defensive line along the front up to 14 km and a depth of up to 8 km on the eastern bank of the Resseta River southeast of the Duminichi Smolenskaya station (now Kaluga region, as part of the 16th Army, it took part in the front-line counter-offensive operation of the unit forces of the Western Front - Counterattack of the left wing of the Western Front in the area of ​​Sukhinichi and Kozelsk, carried out from August 22 to 29, 1942 on the left flank of the front.
On December 29, 1942, the division received an order to redeploy. From December 30, 1942 to January 1, 1943, loading was carried out at the Sukhinichi station and the Zhivodovka junction. The division was transported through Moscow to the Tresvyatskaya station in the Novousmansky district of the Voronezh region, 20 km northeast of the city of Voronezh. The unloading took place on January 6, 1943. By combat order of the headquarters of the Voronezh Front No. 003 dated January 4, 1943, the division became part of the Voronezh Front as its reserve, stationed on the territory of the 40th Army. Based on the combat order of the headquarters of the 40th Army No. 008 dated January 12, 1943, the division was given the task of being in the army reserve in the area of ​​​​the villages of Dobrino, Tresorukovo, Davydovka in the Liskinsky district of the Voronezh region. The division's artillery was supposed to operate together with the 25th Guards Rifle Division.
As part of the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front, the 322nd Infantry Division of Colonel (since January 27, 1943 Major General) Terentyev G.N. took part in the Voronezh-Kastornensky offensive operation (January 24 - February 2, 1943). The main blow was delivered around the city of Voronezh from the southwest. For this purpose, an attack force was created on a 25-kilometer section of the village of Rudkino - Semidesyatnoye in the Khokholsky district of the Voronezh region, in the first echelon of which the 322nd Infantry Division was promoted. The troops of the strike group had to break through the enemy’s heavily fortified defensive zone, where on the front line there were strong strongholds in the villages of Kochetovka, Semidystyatnoye, Prokudino, and the Parnichny farmstead, and in the depths were the villages of Nikolskoye and Khokhol, Khokholsky district, Voronezh region. The offensive began on the morning of January 25. Trying to hold back the onslaught of the divisions of the 60th Army and allow the main forces of the 2nd Army to escape, the fascist German command did everything possible to hold its positions near the village of Kochetovka, Khokholsky district. Here a stubborn struggle ensued for numerous strongholds. But the Nazis could not withstand the blows of the Soviet units. Units of the 322nd Infantry Division broke through enemy fortifications and rushed to the village of Emancha Second, Khokholsky district. On the night of January 28, the right-flank units of the 60th Army broke the fascist resistance on the western bank of the Don near the workers' village of Semiluki, Voronezh region. The 322nd Infantry Division, operating on the left flank of the offensive line, broke through to the regional center of the Voronezh region, the village of Nizhnedevitsk, where at the end of the month it took part in the complete defeat and liquidation of the last group of the 2nd German Army. This completed the complete liberation of Voronezh land from the occupiers.
Having completed a 120-kilometer trek in three days, on February 2, 1943, the division immediately entered the battle north of the Kastornaya-Kurskaya railway station, 160 km east of the city of Kursk. Taking part in the Kharkov offensive operation (February 2 - March 3, 1943), the 322nd Infantry Division, operating on the right flank of the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front, at the junction with the troops of the Bryansk Front, on February 4 captured the settlements of Kryukovo, Krasnaya Polyana, Verkhnyaya Olkhovatka of the Cheremisinovsky district and cut the road between the city of Shchigry and the village of Kosorzha in the Shchigry district of the Kursk region.
From February 5, 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, participated in the attack directly on the city of Kursk as part of the 60th Army. On the morning of February 8, units of the 322nd Infantry Division and 248 rifle brigade attacked the northeastern and eastern outskirts of Kursk. Fighting began in the city. From the first minutes the battle became fierce. However, the advancing units began to blockade one German stronghold after another. The fighting took place with varying degrees of success in many areas into which the enemy defenses had broken up. The commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel S.N. Perekalsky, who was well versed in the confusion of the battle, hurried to where the scales began to tip in favor of the enemy. He was wounded, but did not leave the battle, believing that he had no right to leave his post while he was on his feet. To break through to the center of Kursk, Soviet troops had to go around - through Streletskaya Sloboda. Raising the soldiers of the 1089th Infantry Regiment to attack, the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, was mortally wounded in the heart area and died from his wounds in the first-aid post. After the death of the division commander, his deputy for the combat unit of the guard, Major Dmitry Efimovich Vysotsky, took command. Under his command, units of the division finally cleared the city of the Nazis by 12 o'clock on February 9, 1943. A red flag was hoisted in the center of Kursk. Units of the 60th Army liberated 250 Soviet prisoners of war in Kursk and captured a significant amount of trophies; 1040 enemy soldiers and officers were killed, 4 tanks, 45 vehicles, 5 mortar batteries, 11 bunkers were destroyed, 44 guns of various calibers, 16 tanks, 28 machine guns, 2238 rifles, 438 vehicles, 30 warehouses with ammunition, food, and uniforms were captured. At the Kursk railway junction, the Nazis left 98 steam locomotives and 958 wagons with coal.
On February 12, 1943, the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, was posthumously awarded the rank of colonel. Colonel Perekalsky S.N. buried on February 12, 1943 on the Central Alley of Pioneer Park, 150 meters from the city theater (now the regional Philharmonic). About 10 thousand Kursk residents gathered for the hero’s funeral. The commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, spoke at the funeral meeting. On February 23, 1943, the Kursk City Executive Committee decided to rename Yamskaya Gora Street to Perekalsky Street, and name the square in front of the Medical Institute after him.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union(posthumously). In 1948, Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky’s ashes were transferred to the Memorial to those who fell during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War at the Nikitsky cemetery in the city of Kursk, and in 1966 a marble bust was installed on his grave.
From March 21 to the end of June 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Nikolai Ivanovich Ivanov, as part of the 60th Army of the Central Front, held the defense along the Seim River east of the city of Rylsk, Kursk Region.
Taking part in the Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943), the 322nd Rifle Division of Major General N.I. Ivanov, as part of the 30th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the Central Front, staunchly held the defense in the central part of the Kursk bulge near the city of Rylsk.
Before the start of the Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation of the Central Front (August 26 - September 30, 1943), units and subunits of the 322nd Infantry Division by August 15 were organizedly transferred to a new line of defense, the village of Aleksina - the village of Dolgiy in the Khomutovsky district of the Kursk region, where the division was transferred to composition of the 24th Rifle Corps. In accordance with the plan of the command, the troops of the 60th Army were ordered: in cooperation with other troops of the Central Front, to deliver a strong blow in the direction of the city of Glukhov, Sumy region of the Ukrainian SSR and further to the southwest, to break through the enemy’s defenses to its entire depth and defeat the opposing group of Nazis. The 322nd Infantry Division was tasked with breaking through the enemy’s defenses in the area of ​​the villages of Yaroslavka - Obzhi, Khomutovsky District, Kursk Region, in cooperation with its neighbors, defeating units of the German 82nd Infantry Division in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Prilepy, Kurganka, Lobkovsky in the Khomutovsky District and developing an offensive in a westerly direction. Several artillery and mortar regiments and a tank brigade consisting of 40 tanks and self-propelled guns were allocated to strengthen the division. The breakthrough area reached 4 km along the front with a width of the offensive zone of 6 km. On August 26, 1943, the 322nd Rifle Division under the command of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko as part of the 24th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the Central Front, advancing on the right flank of the 60th Army, with the support of tanks after artillery preparation, went on the offensive in the direction of the village of Golopuzovka, Khomutovsky district, Kursk region (now the village Malaya Vitichi, Sevsky district, Bryansk region), in the afternoon of August 27, broke through the first line of enemy defense. On August 28, the second echelon of the 60th Army was brought into battle - the 17th Guards Rifle Corps, which included the 322nd Rifle Division. With ramming attacks, the corps' troops broke the resistance of the Germans holding the second line of defense, and the pace of the offensive increased noticeably. By the end of the third day of the offensive, the 322nd Rifle Division, now operating in the first echelon of the 17th Guards Corps, immediately crossed the shallow Nemeda River, reached the eastern outskirts of the village of Vitichy and captured the village of Kurganka in the present Sevsky district of the Bryansk region and, not giving the enemy the opportunity to organize a defense, began pursuing the retreating enemy. On August 29, 1943, the forward battalions of the division set foot on Ukrainian soil, liberating the village of Marchikhina Buda, Yampolsky district, Sumy region, Ukrainian SSR. On August 30, 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division captured the regional center of the Sumy region, the city of Glukhov, and, knocking down the Nazi barriers, finding vulnerabilities in their hastily occupied defenses on intermediate lines, units of the division pursued the enemy around the clock along parallel roads and routes leading to the flanks and rear , liberating the populated areas of the Sumy region of the Ukrainian SSR. Having fought about 150 km, by September 4 the division reached the Desna River, the 1087th and 1089th Infantry Regiments captured the settlements of Raigorodok and Korop in the Koropsky district of the Chernigov region on the eastern bank of the Desna, and the advanced battalions of the 1085th Infantry Regiment reached the village of Zhovtnevoe (now Rozhdestvenskoe) Koropsky district, located in the floodplain of the Seim and Desna rivers. Providing stubborn resistance, the enemy simultaneously withdrew his troops to the western bank of the Desna. In this regard, on September 5, 1943, all regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division were turned to the southwest to cross the Desna on the move. On September 7, the division crossed the Seim River, entrenched itself on a captured bridgehead on the southern bank and, overcoming the resistance of the troops of the German 82nd Infantry Division, which created a network of strong points along the offensive path of the Soviet troops, equipped with trenches and machine-gun nests, covered with barbed wire, explosive barriers, shot through in the intervals between them with guns and mortars, and the area near the strong points with infantry fire, continued to advance forward. Having captured the settlement of Novye Mlyn, the division regiments advanced on the village of Golovenki in the Borznyansky district of the Chernigov region, and by the end of the day on September 7 they liberated the administrative center of the Borznyansky district, the city of Borzna. On September 9, 1943, the 322nd Rifle Division, consisting of the 17th Guards Rifle Corps, was transferred to the 13th Army of the Central Front and, having gained a foothold on the border of the settlements of Bondarevka, Sosnitsa District, Yaduty, Borzna, Borznyansky District, ensuring the entry of units of the 13th Army into battle, fought stubborn battles on this line , and on September 12 she launched an attack on Berestovets, Komarovka, Borznyansky district, Dubolugovka, Nezhinsky district, Chernihiv region and captured these settlements. During the further offensive, the division's regiments cut the Chernigov-Nizhyn railway line, which was the last rockade that allowed the enemy to maneuver forces along the front. On the night of September 19-20, units and divisions of the division crossed the Desna River using improvised means. By dawn on September 21, 1943, the regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division reached the Dnieper River in the section between the village of Sivki (now does not exist) and the village of Sorokoshichi, Kozeletsky district, Chernigov region. The first to cross the Dnieper using improvised means were reinforced rifle battalions from the 1087 and 1089 rifle regiments, seized bridgeheads in the area of ​​the villages of Verkhnie and Nizhnie Zhary (now in the Chernobyl exclusion zone) of the Braginsky district of the Polesie (now Gomel) region of the Belarusian SSR and ensured the crossing of the main forces of the division. On September 23, the division, having completely crossed the Dnieper, fought to retain and expand the captured bridgehead. The next day, units of the division launched a further attack on the villages of Gden, Braginsky district, Polesie region, Paryshev, Chernobyl region, Kyiv region (now both villages in the Chernobyl exclusion zone) between the Dnieper and Pripyat rivers. Having crossed the Pripyat River on September 30, by the end of the day, units of the 322nd Infantry Division liberated the city of Chernobyl in the Kyiv region. For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown during the breakthrough of enemy defenses on the Dnieper and the successful crossing of large water obstacles Seim, Desna, Pripyat, 24 soldiers of the 322nd rifle division were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, including division commander Colonel Lashchenko Pyotr Nikolaevich, commander of the 1089th Infantry Regiment of the Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Kharlanov Ivan Stepanovich, deputy battalion commander of the 1087th Infantry Regiment, senior lieutenant Nikolai Andreevich Kuryatnikov; hundreds of soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals.
On the morning of October 4, 1943, up to a hundred German tanks, supported by infantry and aviation, attacked the troops of the 13th Army in the area of ​​the city of Chernobyl. Having a clear superiority in manpower, artillery and absolute superiority in tanks (there were no tanks in the Soviet troops in this sector), the Nazis began to ram the defenses, trying to cut it into pieces and then destroy it with simultaneous attacks from different sides. Soviet troops were thrown back to the eastern bank of the Pripyat River, the 322nd Rifle Division entrenched itself in the area of ​​the village of Koshovka, Chernobyl region (now in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Ivankovsky region) of the Kiev region and for three weeks staunchly held the defense there (from October 9 as part of the 15th Rifle Corps 13th Army of the Central Front). The division was replenished with equipment and personnel, carried out combat coordination of units and units, and reconnaissance of the enemy's front line beyond the Pripyat River.
Having carried out a march by order of the command, the 322nd Infantry Division moved to the Lyutezh bridgehead north of the city of Kiev, where by November 1, 1943 it again joined the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which included the attack at the first stage of the Kyiv offensive operation (November 3 - 13, 1943). in the second echelon, constituting the reserve of the army commander. On November 9, 1943, the division concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Bondarnya, Borodyansky district, Kiev region, where it was subordinated to the 24th rifle corps of the 60th army of the 1st Ukrainian Front and, as part of it, pursuing the retreating enemy, advanced in the direction of Teterev station in the Borodnyansky district and further to the west. Repelling numerous counterattacks of enemy tanks and infantry, the 322nd Infantry Division by November 15 reached the line of the settlements of New Bobrik, Stary Bobrik, Fasova in the Khoroshevsky district of the Zhitomir region.
On November 15, 1943, the enemy launched a powerful counter-offensive, trying to destroy the entire Kyiv group of troops and eliminate its bridgeheads on the right bank of the Dnieper. By order of the commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General Chernyakhovsky I.D. The 322nd Rifle Division stopped the offensive, redeployed to the area of ​​​​the village of Studenitsa, on November 17, 1943, it became part of the 30th Rifle Corps and took up defense at the line of the villages of Gorodishche, Zhitomir region, Studenitsa, the city of Korostyshev, Korostyshevsky region, Zhitomir region along the Teterev River with a front to the south with the task of preventing advance the enemy in the direction of the village of Studenitsa, the city of Malin, Zhitomir region, and prevent his maneuver along the Zhitomir-Kyiv highway. The division steadfastly repulsed numerous attacks by enemy tanks and infantry, and on November 20, 1943 it was subordinated to the 23rd Rifle Corps. Having suffered significant losses, the 322nd Infantry Division, by order of the command, retreated to the border of the settlements of Pilipovichi, Radomyshl District, Bezhov, Chernyakhovsky District, Zhitomir Region, where it continued to staunchly hold the defense, joining on November 21, 1943, as part of the 15th Rifle Corps, which had advanced from the depths. Until December 6, due to the partial regrouping of army troops, the 322nd Infantry Division changed its defense area several times. By mid-December 1943, the counter-offensive of German troops west of Kyiv was suspended along the entire front. Units of the 15th Rifle Corps were entrenched at the line Rudnya-Gorodishchenskaya, Malinsky district, Medelevka, Vyshevichi, Radomyshlsky district, Zhitomir region.
In the Zhitomir-Berdichev offensive operation of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front (December 24, 1943 - January 14, 1944), the 60th Army with two tank corps attached to it launched an auxiliary attack in the direction of the village of Chaikovka, Radomyshl region, the city of Chernyakhov, Zhitomir region. The advance of its troops bypassing the enemy’s Malinsko-Radomyshl group had the goal of collapsing the Nazi defense in this area, ensuring an effective offensive by the main forces. In the most important direction in the army's combat formations, the 15th Rifle Corps operated, the left flank of which consisted of the regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division. On December 26, 1943, units of the division went on the offensive. Having knocked down enemy barriers, the regiments broke through the enemy’s defenses in the area of ​​the villages of Mircha and Krasnoborka and by the end of the day reached the villages of Kotovka and Zabolot in the Radomyshl district of the Zhitomir region. On December 29, the division, with one regiment, took part in the liberation of the city of Chernyakhov. The main forces of the 322nd Infantry Division bypassed Chernyakhov from the north and developed an offensive in the southwestern direction. In four days, the division fought 60 km and cut the highway and railway Zhitomir - Novograd-Volynsky. Successful actions divisions in this direction facilitated the advance of troops to the city of Zhitomir. Having repulsed enemy counterattacks from Zhitomir, the division, in cooperation with other parts of the Red Army, began pursuing the Nazis along the highway to the city of Shepetovka in the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnytsky) region of the Ukrainian SSR, on December 31 entered Zhitomir and participated in clearing the city of the Nazis.
The troops who participated in the liberation of Zhitomir were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 53 of January 1, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. In commemoration of the victory, the 322nd Infantry Division of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko, among the most distinguished formations and units in the battles for the liberation of the city of Zhitomir, was awarded the honorary name “Zhitomir”.
On January 2, 1944, the 322nd Zhitomir Infantry Division started a battle on the outskirts of the regional center of the Zhitomir region, the city of Dzerzhinsk (now the urban village of Romanov - the administrative center of the Romanovsky district) and advanced to the village of Novy Miropol of the current Romanovsky district, with the task of crossing the Sluch River on the move and breaking through the enemy’s defenses on the western bank of the river and seize the line Kamenka - Dertka, Dzerzhinsky district, Zhitomir region - Prisluch, Polonsky district, Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnitsky) region. On January 9, 1944, units of the division liberated the center of the Polonsky district of the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnitsky) region, the city of Polonnoye and, moving forward, met strong enemy resistance. The division's regiments were ordered to gain a foothold on the achieved lines with the task of thwarting all German attempts to break through to Polonnoye, where they fought positional defensive battles until February 1944.
During the Rivne-Lutsk operation (January 27 - February 11, 1944), the 322nd Zhytomyr Rifle Division, consisting of the 15th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, took part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Shepetivka in the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnytsky) region of the Ukrainian Front on February 11, 1944. SSR. The troops who participated in the liberation of Shepetivka were thanked by Order No. 73 of the Supreme High Command of February 11, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns. For services in the defeat of enemy forces in the area of ​​the city of Polonnoye, complete and active participation in the liberation of a large railway junction and an important stronghold of the German defense of the city of Shepetovka, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the 322nd Zhitomir Infantry Division of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division under the command of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko as part of the 15th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the Proskurov-Chernovtsy offensive operation (March 4 - April 17, 1944).
On the morning of March 4, 1944, troops of the 60th Army as part of the front’s strike group went on the offensive. Having broken through the Nazi defenses in the Tarnopol direction with the support of artillery and aviation, they rushed to the west, liberating the land of Soviet Ukraine inch by inch. In accordance with the received task, the 322nd Infantry Division hastily moved behind the units of the first echelon of the corps. The march took place in incredibly difficult conditions. The country roads along which the division regiments moved in two parallel routes became so bad after a few days that everyone walked, getting stuck knee-deep in thick, impassable mud. In addition to personal weapons and a pouch, a gas mask, a shovel and a duffel bag with dry rations and soldier’s property, each fighter had with him spare sets of grenades and disks with cartridges - in case the convoys fell behind and had to fight a long battle, not counting on a quick replenishment of ammunition . I had to walk for fourteen or more hours a day, without being able to sit down in a dry place, take a breath, rewind my foot wraps, not to mention dry my shoes and clothes, replenish my strength with hot food, or sleep for an hour or two in the warmth. They ate mostly dry food and fell into short sleeps on the wet ground under open air where the team found exhausted people to rest. During the first three daily marches, until the thaw cleared and the rains began to pour, the soldiers were still pushing with their last strength the cars, guns, and carts through the mud, and they dragged along with sin in half at the tail of the columns. Then the roads finally fell into disrepair, and wheeled transport became a thing. Now it was necessary to pull out guns and cars from potholes and bogs and tow them to the nearest sections of the highway with the help of the few extremely worn-out tractors that the division had. The route along which units of the division advanced ran through ridges of small hills, cut at the foot by ravines, now filled to the brim with melt water. Often there were streams and rivulets that overflowed their banks, bridges that were completely destroyed by tanks that had passed earlier. Drivers and riders, artillerymen and mortarmen therefore had to climb hills and descend straight from them, ford streams. It often happened that a gun or cart would go down into a ravine, but could no longer get out. Then they unharnessed the horses and, following a shell, a mine, a coil of telephone cable or a box of explosives, carried all the property to the nearest high-rise, and only then pushed up the guns, charging boxes, and carts. After descending into the next beam, everything was repeated in the same order. If heavy artillery systems got stuck, then they had to harness several pairs of oxen at once - the exhausted horses could not do anything here. As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply. Wet, dirty overcoats and padded jackets were covered with a crust of ice, hindering people's movements, permeating the body with a chilling cold. The horses dragged their load: in the cold the mud thickened and the wheels did not rotate. Despite such tests, the 322nd Infantry Division moved forward non-stop. A few days later, its units moved to the first echelon of the corps. Throwing back and destroying the opposing enemy, they fought 18–20 kilometers a day, which in those conditions was the limit of what was possible. Leaving behind about one hundred and fifty kilometers of off-road terrain, by March 8 the division reached the line of the Gnezna and Gnezdechna rivers, where it encountered organized and stubborn enemy resistance.
By March 8, 1944, troops of the 60th Army reached the regional center of the Ukrainian SSR, the city of Tarnopol (now Ternopil), and began fighting to capture the city. This most important railway junction was one of the key strategic points of defense of the Nazi occupiers in Ukraine. Hitler himself declared Tarnopol “the gateway to the Reich.” By his personal order, the commandant of the Tarnopol garrison turned the city into an almost impregnable fortress. On the night of March 9-10, 1944, soldiers of the Red Army first broke into Tarnopol and started street fighting there. However, then Soviet troops failed to hold the city. As a result of a powerful German counterattack, they were forced to retreat and the fighting here dragged on. By March 23–24, the fortress city was completely surrounded. The Tarnopol enemy group that fell into the “cauldron” numbered over 12 thousand soldiers and officers. In addition to German infantry and motorized units, it also included a regiment from the notorious 14th SS Grenadier Division "Galicia", formed from Ukrainian nationalists. On the afternoon of March 31, after a three-hour artillery preparation and an attack by attack aircraft, units of the 94th and 15th Rifle Corps broke into Tarnopol. Fourteen days of street fighting began. By April 4, most of Tarnopol was liberated. However, enemy resistance did not stop. Fierce street fighting in Tarnopol ended only on April 14, 1944 with its complete liberation.
The troops who participated in the liberation of the city of Tarnopol were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 109 of April 15, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. To commemorate the victory, the 1085th Infantry Regiment, 1087th Infantry Regiment, 886th Artillery Regiment and 297th Separate Anti-Tank Fighter Division, among the formations and units that most distinguished themselves in the battles for the liberation of Tarnopol, were presented with the honorary name “Tarnopolsky”, which they were awarded by order of the Supreme High Command dated 26 April 1944 No. 0108.
By mid-June 1944, the 322nd Infantry Division was thoroughly entrenched at the line along the Vysushka Creek, west of the city of Tarnopol. Soon there was a short pause on the entire Soviet-German front: the troops went over to temporary defense, and intensive and systematic preparations for summer offensive operations were in full swing in all units and formations.
In the first days of the Lviv-Sandomierz operation (July 13 - August 29, 1944), the 322nd Zhitomir Red Banner Rifle Division of Major General P.N. Lashchenko, which fought as part of the 28th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, played an important role in breaking through the German defenses on Lviv direction. The offensive began on July 14 in an extremely difficult and tense situation. By the end of the first day of the operation, the troops of the 60th Army were able to advance only 3 - 8 km - the enemy had a very strong defense, relying on natural lines and well-developed systems of engineering structures, artillery and mortar fire. By the end of the first day of the operation and on the morning of July 15, the German command brought into battle all tactical and operational reserves, including the 1st and 8th tank and 14th SS Galicia infantry divisions. Overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, the 322nd Infantry Division, acting in the direction of the main attack, broke through the enemy defenses in the area of ​​​​the village of Belokrynitsa, destroyed the opposing enemy and developed an offensive in the direction of the village of Perepelniki, Zborovsky district, Tarnopol region and the city of Zolochev, Lviv region. As a result of this breakthrough, the so-called “Koltovsky corridor” was formed - a deep gap in the enemy’s defense to a depth of 18 km, which was used by the command to bring the 3rd Guards Tank Army into the operational space, which ensured the defeat of the opposing enemy forces. In these battles, on July 16, 1944, Major General Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko was seriously wounded and Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov took command of the division.
On July 17, having completely cleared the city of Zolochev from the fascists, the division captured the villages of Yasenovtsy and Chervonoe, and on July 18 - Bolshaya Olshanitsa in the Zolochevsky district of the Lviv region. Further advancement of the division was hampered by powerful counterattacks of the enemy from the area of ​​the village of Gologory on Chervonoye - the enemy, blocked in a ring west of the city of Brody, Lviv region, tried to break out of the encirclement through the villages of Knyazhe and Chervonoye to the southwest and connect with the main forces. Dividing here into two groups, the Germans launched an attack on the villages of Skvaryava and Knyazhe, Zolochevsky district. However, the enemy was unable to penetrate further and began to surrender. Thus, the enemy Brod group ceased to exist. Being in the first echelon of the 60th Army, the 322nd Infantry Division resumed the offensive on Lviv in the direction of the villages of Baluchin, Bussky district, Zamestye, Zhuravniki, Pustomitivsky district, Lviv region.
Having broken the enemy's resistance in stubborn battles on July 24 - 26, 1944 in the area of ​​the village of Belka-Shlyakhetskaya (now Verkhnyaya Belka, Pustomitivsky district, Lvov region), units of the division drove it back and, with a rapid offensive, were the first of the infantry units to enter the city of Lvov on July 27.
The troops who participated in the liberation of the city of Lvov were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 154 of July 27, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. In commemoration of the victory, the 1089th Infantry Regiment of Major Fedor Semenovich Grishin, among the most distinguished formations and units in the battles for the liberation of Lvov, was presented with the honorary name “Lvovsky”, which was awarded by order of the Supreme High Command No. 0256 of August 10, 1944.
Without stopping, the division left Lvov and moved west, on August 6, 1944, liberating the city of Mielec - the administrative center of the current Mielec district of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland. Having passed along the western bank of the tributaries of the Vistula - the Wisłoka River, the regiments, weakened by losses, made attempts for several days to push back the Nazis, then they themselves repulsed their fierce attacks, holding the captured lines. The division was finally able to break the enemy’s resistance in its sector only in the twentieth of August.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division under the command of Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov took an active part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Dębica in what is now the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland. During the war years, the remote Carpathian region became an industrial area. Hiding from Allied aviation, the Germans transferred a number of large military enterprises here from Germany, deploying them in small towns and forests near the Lviv-Krakow railway and the oil-bearing Rzeszow region. The enemy organized a strong defense in this direction. In particular, the Germans stubbornly defended the city of Dębica, an important communications hub from which railways to Lviv, Sandomierz, Krakow. From the west, Dębica is covered by a water boundary - the Wisłoka River. In the east, the Germans built the so-called Dębicki bypass with numerous concrete pillboxes. The Dębica area was heavily saturated with artillery, including anti-aircraft.
The Dębicka operation began on the morning of August 20, 1944. The 322nd Infantry Division advanced along the eastern bank of the Wisłoka River with the goal of collapsing enemy defenses. Bypassing Dębica from the south, the left flank units of the 60th Army increased pressure on enemy troops. By the end of August 22, units of the 4th Guards Tank and 33rd Guards Rifle Corps, in cooperation with the 322nd Rifle Division, captured the crossing of the Wisłoka and began fighting on the near approaches to Dębica. Troops operating from the northwest marched across the captured bridge across the river and began fighting near the western outskirts of the city. Intensifying their attacks, the attackers drove the Germans out of their strongholds on the outskirts. This was followed by a decisive assault on the city’s fortifications. After a fierce battle on August 23, 1944, the city of Dębica was completely liberated from Nazi troops.
The troops who participated in the battles for the liberation of Dębica were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command on August 23, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns. To commemorate the victory, the 603rd separate engineer battalion of Captain Georgy Nikolayevich Yablonsky, among the formations and units that most distinguished themselves in the battles for the liberation of Dembitsa, was presented with the honorary name “Dembitsky”, which was awarded by order of the Supreme High Command No. 0300 of September 7, 1944.
By the end of August 1944, the fighting on the Sandomierz bridgehead began to gradually fade. However, the Nazi command continued to send fresh forces to the bridgehead area, more than doubling its grouping in this area. On August 29, 1944, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.
During the Sandomierz-Silesian offensive operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945), carried out with the aim of defeating the Kielce-Radom enemy group, liberating southern Poland, reaching the Oder, seizing a bridgehead on its left bank and creating favorable conditions to conduct operations in the Berlin and Dresden directions, the 322nd Zhitomir Rifle Red Banner Division under the command of Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating in the Krakow direction as part of the 28th Lviv Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, on the first day of the offensive on January 12 with its 886th Tarnopol artillery The Red Banner Regiment took part in breaking through the German defense in the area of ​​the town of Stopnica, present-day Bus County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. .On the second day of the offensive at 22.00 on January 13, the 322nd Infantry Division crossed the Nida River, entering a breakthrough, entered into battles with the enemy, captured the village of Jurków and started a battle for the village of Staszewice-Nowe in the Wislica commune, Miechow County, Krakow Voivodeship (now Bus County Świętokrzyski) Poland.
Pursuing the retreating enemy, the rifle units of the division reached the line by 15.30 on January 14: 1085th Infantry Regiment - a fork in the road 300 m southwest of the village of Swoszowice - Broniszow railway station; 1089th Infantry Regiment - 300 m west of the village of Gabultow - 250 m south of the village of Zagorzyce; 1087th Infantry Regiment - western outskirts - fork in the road 500 m south of the village of Grabuvka (now does not exist north-east of Svoszowice); The 886th artillery regiment occupied firing positions 400 m east of the village of Broniszów, on the northeastern outskirts of the village of Zagorzyce, on the southern and northeastern outskirts of the village of Krzyz in the current Kazimierz County of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.
At 11 o'clock on January 15, units of the division withdrew from the occupied line with the task of advancing in the zone: on the right (1085 rifle division) the city of Skalbmierz of the present Kazimierz County of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship - the city of Słomniki of the present Krakow County of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, on the left (1089 Division) the village of Wojciechów - Boronice of the present Kazimierz County Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship - the city of Proszowice in what is now Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Overcoming the resistance of units of the German 304th and 359th infantry divisions, by 16.00 on January 15, the 1085th Infantry Regiment reached the border of the settlements of Konty, Galewice, the 1089th Infantry Regiment - Lentkowice, Konty of the Radzemice commune of the present Proszowice County north-west of the city of Proszowice. The 1087th Infantry Regiment advanced in the second echelon; the division's artillery fired at small groups of enemy infantry throughout the day. By 20.00, units of the division reached the Czech line, Przesławice of the present commune of Koniusz, Proszowice district, where, by order, they entrenched themselves.
Having repelled an enemy counterattack from the Przesławice area, at 11.30 on January 16, units of the division continued the offensive in a westerly direction in the zone: on the right - Słomniki, Iwanowice in the present Krakow County, on the left - Przesławice, Bürków Wielki in the Koniusz commune of the Proszowice County and by the end of the day reached the border of populated areas Bürków Wielki, Goszczyce, Marszowice, Goszcza in Krakow County.
On the morning of January 17, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division began fighting on the outskirts of the city of Krakow. During the day, the division repelled 14 counterattacks by enemy infantry and tanks in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Bibice, Bolen, Marszowice, Goszczyce, Czekai, Ksiaznicki northeast of Krakow and by 15.00 on January 18, the advanced regiments reached the line: the southwestern outskirts of the villages of Czekai and Bolen ( 1085 sp), western outskirts of Konczyce, southeastern outskirts of Pelgrzymowice (1089 sp). The 1087th Infantry Regiment, following in the second echelon, concentrated in the area of ​​the villages of Szczepanowice, Trontnowice, rural commune Slomniki, Krakow County.
Having repulsed repeated enemy counterattacks, overcoming powerful fortifications with a system of anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles, the division's rifle units began a battle on the night of January 18-19, 1945 on the southwestern outskirts of Krakow. By 10.00, the division cleared the northern part of the enemy, captured the central part of the city by storm, crossed the Vistula River by marching across the ice and continued its further offensive to the west.
The troops who took part in the battles for the capture of the ancient capital and one of the most important cultural and political centers of Poland, the city of Krakow - a powerful center of German defense covering the approaches to the Dombrovsky coal region, were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 230 of January 19, 1945 and a salute was given in Moscow 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.
On January 20 and 21, units of the division in the area of ​​the southern suburbs of Krakow on the right bank of the Vistula Opatkowice, Swoszowice, Kurdwanow repulsed 19 German counterattacks, destroyed several tanks and more than 300 soldiers and officers. Having overcome stubborn enemy resistance, by the end of January 22, 1945, the division had reached the following lines:
1085th Infantry Regiment - villages of Gai, commune Mogilany, Wrzonsowice, commune Świętniki-Gorne, Krakow district, Lesser Poland Voivodeship;
1087th Infantry Regiment - villages of Rajsko (now a district of the city of Krakow), Golkowice, Wieliczka commune, Wielicz County, Krakow Voivodeship;
1089th Infantry Regiment - south-eastern outskirts of the city of Wieliczka, the village of Sercha, commune Wieliczka, Wieliczka County, Krakow Voivodeship.
Having surrendered the occupied lines to units of the 4th Ukrainian Front on the night of January 23, the 322nd Infantry Division crossed to the left bank of the Vistula River, made a march and by 18.00 concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Kamen in the Czernikhow commune of Krakow County, with the task of crossing the Vistula again and advancing in a westerly direction. During the night, two battalions of the 1089th Infantry Regiment crossed to the western bank of the Vistula using improvised means and began a battle for the villages of Chalupki, Przewuz of the commune of Spytkowice, Wadowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, and won a bridgehead, thereby ensuring the crossing of the water barrier to all rifle units and artillery of the division.
On January 27, 1945, units of the 322nd Infantry Division were among the first to enter the Auschwitz area and captured the city. On the approaches to Auschwitz and in the city itself, units of the division liberated about 12,000 prisoners of the concentration camps Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III.
Repelling enemy counterattacks and holding a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Sola River, the 322nd Infantry Division received orders to close the breakthrough that had formed as a result of the enemy counteroffensive. The Germans were rushing towards Krakow, trying to get behind the Soviet troops at any cost. On January 29, having repelled enemy counterattacks, units of the division went on the offensive, again crossed the Vistula River, liberated the settlements of Frydek, Miedzna, Gura of the Miedzna commune of the Pszczyna County of the present Silesian Voivodeship on the western bank of the river, and by January 30, 1945 reached the eastern outskirts of the city of Pszczyna Silesian voivodeship, attacked the enemy, but had no success. After regrouping, the 322nd Infantry Division battled its way to the line in the area of ​​the village of Charkow, Pszczyna County, where it held the defense until February 6, 1945.
Having relocated to the area of ​​​​the settlements of Oderwalde, Salzforst (now Dziergowice, Polish Dziergowice, Solarnia, Polish Solarnia, respectively, the commune of Berawa, Kedzierzyn-Kozel district, Opole Voivodeship) on February 12, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 15th Infantry Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian front.
Taking part in the Lower Silesian offensive operation (February 8 - 24, 1945) 322 Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division of the Guard of Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating as part of the 15 Rifle Corps of the 60 Army on the left flank of the 1 Ukrainian Front, without achieving success in the offensive, By order of the front commander, it went on the defensive on the western bank of the Oder River in the area of ​​the settlement of Schwerfeld (now Cienzkowice, Polska-Cerekew commune, Kedrzezińsko-Koziel district, Opole voivodeship, Poland).
During the Upper Silesian offensive operation (March 15 - 31, 1945), carried out with the aim of eliminating the threat of a flank attack by German troops and capturing the Silesian industrial region, the 322nd Zhitomir Red Banner Infantry Division under the command of the Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating as part of 15 Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the capture of the fortified city of Ratibor (now Raciborg), where there was a strip of long-term fortifications that were part of the system of protecting the distant approaches to Berlin. The offensive in this direction developed extremely difficult. On March 22, weather conditions allowed aviation of the 2nd Air Army to provide support to the attacking Soviet infantry. Despite this, the German units defended themselves with great tenacity. In addition, the German command transferred 8 and 17 tank divisions from other directions and brought into battle. In the current situation, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev, decided to reinforce the advancing units of the 60th Army with two corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army. This had a positive effect on the pace of the Soviet offensive. For two days, on March 29 and 30, Soviet aviation carried out massive bombing and assault attacks on the positions of German troops in the Ratibor area. To strengthen the firepower of the attackers, the 17th and 25th artillery breakthrough divisions were transferred to the Ratibor area. On March 31, 1945, after powerful artillery preparation, the 15th and 106th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army began the decisive assault on the city. They were supported by tankers of the 31st Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the enemy began to withdraw his troops.
For excellent military operations, the troops who participated in the battles for the capture of an important road junction and a strong stronghold of the German defense on the left bank of the Oder, the city of Ratibor, were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 321 of March 31, 1945, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.
Having captured Ratibor, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.
On April 6, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division, occupying a defensive sector in the area of ​​​​the village of Krzanowitz (now Krzanowice, Polish Krzanowice, Raciborz County, Silesian Voivodeship) as part of the 15th Infantry Corps of the 60th Army, came under operational control of the 4th Ukrainian Front, which during the Moravian-Ostravian offensive operation (March 10 - May 5, 1945) with the forces of three armies (60, 38 and 1 Guards) was preparing to strike along the left bank of the Odra River in the general direction of the city of Olomouc - the center of the Olomouc region of the Czech Republic, towards the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which in their the turn was to attack Olomouc from the southeast. The goal of the offensive on two fronts was to encircle the 4th Tank Army of the Wehrmacht. In a desperate attempt to protect the only coal basin remaining in the hands of the Third Reich by April 1945, the Wehrmacht command sent additional forces to this section of the front. By the beginning of April, the 1st Tank Army consisted of 22 divisions, of which 5 were tank divisions. At this stage of the operation, the front forces had to overcome a heavily fortified defensive line running along the Opava, Oder, and Olsha rivers. It was based on a powerful system of pillboxes, built by Czechoslovakia back in the 20s and 30s under the leadership of French engineers and intended to cover the border with Germany. Therefore, in preparation for a new offensive, the armies planned and conducted exercises in which Special attention focused on the interaction between infantry and artillery.
Intelligence established that by April 15, eight German divisions were defending in front of the attacking front. The offensive began at 09:15 on April 15 with artillery preparation. At the end of the artillery fire, the rifle units went on the attack. In the afternoon, under pressure from Soviet troops, the German command began to withdraw its formations across the Opava River in order to gain a foothold on its southern bank, using previously prepared positions. During the first day of fighting, the attackers covered up to 8 km. The next morning the offensive resumed. Soviet aviation dominated the air, providing assistance to ground troops, but the enemy stubbornly resisted and progress was slow. On April 17, formations operating on the adjacent flanks of the 60th and 38th armies, together with the 31st Tank Corps, reached the Opava River near the city of Kravarze, Ostrava district, Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic. The 322nd Infantry Division captured the western outskirts of the city and crossed Opava with its advanced units. The next day, the advancing units expanded the bridgehead to 10 km along the front, and came close to a strip of long-term fortifications with a developed network of reinforced concrete pillboxes. All pillboxes were carefully camouflaged to match the surrounding terrain and had embrasures only in the side and rear walls. A well-thought-out fire system made it possible to shoot through the entire surrounding area, covering the approaches to neighboring pillboxes. The walls of the pillboxes were so strong that they could withstand direct hits from 152 mm shells. To break through powerful fortifications, assault groups were created in the advancing troops. Each group included a rifle company, a squad of sappers with a supply of explosives, 2-3 anti-tank guns and several chemists with smoke grenades or bombs. All available artillery was brought out for direct fire. Assistance in the assault on defensive structures was provided by Czechoslovak officers who served at this line before the war. They indicated the locations of pillboxes on maps and on the ground and helped identify their weaknesses. Despite all the measures taken, it turned out to be very difficult to overcome the German defenses. Particularly heated battles took place near the walls of the city of Troppau (now Opava) - an important industrial center of Czechoslovakia, a major road junction and a powerful stronghold of the enemy’s defense on the outskirts of Moravska Ostrava. An attempt to capture the city by a frontal attack was unsuccessful. Then two divisions of the 28th Rifle Corps undertook a bypass of the city from the west and east, and part of the forces of the 15th Rifle Corps continued the offensive from the north. The fighting continued unabated for about two days. By the end of April 22, 1945, rifle and tank units took the city by storm.
For excellent military operations, the troops who participated in the battles for the capture of the city of Opava were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 341 of April 23, 1945, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.
Having destroyed enemy troops in the Troppau area and in the border fortified zone south of this city, the left flank troops of the 60th Army continued to develop the offensive in the general direction of Olomouc.
The 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree division under the command of Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov completed its combat journey on May 11, 1945 in the city of Zhamberk, Usti nad Orlici district, Pardubice region of the Czech Republic, taking part in the 3rd Carpathian Mountain Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front. in the Prague offensive operation (6 - 11 May 1945).
A group of soldiers, sergeants and officers of the 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division II, led by the division commander, Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, as part of the combined regiment of the 4th Ukrainian Front, took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow on June 24, 1945.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division, II degree, was disbanded by directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters on June 29, 1945 in the area of ​​the cities of Ostrow, Els, and Kempis and turned to staffing units of the Northern Group of Forces.

Memory:
In the MBOU "Secondary comprehensive school No. 148" of the city of Nizhny Novgorod there is a Museum of Military Glory of the 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree division. Museum address: 603076, Nizhny Novgorod st. Komarova, house no. 6.

1085th Tarnopol Red Banner Rifle Regiment
1087th Tarnopol Red Banner Rifle Regiment
1089 Rifle Lviv Red Banner Order of Kutuzov III Class Regiment
886th Artillery Tarnopol Red Banner Order of Kutuzov III Class Regiment,
297th separate anti-tank fighter division Tarnopol,
290 anti-aircraft artillery battery (610 separate anti-aircraft artillery division) - until 23.3.43,
385 separate reconnaissance company,
603rd separate sapper (engineering) Dembitsky battalion,
774th separate communications battalion (76th separate communications company),
408th separate medical battalion,
401 separate chemical protection company,
388 separate motor transport company,
177 field bakery,
746 divisional veterinary hospital,
600 field postal station,
764 field cash desk of the State Bank.

On October 2, 1941, after a rally on Soviet (now Minin and Pozharsky) square in the city of Gorky, at which the formation was presented with the Red Banner from the Sormovsky plant, and a parade, units and units of the division went to the railway station of the Myza station of the Gorky railway, from where they were redeployed to the city of Kuznetsk Penza region. On November 1, 1941, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 10th Reserve Army, formed on the basis of the Directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters of October 21, 1941 No. 004038 in the Volga Military District. On November 29, 1941, army units (according to directive No. op/2995 of November 24, 1941) were redeployed to the Ryazan region, the 322nd Infantry Division to the city of Rybnoye. The concentration of the army was ordered to be completed by the evening of December 2. While traveling by rail near the Ryazhsk station on November 27, 1945, the echelon of the 1085th Infantry Regiment came under an enemy air raid and the division suffered its first losses - 42 commanding and enlisted personnel were killed.
On December 6, 1941, the 10th Army was included in the Western Front. But already on December 5, the army commander received a directive from the Military Council of the Western Front with the task of delivering the main blow in the direction of the cities of Mikhailov, Stalinogorsk (now Novomoskovsk), Venev, Kurakovo of the Tula region through the regional center of the Tula (now Moscow) region, the village of Serebryanye Prudy. The immediate task of the 10th Army was the defeat of the troops of Guderian's 2nd Tank Army and the capture of the area from the city of Stalinogorsk to the Uzlovaya station in the Uzlovsky district of the Tula region.
Taking part in the Tula offensive operation (December 6 - December 16, 1941) of the troops of the left wing of the Western Front - an integral part of the Moscow strategic offensive operation (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942), the 322nd rifle division of Colonel Pyotr Isaevich Filimonov as part of the 10th Army combat She was baptized on December 7, 1941. From the operational report of the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division:
“From 08:00 on December 7, 1941, after a short artillery shelling, units of the division, delivering a concentrated attack from three sides, captured Serebryanye Prudy. The enemy garrison, consisting of two battalions of the 15th Infantry Regiment with 6 guns, fled in panic after the battle in a westerly direction to Venev. Our division captured a large number of trophies: more than 200 trucks, cars and special vehicles, 20 motorcycles, 4 guns, a large number of heavy machine guns, rifles, cartridges, a lot of food, ammunition and equipment. They captured the battle flag and cash register of one of the regiments of the 29th motorized division, about 50 prisoners and many trophies. The trophy count continues."
Continuing the offensive, the 322nd Infantry Division liberated the cities of Venev on December 9, Stalinogorsk-1 (Sotsgorod) on December 12. After a fierce battle at dawn on December 14, units of the division liberated the Uzlovaya railway station, which is of strategic importance. The offensive continued without interruption and into the night. With the entry of the left wing troops to the Tula-Plavsk line, the Western Front completed the Tula offensive operation. Guderian's tank army was forced to retreat to the Oka River in Belev-Bolkhov-Mtsensk. During the Tula offensive operation, the troops of the 10th Army inflicted a serious defeat on the enemy, eliminating the threat of bypassing Moscow from the south.
The Kaluga-Belev offensive operation (December 17, 1941 - January 5, 1942) was aimed at: the exit of Soviet troops to the Oka River, the liberation of operationally important enemy defense centers - Kaluga and Belev, the defeat of retreating enemy troops and the envelopment of Army Group Center from the south. . In the offensive zone on the city of Belev - the administrative center of the Belevsky district of the Tula region, the 10th Army of Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of Lieutenant General P.A. Belov, and part of the forces of the 61st Army of Lieutenant General P.A. operated in full force with eight divisions Popova M.M. The German command attached great importance to the defense of Belev, the junction of the active Soviet fronts - Western and Southwestern. In the area of ​​Belyov and adjacent villages, the defense was held by 112, 56 infantry, 4 tank divisions, a separate SS regiment "Great Germany", as well as the remnants of the enemy infantry divisions 31, 131, 167 and 296 "Deer's Head" defeated near Tula. The strength of the German defense was created by the stone buildings and structures used in the city itself, in which strong points were equipped. The Nazis prepared Belev with its ancient buildings, monasteries and many churches, with the villages adjacent to it from the north and south for a long defense. There were bunkers, dugouts, machine gun nests in many stone buildings, areas with barbed wire, minefields, direct fire guns in blockhouses, scarps with icy slopes along the banks of the Oka River. In a number of areas, the approaches to the city were mined. On December 22, troops of the 10th Army fought to take the city of Odoev, Tula Region. In the period from December 25 to 27, the main forces of the 10th Army, overcoming the resistance of the retreating enemy forces, approached the Oka River at the line between the village of Snyhovo and the village of Fedinskoye, Belevsky district. Six first-echelon rifle divisions were concentrated on a narrow strip 25 km wide, the 322nd rifle division was concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Sestriki and the village of Temryan. At the first stage of the battles for Belev on December 25 - 26. The 322nd and 328th rifle divisions were the first to approach the city. These formations tried to break through the defenses and occupy the city with scattered frontal attacks on fortified positions. The actions of these divisions were not successful. Over the next two days, the troops of the 10th Army of the Western Front fought fierce battles, trying to carry out a two-way envelopment of Belev from the flanks - south and north. The enemy put up fierce resistance. During the fighting, the settlements of Beregovaya, Besedino, Kalizna, Fedinskoye changed hands several times. Under enemy counterattacks, Soviet units were forced to retreat to the eastern bank of the Oka. At the third stage of the fighting, the command of the 10th Army made the only correct decision - to carry out a deep bypass of Belev from the north during the period of December 29-30. On December 30, units of the 328th and 330th rifle divisions, having liberated Ishutino and Ganshino, deeply captured Belev from the north and west. The enemy now had only an open exit to the south. Early in the morning of December 31, the 330th Infantry Division began an assault on the city from the east. The 328th Infantry Division broke into the city from the southwest at 12 noon. By evening, German troops began to retreat to the south, where, upon leaving the city, they came under devastating fire from artillerymen of the 322nd Infantry Division, operating from Temryan and Sestriki. After the liberation of the cities of Belev-Tula region and Sukhinichi, Kaluga region, the Germans formed a wide gap along this front, into which formations of the 50th and 10th armies and the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps rushed. The troops of the Western Front brilliantly completed the counteroffensive near Moscow. Favorable conditions arrived for the transition to a general offensive in the winter campaign of 1942. Until January 5, 1942, the 322nd Infantry Division was left in the city of Belev as its garrison with the task of securing the left flank of the army.
After January 5, 1942, the 10th Army received an additional task - to speed up access to the Vyazma-Bryansk railway road and capture the cities of Kirov, Lyudinovo, Zhizdra in the Oryol (now Kaluga) region. The 322nd Infantry Division was moved to the left flank towards Bryansk in order to then approach Zhizdra. On January 8 - 9, 1942, the division entered the battle for the Zikeevo railway station in the Zhizdra district of the Oryol (now Kaluga) region, five kilometers west of the city of Zhizdra. Having struck the leading 337th Infantry Regiment of the enemy's fresh 208th Infantry Division, which arrived from Bryansk, the division forced it to retreat to the village of Zikeevo, where it was surrounded, but could not immediately defeat it. On the morning of January 9, the enemy attacked the 1089th Infantry Regiment of the division. By the end of the day, the Nazis, with significant losses for them, were thrown back to Zikeevo. A prisoner captured in battle revealed that he belonged to the 35th tank regiment of the 10th motorized division. This regiment, together with the 337th Infantry Regiment, recently arrived in Zikeevo from Bryansk. In stubborn battles, the Zikeevo station changed hands several times. And here enemy aviation was active. For the thinned parts of the division, these battles were very difficult. In December, the division's losses reached almost 5 thousand people. The companies consisted of 30–40 people. The damage to the command staff in the units was especially great. On January 12, 1942, the German offensive began against the left flank of the 10th Army, accompanied by intense raids by fascist aviation. Under enemy pressure, the 322nd Infantry Division, having lifted the blockade of Zikeev, retreated to the north and northeast of it, to the line of the villages of Ilyushenka and Petrovka, Zhizdrinsky district.
On January 27, 1942, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 16th Army of the Western Front. On January 29, 1942, Colonel Terentyev Guriy Nikitich was appointed division commander. Under his command, the 322nd Infantry Division, until the fall of 1942, held a defensive line along the front up to 14 km and a depth of up to 8 km on the eastern bank of the Resseta River southeast of the Duminichi Smolenskaya station (now Kaluga region, as part of the 16th Army, it took part in the front-line counter-offensive operation of the unit forces of the Western Front - Counterattack of the left wing of the Western Front in the area of ​​Sukhinichi and Kozelsk, carried out from August 22 to 29, 1942 on the left flank of the front.
On December 29, 1942, the division received an order to redeploy. From December 30, 1942 to January 1, 1943, loading was carried out at the Sukhinichi station and the Zhivodovka junction. The division was transported through Moscow to the Tresvyatskaya station in the Novousmansky district of the Voronezh region, 20 km northeast of the city of Voronezh. The unloading took place on January 6, 1943. By combat order of the headquarters of the Voronezh Front No. 003 dated January 4, 1943, the division became part of the Voronezh Front as its reserve, stationed on the territory of the 40th Army. Based on the combat order of the headquarters of the 40th Army No. 008 dated January 12, 1943, the division was given the task of being in the army reserve in the area of ​​​​the villages of Dobrino, Tresorukovo, Davydovka in the Liskinsky district of the Voronezh region. The division's artillery was supposed to operate together with the 25th Guards Rifle Division.
As part of the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front, the 322nd Infantry Division of Colonel (since January 27, 1943 Major General) Terentyev G.N. took part in the Voronezh-Kastornensky offensive operation (January 24 - February 2, 1943). The main blow was delivered around the city of Voronezh from the southwest. For this purpose, an attack force was created on a 25-kilometer section of the village of Rudkino - Semidesyatnoye in the Khokholsky district of the Voronezh region, in the first echelon of which the 322nd Infantry Division was promoted. The troops of the strike group had to break through the enemy’s heavily fortified defensive zone, where on the front line there were strong strongholds in the villages of Kochetovka, Semidystyatnoye, Prokudino, and the Parnichny farmstead, and in the depths were the villages of Nikolskoye and Khokhol, Khokholsky district, Voronezh region. The offensive began on the morning of January 25. Trying to hold back the onslaught of the divisions of the 60th Army and allow the main forces of the 2nd Army to escape, the fascist German command did everything possible to hold its positions near the village of Kochetovka, Khokholsky district. Here a stubborn struggle ensued for numerous strongholds. But the Nazis could not withstand the blows of the Soviet units. Units of the 322nd Infantry Division broke through enemy fortifications and rushed to the village of Emancha Second, Khokholsky district. On the night of January 28, the right-flank units of the 60th Army broke the fascist resistance on the western bank of the Don near the workers' village of Semiluki, Voronezh region. The 322nd Infantry Division, operating on the left flank of the offensive line, broke through to the regional center of the Voronezh region, the village of Nizhnedevitsk, where at the end of the month it took part in the complete defeat and liquidation of the last group of the 2nd German Army. This completed the complete liberation of Voronezh land from the occupiers.
Having completed a 120-kilometer trek in three days, on February 2, 1943, the division immediately entered the battle north of the Kastornaya-Kurskaya railway station, 160 km east of the city of Kursk. Taking part in the Kharkov offensive operation (February 2 - March 3, 1943), the 322nd Infantry Division, operating on the right flank of the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front, at the junction with the troops of the Bryansk Front, on February 4 captured the settlements of Kryukovo, Krasnaya Polyana, Verkhnyaya Olkhovatka of the Cheremisinovsky district and cut the road between the city of Shchigry and the village of Kosorzha in the Shchigry district of the Kursk region.
From February 5, 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, participated in the attack directly on the city of Kursk as part of the 60th Army. On the morning of February 8, units of the 322nd Infantry Division and 248th Infantry Brigade attacked the northeastern and eastern outskirts of Kursk. Fighting began in the city. From the first minutes the battle became fierce. However, the advancing units began to blockade one German stronghold after another. The fighting took place with varying degrees of success in many areas into which the enemy defenses had broken up. The commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel S.N. Perekalsky, who was well versed in the confusion of the battle, hurried to where the scales began to tip in favor of the enemy. He was wounded, but did not leave the battle, believing that he had no right to leave his post while he was on his feet. To break through to the center of Kursk, Soviet troops had to go around - through Streletskaya Sloboda. Raising the soldiers of the 1089th Infantry Regiment to attack, the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, was mortally wounded in the heart area and died from his wounds in the first-aid post. After the death of the division commander, his deputy for the combat unit of the guard, Major Dmitry Efimovich Vysotsky, took command. Under his command, units of the division finally cleared the city of the Nazis by 12 o'clock on February 9, 1943. A red flag was hoisted in the center of Kursk. Units of the 60th Army liberated 250 Soviet prisoners of war in Kursk and captured a significant amount of trophies; 1040 enemy soldiers and officers were killed, 4 tanks, 45 vehicles, 5 mortar batteries, 11 bunkers were destroyed, 44 guns of various calibers, 16 tanks, 28 machine guns, 2238 rifles, 438 vehicles, 30 warehouses with ammunition, food, and uniforms were captured. At the Kursk railway junction, the Nazis left 98 steam locomotives and 958 wagons with coal.
On February 12, 1943, the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky, was posthumously awarded the rank of colonel. Colonel Perekalsky S.N. buried on February 12, 1943 on the Central Alley of Pioneer Park, 150 meters from the city theater (now the regional Philharmonic). About 10 thousand Kursk residents gathered for the hero’s funeral. The commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, spoke at the funeral meeting. On February 23, 1943, the Kursk City Executive Committee decided to rename Yamskaya Gora Street to Perekalsky Street, and name the square in front of the Medical Institute after him.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism demonstrated by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Stepan Nikolaevich Perekalsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). In 1948, Perekalsky’s ashes were transferred to Stepan Nikolaevich to the Memorial to those who fell during the Great Patriotic War at the Nikitsky cemetery in the city of Kursk, and in 1966 a marble bust was installed on his grave.
From March 21 to the end of June 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Nikolai Ivanovich Ivanov, as part of the 60th Army of the Central Front, held the defense along the Seim River east of the city of Rylsk, Kursk Region.
Taking part in the Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943), the 322nd Rifle Division of Major General N.I. Ivanov, as part of the 30th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the Central Front, staunchly held the defense in the central part of the Kursk bulge near the city of Rylsk.
Before the start of the Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation of the Central Front (August 26 - September 30, 1943), units and subunits of the 322nd Infantry Division by August 15 were organizedly transferred to a new line of defense, the village of Aleksina - the village of Dolgiy in the Khomutovsky district of the Kursk region, where the division was transferred to composition of the 24th Rifle Corps. In accordance with the plan of the command, the troops of the 60th Army were ordered: in cooperation with other troops of the Central Front, to deliver a strong blow in the direction of the city of Glukhov, Sumy region of the Ukrainian SSR and further to the southwest, to break through the enemy’s defenses to its entire depth and defeat the opposing group of Nazis. The 322nd Infantry Division was tasked with breaking through the enemy’s defenses in the area of ​​the villages of Yaroslavka - Obzhi, Khomutovsky District, Kursk Region, in cooperation with its neighbors, defeating units of the German 82nd Infantry Division in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Prilepy, Kurganka, Lobkovsky in the Khomutovsky District and developing an offensive in a westerly direction. Several artillery and mortar regiments and a tank brigade consisting of 40 tanks and self-propelled guns were allocated to strengthen the division. The breakthrough area reached 4 km along the front with a width of the offensive zone of 6 km. On August 26, 1943, the 322nd Rifle Division under the command of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko as part of the 24th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the Central Front, advancing on the right flank of the 60th Army, with the support of tanks after artillery preparation, went on the offensive in the direction of the village of Golopuzovka, Khomutovsky district, Kursk region (now the village Malaya Vitichi, Sevsky district, Bryansk region), in the afternoon of August 27, broke through the first line of enemy defense. On August 28, the second echelon of the 60th Army was brought into battle - the 17th Guards Rifle Corps, which included the 322nd Rifle Division. With ramming attacks, the corps' troops broke the resistance of the Germans holding the second line of defense, and the pace of the offensive increased noticeably. By the end of the third day of the offensive, the 322nd Rifle Division, now operating in the first echelon of the 17th Guards Corps, immediately crossed the shallow Nemeda River, reached the eastern outskirts of the village of Vitichy and captured the village of Kurganka in the present Sevsky district of the Bryansk region and, not giving the enemy the opportunity to organize a defense, began pursuing the retreating enemy. On August 29, 1943, the forward battalions of the division set foot on Ukrainian soil, liberating the village of Marchikhina Buda, Yampolsky district, Sumy region, Ukrainian SSR. On August 30, 1943, the 322nd Infantry Division captured the regional center of the Sumy region, the city of Glukhov, and, knocking down the Nazi barriers, finding vulnerabilities in their hastily occupied defenses on intermediate lines, units of the division pursued the enemy around the clock along parallel roads and routes leading to the flanks and rear , liberating the populated areas of the Sumy region of the Ukrainian SSR. Having fought about 150 km, by September 4 the division reached the Desna River, the 1087th and 1089th Infantry Regiments captured the settlements of Raigorodok and Korop in the Koropsky district of the Chernigov region on the eastern bank of the Desna, and the advanced battalions of the 1085th Infantry Regiment reached the village of Zhovtnevoe (now Rozhdestvenskoe) Koropsky district, located in the floodplain of the Seim and Desna rivers. Providing stubborn resistance, the enemy simultaneously withdrew his troops to the western bank of the Desna. In this regard, on September 5, 1943, all regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division were turned to the southwest to cross the Desna on the move. On September 7, the division crossed the Seim River, entrenched itself on a captured bridgehead on the southern bank and, overcoming the resistance of the troops of the German 82nd Infantry Division, which created a network of strong points along the offensive path of the Soviet troops, equipped with trenches and machine-gun nests, covered with barbed wire, explosive barriers, shot through in the intervals between them with guns and mortars, and the area near the strong points with infantry fire, continued to advance forward. Having captured the settlement of Novye Mlyn, the division regiments advanced on the village of Golovenki in the Borznyansky district of the Chernigov region, and by the end of the day on September 7 they liberated the administrative center of the Borznyansky district, the city of Borzna. On September 9, 1943, the 322nd Rifle Division, consisting of the 17th Guards Rifle Corps, was transferred to the 13th Army of the Central Front and, having gained a foothold on the border of the settlements of Bondarevka, Sosnitsa District, Yaduty, Borzna, Borznyansky District, ensuring the entry of units of the 13th Army into battle, fought stubborn battles on this line , and on September 12 she launched an attack on Berestovets, Komarovka, Borznyansky district, Dubolugovka, Nezhinsky district, Chernihiv region and captured these settlements. During the further offensive, the division's regiments cut the Chernigov-Nizhyn railway line, which was the last rockade that allowed the enemy to maneuver forces along the front. On the night of September 19-20, units and divisions of the division crossed the Desna River using improvised means. By dawn on September 21, 1943, the regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division reached the Dnieper River in the section between the village of Sivki (now does not exist) and the village of Sorokoshichi, Kozeletsky district, Chernigov region. The first to cross the Dnieper using improvised means were reinforced rifle battalions from the 1087 and 1089 rifle regiments, seized bridgeheads in the area of ​​the villages of Verkhnie and Nizhnie Zhary (now in the Chernobyl exclusion zone) of the Braginsky district of the Polesie (now Gomel) region of the Belarusian SSR and ensured the crossing of the main forces of the division. On September 23, the division, having completely crossed the Dnieper, fought to retain and expand the captured bridgehead. The next day, units of the division launched a further attack on the villages of Gden, Braginsky district, Polesie region, Paryshev, Chernobyl region, Kyiv region (now both villages in the Chernobyl exclusion zone) between the Dnieper and Pripyat rivers. Having crossed the Pripyat River on September 30, by the end of the day, units of the 322nd Infantry Division liberated the city of Chernobyl in the Kyiv region. For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown during the breakthrough of enemy defenses on the Dnieper and the successful crossing of large water obstacles Seim, Desna, Pripyat, 24 soldiers of the 322nd rifle division were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, including division commander Colonel Lashchenko Pyotr Nikolaevich, commander of the 1089th Infantry Regiment of the Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Kharlanov Ivan Stepanovich, deputy battalion commander of the 1087th Infantry Regiment, senior lieutenant Nikolai Andreevich Kuryatnikov; hundreds of soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals.
On the morning of October 4, 1943, up to a hundred German tanks, supported by infantry and aviation, attacked the troops of the 13th Army in the area of ​​the city of Chernobyl. Having a clear superiority in manpower, artillery and absolute superiority in tanks (there were no tanks in the Soviet troops in this sector), the Nazis began to ram the defenses, trying to cut it into pieces and then destroy it with simultaneous attacks from different sides. Soviet troops were thrown back to the eastern bank of the Pripyat River, the 322nd Rifle Division entrenched itself in the area of ​​the village of Koshovka, Chernobyl region (now in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Ivankovsky region) of the Kiev region and for three weeks staunchly held the defense there (from October 9 as part of the 15th Rifle Corps 13th Army of the Central Front). The division was replenished with equipment and personnel, carried out combat coordination of units and units, and reconnaissance of the enemy's front line beyond the Pripyat River.
Having carried out a march by order of the command, the 322nd Infantry Division moved to the Lyutezh bridgehead north of the city of Kiev, where by November 1, 1943 it again joined the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which included the attack at the first stage of the Kyiv offensive operation (November 3 - 13, 1943). in the second echelon, constituting the reserve of the army commander. On November 9, 1943, the division concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Bondarnya, Borodyansky district, Kiev region, where it was subordinated to the 24th rifle corps of the 60th army of the 1st Ukrainian Front and, as part of it, pursuing the retreating enemy, advanced in the direction of Teterev station in the Borodnyansky district and further to the west. Repelling numerous counterattacks of enemy tanks and infantry, the 322nd Infantry Division by November 15 reached the line of the settlements of New Bobrik, Stary Bobrik, Fasova in the Khoroshevsky district of the Zhitomir region.
On November 15, 1943, the enemy launched a powerful counter-offensive, trying to destroy the entire Kyiv group of troops and eliminate its bridgeheads on the right bank of the Dnieper. By order of the commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General Chernyakhovsky I.D. The 322nd Rifle Division stopped the offensive, redeployed to the area of ​​​​the village of Studenitsa, on November 17, 1943, it became part of the 30th Rifle Corps and took up defense at the line of the villages of Gorodishche, Zhitomir region, Studenitsa, the city of Korostyshev, Korostyshevsky region, Zhitomir region along the Teterev River with a front to the south with the task of preventing advance the enemy in the direction of the village of Studenitsa, the city of Malin, Zhitomir region, and prevent his maneuver along the Zhitomir-Kyiv highway. The division steadfastly repulsed numerous attacks by enemy tanks and infantry, and on November 20, 1943 it was subordinated to the 23rd Rifle Corps. Having suffered significant losses, the 322nd Infantry Division, by order of the command, retreated to the border of the settlements of Pilipovichi, Radomyshl District, Bezhov, Chernyakhovsky District, Zhitomir Region, where it continued to staunchly hold the defense, joining on November 21, 1943, as part of the 15th Rifle Corps, which had advanced from the depths. Until December 6, due to the partial regrouping of army troops, the 322nd Infantry Division changed its defense area several times. By mid-December 1943, the counter-offensive of German troops west of Kyiv was suspended along the entire front. Units of the 15th Rifle Corps were entrenched at the line Rudnya-Gorodishchenskaya, Malinsky district, Medelevka, Vyshevichi, Radomyshlsky district, Zhitomir region.
In the Zhitomir-Berdichev offensive operation of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front (December 24, 1943 - January 14, 1944), the 60th Army with two tank corps attached to it launched an auxiliary attack in the direction of the village of Chaikovka, Radomyshl region, the city of Chernyakhov, Zhitomir region. The advance of its troops bypassing the enemy’s Malinsko-Radomyshl group had the goal of collapsing the Nazi defense in this area, ensuring an effective offensive by the main forces. In the most important direction in the army's combat formations, the 15th Rifle Corps operated, the left flank of which consisted of the regiments of the 322nd Infantry Division. On December 26, 1943, units of the division went on the offensive. Having knocked down enemy barriers, the regiments broke through the enemy’s defenses in the area of ​​the villages of Mircha and Krasnoborka and by the end of the day reached the villages of Kotovka and Zabolot in the Radomyshl district of the Zhitomir region. On December 29, the division, with one regiment, took part in the liberation of the city of Chernyakhov. The main forces of the 322nd Infantry Division bypassed Chernyakhov from the north and developed an offensive in the southwestern direction. In four days, the division fought 60 km and cut the highway and railway Zhitomir - Novograd-Volynsky. The division's successful actions in this direction facilitated the advance of troops to the city of Zhitomir. Having repulsed enemy counterattacks from Zhitomir, the division, in cooperation with other parts of the Red Army, began pursuing the Nazis along the highway to the city of Shepetovka in the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnytsky) region of the Ukrainian SSR, on December 31 entered Zhitomir and participated in clearing the city of the Nazis.
The troops who participated in the liberation of Zhitomir were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 53 of January 1, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. In commemoration of the victory, the 322nd Infantry Division of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko, among the most distinguished formations and units in the battles for the liberation of the city of Zhitomir, was awarded the honorary name “Zhitomir”.
On January 2, 1944, the 322nd Zhitomir Infantry Division started a battle on the outskirts of the regional center of the Zhitomir region, the city of Dzerzhinsk (now the urban village of Romanov - the administrative center of the Romanovsky district) and advanced to the village of Novy Miropol of the current Romanovsky district, with the task of crossing the Sluch River on the move and breaking through the enemy’s defenses on the western bank of the river and seize the line Kamenka - Dertka, Dzerzhinsky district, Zhitomir region - Prisluch, Polonsky district, Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnitsky) region. On January 9, 1944, units of the division liberated the center of the Polonsky district of the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnitsky) region, the city of Polonnoye and, moving forward, met strong enemy resistance. The division's regiments were ordered to gain a foothold on the achieved lines with the task of thwarting all German attempts to break through to Polonnoye, where they fought positional defensive battles until February 1944.
During the Rivne-Lutsk operation (January 27 - February 11, 1944), the 322nd Zhytomyr Rifle Division, consisting of the 15th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, took part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Shepetivka in the Kamenets-Podolsk (now Khmelnytsky) region of the Ukrainian Front on February 11, 1944. SSR. The troops who participated in the liberation of Shepetivka were thanked by Order No. 73 of the Supreme High Command of February 11, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns. For services in the defeat of enemy forces in the area of ​​the city of Polonnoye, complete and active participation in the liberation of a large railway junction and an important stronghold of the German defense of the city of Shepetovka, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the 322nd Zhitomir Infantry Division of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division under the command of Colonel Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko as part of the 15th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the Proskurov-Chernovtsy offensive operation (March 4 - April 17, 1944).
On the morning of March 4, 1944, troops of the 60th Army as part of the front’s strike group went on the offensive. Having broken through the Nazi defenses in the Tarnopol direction with the support of artillery and aviation, they rushed to the west, liberating the land of Soviet Ukraine inch by inch. In accordance with the received task, the 322nd Infantry Division hastily moved behind the units of the first echelon of the corps. The march took place in incredibly difficult conditions. The country roads along which the division regiments moved in two parallel routes became so bad after a few days that everyone walked, getting stuck knee-deep in thick, impassable mud. In addition to personal weapons and a pouch, a gas mask, a shovel and a duffel bag with dry rations and soldier’s property, each fighter had with him spare sets of grenades and disks with cartridges - in case the convoys fell behind and had to fight a long battle, not counting on a quick replenishment of ammunition . I had to walk for fourteen or more hours a day, without being able to sit down in a dry place, take a breath, rewind my foot wraps, not to mention dry my shoes and clothes, replenish my strength with hot food, or sleep for an hour or two in the warmth. They ate mostly dry food and fell into a short sleep on the wet ground in the open air where the team found exhausted people to rest. During the first three daily marches, until the thaw cleared and the rains began to pour, the soldiers were still pushing with their last strength the cars, guns, and carts through the mud, and they dragged along with sin in half at the tail of the columns. Then the roads finally fell into disrepair, and wheeled transport became a thing. Now it was necessary to pull out guns and cars from potholes and bogs and tow them to the nearest sections of the highway with the help of the few extremely worn-out tractors that the division had. The route along which units of the division advanced ran through ridges of small hills, cut at the foot by ravines, now filled to the brim with melt water. Often there were streams and rivulets that overflowed their banks, bridges that were completely destroyed by tanks that had passed earlier. Drivers and riders, artillerymen and mortarmen therefore had to climb hills and descend straight from them, ford streams. It often happened that a gun or cart would go down into a ravine, but could no longer get out. Then they unharnessed the horses and, following a shell, a mine, a coil of telephone cable or a box of explosives, carried all the property to the nearest high-rise, and only then pushed up the guns, charging boxes, and carts. After descending into the next beam, everything was repeated in the same order. If heavy artillery systems got stuck, then they had to harness several pairs of oxen at once - the exhausted horses could not do anything here. As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply. Wet, dirty overcoats and padded jackets were covered with a crust of ice, hindering people's movements, permeating the body with a chilling cold. The horses dragged their load: in the cold the mud thickened and the wheels did not rotate. Despite such tests, the 322nd Infantry Division moved forward non-stop. A few days later, its units moved to the first echelon of the corps. Throwing back and destroying the opposing enemy, they fought 18–20 kilometers a day, which in those conditions was the limit of what was possible. Leaving behind about one hundred and fifty kilometers of off-road terrain, by March 8 the division reached the line of the Gnezna and Gnezdechna rivers, where it encountered organized and stubborn enemy resistance.
By March 8, 1944, troops of the 60th Army reached the regional center of the Ukrainian SSR, the city of Tarnopol (now Ternopil), and began fighting to capture the city. This most important railway junction was one of the key strategic points of defense of the Nazi occupiers in Ukraine. Hitler himself declared Tarnopol “the gateway to the Reich.” By his personal order, the commandant of the Tarnopol garrison turned the city into an almost impregnable fortress. On the night of March 9-10, 1944, soldiers of the Red Army first broke into Tarnopol and started street fighting there. However, then Soviet troops failed to hold the city. As a result of a powerful German counterattack, they were forced to retreat and the fighting here dragged on. By March 23–24, the fortress city was completely surrounded. The Tarnopol enemy group that fell into the “cauldron” numbered over 12 thousand soldiers and officers. In addition to German infantry and motorized units, it also included a regiment from the notorious 14th SS Grenadier Division "Galicia", formed from Ukrainian nationalists. On the afternoon of March 31, after a three-hour artillery preparation and an attack by attack aircraft, units of the 94th and 15th Rifle Corps broke into Tarnopol. Fourteen days of street fighting began. By April 4, most of Tarnopol was liberated. However, enemy resistance did not stop. Fierce street fighting in Tarnopol ended only on April 14, 1944 with its complete liberation.
The troops who participated in the liberation of the city of Tarnopol were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 109 of April 15, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. To commemorate the victory, the 1085th Infantry Regiment, 1087th Infantry Regiment, 886th Artillery Regiment and 297th Separate Anti-Tank Fighter Division, among the formations and units that most distinguished themselves in the battles for the liberation of Tarnopol, were presented with the honorary name “Tarnopolsky”, which they were awarded by order of the Supreme High Command dated 26 April 1944 No. 0108.
By mid-June 1944, the 322nd Infantry Division was thoroughly entrenched at the line along the Vysushka Creek, west of the city of Tarnopol. Soon there was a short pause on the entire Soviet-German front: the troops went over to temporary defense, and intensive and systematic preparations for summer offensive operations were in full swing in all units and formations.
In the first days of the Lviv-Sandomierz operation (July 13 - August 29, 1944), the 322nd Zhitomir Red Banner Rifle Division of Major General P.N. Lashchenko, which fought as part of the 28th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, played an important role in breaking through the German defenses on Lviv direction. The offensive began on July 14 in an extremely difficult and tense situation. By the end of the first day of the operation, the troops of the 60th Army were able to advance only 3 - 8 km - the enemy had a very strong defense, relying on natural lines and well-developed systems of engineering structures, artillery and mortar fire. By the end of the first day of the operation and on the morning of July 15, the German command brought into battle all tactical and operational reserves, including the 1st and 8th tank and 14th SS Galicia infantry divisions. Overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, the 322nd Infantry Division, acting in the direction of the main attack, broke through the enemy defenses in the area of ​​​​the village of Belokrynitsa, destroyed the opposing enemy and developed an offensive in the direction of the village of Perepelniki, Zborovsky district, Tarnopol region and the city of Zolochev, Lviv region. As a result of this breakthrough, the so-called “Koltovsky corridor” was formed - a deep gap in the enemy’s defense to a depth of 18 km, which was used by the command to bring the 3rd Guards Tank Army into the operational space, which ensured the defeat of the opposing enemy forces. In these battles, on July 16, 1944, Major General Pyotr Nikolaevich Lashchenko was seriously wounded and Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov took command of the division.
On July 17, having completely cleared the city of Zolochev from the fascists, the division captured the villages of Yasenovtsy and Chervonoe, and on July 18 - Bolshaya Olshanitsa in the Zolochevsky district of the Lviv region. Further advancement of the division was hampered by powerful counterattacks of the enemy from the area of ​​the village of Gologory on Chervonoye - the enemy, blocked in a ring west of the city of Brody, Lviv region, tried to break out of the encirclement through the villages of Knyazhe and Chervonoye to the southwest and connect with the main forces. Dividing here into two groups, the Germans launched an attack on the villages of Skvaryava and Knyazhe, Zolochevsky district. However, the enemy was unable to penetrate further and began to surrender. Thus, the enemy Brod group ceased to exist. Being in the first echelon of the 60th Army, the 322nd Infantry Division resumed the offensive on Lviv in the direction of the villages of Baluchin, Bussky district, Zamestye, Zhuravniki, Pustomitivsky district, Lviv region.
Having broken the enemy's resistance in stubborn battles on July 24 - 26, 1944 in the area of ​​the village of Belka-Shlyakhetskaya (now Verkhnyaya Belka, Pustomitivsky district, Lvov region), units of the division drove it back and, with a rapid offensive, were the first of the infantry units to enter the city of Lvov on July 27.
The troops who participated in the liberation of the city of Lvov were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 154 of July 27, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns. In commemoration of the victory, the 1089th Infantry Regiment of Major Fedor Semenovich Grishin, among the most distinguished formations and units in the battles for the liberation of Lvov, was presented with the honorary name “Lvovsky”, which was awarded by order of the Supreme High Command No. 0256 of August 10, 1944.
Without stopping, the division left Lvov and moved west, on August 6, 1944, liberating the city of Mielec - the administrative center of the current Mielec district of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland. Having passed along the western bank of the tributaries of the Vistula - the Wisłoka River, the regiments, weakened by losses, made attempts for several days to push back the Nazis, then they themselves repulsed their fierce attacks, holding the captured lines. The division was finally able to break the enemy’s resistance in its sector only in the twentieth of August.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division under the command of Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov took an active part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Dębica in what is now the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland. During the war years, the remote Carpathian region became an industrial area. Hiding from Allied aviation, the Germans transferred a number of large military enterprises here from Germany, deploying them in small towns and forests near the Lviv-Krakow railway and the oil-bearing Rzeszow region. The enemy organized a strong defense in this direction. In particular, the Germans stubbornly defended the city of Dębica - an important communications hub, from where railways go to Lviv, Sandomierz, and Krakow. From the west, Dębica is covered by a water boundary - the Wisłoka River. In the east, the Germans built the so-called Dębicki bypass with numerous concrete pillboxes. The Dębica area was heavily saturated with artillery, including anti-aircraft.
The Dębicka operation began on the morning of August 20, 1944. The 322nd Infantry Division advanced along the eastern bank of the Wisłoka River with the goal of collapsing enemy defenses. Bypassing Dębica from the south, the left flank units of the 60th Army increased pressure on enemy troops. By the end of August 22, units of the 4th Guards Tank and 33rd Guards Rifle Corps, in cooperation with the 322nd Rifle Division, captured the crossing of the Wisłoka and began fighting on the near approaches to Dębica. Troops operating from the northwest marched across the captured bridge across the river and began fighting near the western outskirts of the city. Intensifying their attacks, the attackers drove the Germans out of their strongholds on the outskirts. This was followed by a decisive assault on the city’s fortifications. After a fierce battle on August 23, 1944, the city of Dębica was completely liberated from Nazi troops.
The troops who participated in the battles for the liberation of Dębica were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command on August 23, 1944, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns. To commemorate the victory, the 603rd separate engineer battalion of Captain Georgy Nikolayevich Yablonsky, among the formations and units that most distinguished themselves in the battles for the liberation of Dembitsa, was presented with the honorary name “Dembitsky”, which was awarded by order of the Supreme High Command No. 0300 of September 7, 1944.
By the end of August 1944, the fighting on the Sandomierz bridgehead began to gradually fade. However, the Nazi command continued to send fresh forces to the bridgehead area, more than doubling its grouping in this area. On August 29, 1944, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.
During the Sandomierz-Silesian offensive operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945), carried out with the aim of defeating the enemy's Kielce-Radom group, liberating southern Poland, accessing the Oder, seizing a bridgehead on its left bank and creating favorable conditions for conducting operations in the Berlin and Dresden directions, 322 Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division under the command of the Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating in the Krakow direction as part of the 28 Rifle Lvov Corps of the 60 Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, on the first day of the offensive on January 12, with its 886 artillery Tarnopol Red Banner Regiment, took part in breakthrough of German defenses in the area of ​​the town of Stopnica in the present Bus County of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. .On the second day of the offensive at 22.00 on January 13, the 322nd Infantry Division crossed the Nida River, entering a breakthrough, entered into battles with the enemy, captured the village of Jurków and started a battle for the village of Staszewice-Nowe in the Wislica commune, Miechow County, Krakow Voivodeship (now Bus County Świętokrzyski) Poland.
Pursuing the retreating enemy, the rifle units of the division reached the line by 15.30 on January 14: 1085th Infantry Regiment - a fork in the road 300 m southwest of the village of Swoszowice - Broniszow railway station; 1089th Infantry Regiment - 300 m west of the village of Gabultow - 250 m south of the village of Zagorzyce; 1087th Infantry Regiment - western outskirts - fork in the road 500 m south of the village of Grabuvka (now does not exist north-east of Svoszowice); The 886th artillery regiment occupied firing positions 400 m east of the village of Broniszów, on the northeastern outskirts of the village of Zagorzyce, on the southern and northeastern outskirts of the village of Krzyz in the current Kazimierz County of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.
At 11 o'clock on January 15, units of the division withdrew from the occupied line with the task of advancing in the zone: on the right (1085 rifle division) the city of Skalbmierz of the present Kazimierz County of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship - the city of Słomniki of the present Krakow County of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, on the left (1089 Division) the village of Wojciechów - Boronice of the present Kazimierz County Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship - the city of Proszowice in what is now Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Overcoming the resistance of units of the German 304th and 359th infantry divisions, by 16.00 on January 15, the 1085th Infantry Regiment reached the border of the settlements of Konty, Galewice, the 1089th Infantry Regiment - Lentkowice, Konty of the Radzemice commune of the present Proszowice County north-west of the city of Proszowice. The 1087th Infantry Regiment advanced in the second echelon; the division's artillery fired at small groups of enemy infantry throughout the day. By 20.00, units of the division reached the Czech line, Przesławice of the present commune of Koniusz, Proszowice district, where, by order, they entrenched themselves.
Having repelled an enemy counterattack from the Przesławice area, at 11.30 on January 16, units of the division continued the offensive in a westerly direction in the zone: on the right - Słomniki, Iwanowice in the present Krakow County, on the left - Przesławice, Bürków Wielki in the Koniusz commune of the Proszowice County and by the end of the day reached the border of populated areas Bürków Wielki, Goszczyce, Marszowice, Goszcza in Krakow County.
On the morning of January 17, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division began fighting on the outskirts of the city of Krakow. During the day, the division repelled 14 counterattacks by enemy infantry and tanks in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Bibice, Bolen, Marszowice, Goszczyce, Czekai, Ksiaznicki northeast of Krakow and by 15.00 on January 18, the advanced regiments reached the line: the southwestern outskirts of the villages of Czekai and Bolen ( 1085 sp), western outskirts of Konczyce, southeastern outskirts of Pelgrzymowice (1089 sp). The 1087th Infantry Regiment, following in the second echelon, concentrated in the area of ​​the villages of Szczepanowice, Trontnowice, rural commune Slomniki, Krakow County.
Having repulsed repeated enemy counterattacks, overcoming powerful fortifications with a system of anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles, the division's rifle units began a battle on the night of January 18-19, 1945 on the southwestern outskirts of Krakow. By 10.00, the division cleared the northern part of the enemy, captured the central part of the city by storm, crossed the Vistula River by marching across the ice and continued its further offensive to the west.
The troops who took part in the battles for the capture of the ancient capital and one of the most important cultural and political centers of Poland, the city of Krakow - a powerful center of German defense covering the approaches to the Dombrovsky coal region, were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 230 of January 19, 1945 and a salute was given in Moscow 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.
On January 20 and 21, units of the division in the area of ​​the southern suburbs of Krakow on the right bank of the Vistula Opatkowice, Swoszowice, Kurdwanow repulsed 19 German counterattacks, destroyed several tanks and more than 300 soldiers and officers. Having overcome stubborn enemy resistance, by the end of January 22, 1945, the division had reached the following lines:
1085th Infantry Regiment - villages of Gai, commune Mogilany, Wrzonsowice, commune Świętniki-Gorne, Krakow district, Lesser Poland Voivodeship;
1087th Infantry Regiment - villages of Rajsko (now a district of the city of Krakow), Golkowice, Wieliczka commune, Wielicz County, Krakow Voivodeship;
1089th Infantry Regiment - south-eastern outskirts of the city of Wieliczka, the village of Sercha, commune Wieliczka, Wieliczka County, Krakow Voivodeship.
Having surrendered the occupied lines to units of the 4th Ukrainian Front on the night of January 23, the 322nd Infantry Division crossed to the left bank of the Vistula River, made a march and by 18.00 concentrated in the area of ​​the village of Kamen in the Czernikhow commune of Krakow County, with the task of crossing the Vistula again and advancing in a westerly direction. During the night, two battalions of the 1089th Infantry Regiment crossed to the western bank of the Vistula using improvised means and began a battle for the villages of Chalupki, Przewuz of the commune of Spytkowice, Wadowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, and won a bridgehead, thereby ensuring the crossing of the water barrier to all rifle units and artillery of the division.
On January 27, 1945, units of the 322nd Infantry Division were among the first to enter the Auschwitz area and captured the city. On the approaches to Auschwitz and in the city itself, units of the division liberated about 12,000 prisoners of the concentration camps Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III.
Repelling enemy counterattacks and holding a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Sola River, the 322nd Infantry Division received orders to close the breakthrough that had formed as a result of the enemy counteroffensive. The Germans were rushing towards Krakow, trying to get behind the Soviet troops at any cost. On January 29, having repelled enemy counterattacks, units of the division went on the offensive, again crossed the Vistula River, liberated the settlements of Frydek, Miedzna, Gura of the Miedzna commune of the Pszczyna County of the present Silesian Voivodeship on the western bank of the river, and by January 30, 1945 reached the eastern outskirts of the city of Pszczyna Silesian voivodeship, attacked the enemy, but had no success. After regrouping, the 322nd Infantry Division battled its way to the line in the area of ​​the village of Charkow, Pszczyna County, where it held the defense until February 6, 1945.
Having relocated to the area of ​​​​the settlements of Oderwalde, Salzforst (now Dziergowice, Polish Dziergowice, Solarnia, Polish Solarnia, respectively, the commune of Berawa, Kedzierzyn-Kozel district, Opole Voivodeship) on February 12, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division became part of the 15th Infantry Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian front.
Taking part in the Lower Silesian offensive operation (February 8 - 24, 1945) 322 Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division of the Guard of Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating as part of the 15 Rifle Corps of the 60 Army on the left flank of the 1 Ukrainian Front, without achieving success in the offensive, By order of the front commander, it went on the defensive on the western bank of the Oder River in the area of ​​the settlement of Schwerfeld (now Cienzkowice, Polska-Cerekew commune, Kedrzezińsko-Koziel district, Opole voivodeship, Poland).
During the Upper Silesian offensive operation (March 15 - 31, 1945), carried out with the aim of eliminating the threat of a flank attack by German troops and capturing the Silesian industrial region, the 322nd Zhitomir Red Banner Infantry Division under the command of the Guard Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, operating as part of 15 Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the capture of the fortified city of Ratibor (now Raciborg), where there was a strip of long-term fortifications that were part of the system of protecting the distant approaches to Berlin. The offensive in this direction developed extremely difficult. On March 22, weather conditions allowed aviation of the 2nd Air Army to provide support to the attacking Soviet infantry. Despite this, the German units defended themselves with great tenacity. In addition, the German command transferred 8 and 17 tank divisions from other directions and brought into battle. In the current situation, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev, decided to reinforce the advancing units of the 60th Army with two corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army. This had a positive effect on the pace of the Soviet offensive. For two days, on March 29 and 30, Soviet aviation carried out massive bombing and assault attacks on the positions of German troops in the Ratibor area. To strengthen the firepower of the attackers, the 17th and 25th artillery breakthrough divisions were transferred to the Ratibor area. On March 31, 1945, after powerful artillery preparation, the 15th and 106th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army began the decisive assault on the city. They were supported by tankers of the 31st Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the enemy began to withdraw his troops.
For excellent military operations, the troops who participated in the battles for the capture of an important road junction and a strong stronghold of the German defense on the left bank of the Oder, the city of Ratibor, were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 321 of March 31, 1945, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.
Having captured Ratibor, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.
On April 6, 1945, the 322nd Infantry Division, occupying a defensive sector in the area of ​​​​the village of Krzanowitz (now Krzanowice, Polish Krzanowice, Raciborz County, Silesian Voivodeship) as part of the 15th Infantry Corps of the 60th Army, came under operational control of the 4th Ukrainian Front, which during the Moravian-Ostravian offensive operation (March 10 - May 5, 1945) with the forces of three armies (60, 38 and 1 Guards) was preparing to strike along the left bank of the Odra River in the general direction of the city of Olomouc - the center of the Olomouc region of the Czech Republic, towards the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which in their the turn was to attack Olomouc from the southeast. The goal of the offensive on two fronts was to encircle the 4th Tank Army of the Wehrmacht. In a desperate attempt to protect the only coal basin remaining in the hands of the Third Reich by April 1945, the Wehrmacht command sent additional forces to this section of the front. By the beginning of April, the 1st Tank Army consisted of 22 divisions, of which 5 were tank divisions. At this stage of the operation, the front forces had to overcome a heavily fortified defensive line running along the Opava, Oder, and Olsha rivers. It was based on a powerful system of pillboxes, built by Czechoslovakia back in the 20s and 30s under the leadership of French engineers and intended to cover the border with Germany. Therefore, in preparation for the new offensive, the armies planned and conducted exercises in which special attention was paid to the interaction between infantry and artillery.
Intelligence established that by April 15, eight German divisions were defending in front of the attacking front. The offensive began at 09:15 on April 15 with artillery preparation. At the end of the artillery fire, the rifle units went on the attack. In the afternoon, under pressure from Soviet troops, the German command began to withdraw its formations across the Opava River in order to gain a foothold on its southern bank, using previously prepared positions. During the first day of fighting, the attackers covered up to 8 km. The next morning the offensive resumed. Soviet aviation dominated the air, providing assistance to ground troops, but the enemy stubbornly resisted and progress was slow. On April 17, formations operating on the adjacent flanks of the 60th and 38th armies, together with the 31st Tank Corps, reached the Opava River near the city of Kravarze, Ostrava district, Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic. The 322nd Infantry Division captured the western outskirts of the city and crossed Opava with its advanced units. The next day, the advancing units expanded the bridgehead to 10 km along the front, and came close to a strip of long-term fortifications with a developed network of reinforced concrete pillboxes. All pillboxes were carefully camouflaged to match the surrounding terrain and had embrasures only in the side and rear walls. A well-thought-out fire system made it possible to shoot through the entire surrounding area, covering the approaches to neighboring pillboxes. The walls of the pillboxes were so strong that they could withstand direct hits from 152 mm shells. To break through powerful fortifications, assault groups were created in the advancing troops. Each group included a rifle company, a squad of sappers with a supply of explosives, 2-3 anti-tank guns and several chemists with smoke grenades or bombs. All available artillery was brought out for direct fire. Assistance in the assault on defensive structures was provided by Czechoslovak officers who served at this line before the war. They indicated the locations of pillboxes on maps and on the ground and helped identify their weaknesses. Despite all the measures taken, it turned out to be very difficult to overcome the German defenses. Particularly heated battles took place near the walls of the city of Troppau (now Opava) - an important industrial center of Czechoslovakia, a major road junction and a powerful stronghold of the enemy’s defense on the outskirts of Moravska Ostrava. An attempt to capture the city by a frontal attack was unsuccessful. Then two divisions of the 28th Rifle Corps undertook a bypass of the city from the west and east, and part of the forces of the 15th Rifle Corps continued the offensive from the north. The fighting continued unabated for about two days. By the end of April 22, 1945, rifle and tank units took the city by storm.
For excellent military operations, the troops who participated in the battles for the capture of the city of Opava were thanked by order of the Supreme High Command No. 341 of April 23, 1945, and a salute was given in Moscow with 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.
Having destroyed enemy troops in the Troppau area and in the border fortified zone south of this city, the left flank troops of the 60th Army continued to develop the offensive in the general direction of Olomouc.
The 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree division under the command of Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov completed its combat journey on May 11, 1945 in the city of Zhamberk, Usti nad Orlici district, Pardubice region of the Czech Republic, taking part in the 3rd Carpathian Mountain Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front. in the Prague offensive operation (6 - 11 May 1945).
A group of soldiers, sergeants and officers of the 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division II, led by the division commander, Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov, as part of the combined regiment of the 4th Ukrainian Front, took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow on June 24, 1945.
The 322nd Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division, II degree, was disbanded by directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters on June 29, 1945 in the area of ​​the cities of Ostrow, Els, and Kempis and turned to staffing units of the Northern Group of Forces.

Memory:
In the MBOU "Secondary comprehensive school No. 148" of the city of Nizhny Novgorod there is a Museum of Military Glory of the 322nd Infantry Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree division. Museum address: 603076, Nizhny Novgorod st. Komarova, house no. 6.

Material from Letopisi.Ru - “Time to go home”

Official name

Museum of Military Glory of the 322nd Zhytomyr Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division

Location

City of Nizhny Novgorod, Leninsky district, Kosmonavta Komarova street, 6, school No. 148

History of creation

The founder and organizer of the museum was Antonin Petrovich Grishin, who fought in the 322nd SD. His three daughters attended our school in the 50s. It was he who came up with a proposal to link the conduct of courage lessons with the search work of students and teachers to recreate the combat path of 322 SD. Antonin Petrovich turned to the school director Yanov Vladimir Alekseevich.

Vladimir Alekseevich Yanov turned to Mikhail Terentyevich Chernous, head of the Gorky Military School of Communications. Antonin Petrovich Grishin and Mikhail Terentyevich Chernous fought in the 322nd SD - they were fellow soldiers.

It was decided to create a Council of Veterans of Gorky residents of WWII 322 SD. M.T. Chernous became the Chairman of the Council.

Through the newspaper "Red Star" they sent out a cry to search for the soldiers who fought in this division.

Nikolai Ilyich Barablin became the first systematizer and responsible for the design of the first exhibition of the museum.

The work of the museum was carried out through combat missions performed by students of all classes, including primary school. All classes reported regularly for assignments through the Red Ranger Council, which was under the control of the Veterans Council.

Excursions to places of revolutionary, military and labor glory were organized with money earned in labor camps.

Recorded by E.V. Tokmakova according to Laurina Valentina Grigorievna, teacher in English, has been working at the school since 1960

Getting to know the museum's exhibitions

The museum has three exhibitions:

1. Born in the fire of war... , is directly devoted to the formation of the division, its units, combat path, command staff, heroes of the Soviet Union of the 322nd Infantry Division.

2. School history . Introduces visitors to documents about the opening of the school, to the first teaching staff and students. The photo albums tell about everyday life and important events that took place at school. About the work of the pioneer, Komsomol organizations and the Red Pathfinder Detachment.

3. Andrey Rogov is an internationalist warrior. While performing his military duty in Afghanistan, he was mortally wounded. Posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star. He is a graduate of our school.

Born in the fire of war...

Formation of the 322nd Infantry Division.

322 Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Suvorov rifle division, formed in the city of Gorky in the harsh days of the autumn of 1941 and passed a glorious military path from the battle for Moscow to the approaches to the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague.

The city of Gorky during the Great Patriotic War was not only an arsenal Soviet army, which provided all types of weapons and military equipment. Many formations and units were formed on its territory. In the battles for the Fatherland, the Gorky residents of Nizhny Novgorod earned the immortal glory of their feat.

The 322nd Division was formed as part of the 10th Army of General Golikov, which was created in the Volga region for a counterattack against the Nazi invaders near Moscow.

Of all the army formations, this is the only division that the Gorky residents openly and solemnly escorted to the front on October 2, 1941, after a rally on Minin Square.

With a stamped step, the soldiers marched solemnly to the railway station at Myza station, loaded into carriages and set off for the city of Kuznetsk, Penza region.

When the regiments roared under fire,

Then, suppressing anxiety and confusion,

Russia went into militia,

A wave of people splashed onto the highways.

Harsh color and hard contour lines,

And the black autumn land...

This is how the country has been going since Minin’s proclamation

From the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

The formation underwent short combat training in the city of Kuznetsk. The soldiers learned to shoot accurately, quickly dig in, and storm enemy positions. And most importantly, the soldiers rallied into a single combat unit.

At the end of November, a month after the parade, an order was received to move the division to the front.

The 322nd Infantry Division received its baptism of fire on December 7, 1941 in the battle for the regional center of Serebryanye Prudy near Moscow as part of the 10th Reserve Army.

We will not flinch in battle

For your capital,

Our native Moscow is dear to us.

An unbreakable wall

Steel defense

We will defeat and destroy the enemy.

Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Golikov highly praised the division’s feat in the Battle of Moscow. “The 10th Army contributed to the defeat of the Nazis near Moscow... All divisions performed well, especially the 324th, 328th, 322nd...”

There was a long, glorious path ahead. Through the great battle of Kursk, the liberation of Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia.

On the stands are documents telling about the division's units and awards received during hostilities. The units received their names from the names of the liberated cities.

Opening of the museum and monument.

"No one is forgotten,

Nothing is forgotten!

The Museum of Military Glory of the 322nd Infantry Division was opened on May 19, 1967. The organizer of the creation of the museum was a front-line soldier and the first director of the school, Vladimir Alekseevich Yanov. The idea was supported by the entire teaching staff and students.

Museum materials say that the reconstruction of the military glory of the division, forgotten in the post-war years, began in 1965. From a short guide to the museum by history teacher Nikolai Ilyich Barablin “In the summer of 1945, the division was disbanded, and in 1965 we began to look for its veterans and restore its good name.”

A year after the opening of the museum, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Komsomol on October 29, 1968, to the sounds of a military orchestra and a gun salute, a monument to the feat of the 322nd Infantry Division was solemnly opened in front of the school building. The author of the sculpture is Honored Artist, Nizhny Novgorod sculptor P. I. Gusev.

More than 250 division veterans, war and labor veterans, invited persons, and schoolchildren attended the opening. The division's banner, covered in glory, proudly fluttered in the wind. This was the largest meeting of veterans in all years.

The photo shows the presidium of the ceremonial meeting. There are a lot of interesting people on the podium. In the center is the renowned regimental commander of the division, Colonel Grishin, to his left is the regional military commander, Major General Dukhovny, to the right is the Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Samochkin, whose name is given to one of the streets of the Leninsky district.

The Council of Veterans, collecting material about the division, conducted extensive correspondence with government agencies, with the Supreme Commanders of the Soviet Union, statesmen.

From a letter from Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovich Konev “The monument is a symbol of the unity of generations... The opening of the monument is the bright memory of descendants about the heroic exploits of soldiers during the Great Patriotic War...”

Let the opening of the monument to the soldiers of the 322nd division serve good example for all Gorky residents and will become a symbol of preserving the blessed memory of both all those who died and all the veterans of the division who survived and contributed to the common cause of defeating the Nazi invaders.

Studying the museum materials, we see the great life of the school and its veteran mentors.

From a letter from Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, an address to school students. “Listen and love your teachers. They are your mentors. Without them, you will never enter life as worthy people.”

The military-patriotic work of the school in 1964-1970 was awarded many awards: all-Union, city and regional. A total of 22 awards are listed. These are Certificates of Honor, diplomas, pennants, addresses.

The traditions of the museum and the military-patriotic education of the students of the director Antonov Stalina Nikitichna, Abina Galina Ivanovna, Egorova Angelina Romanovna continued. Everyone contributed to the development of the museum.

School history

The war died down and rumbled away. The front-line soldiers, covered in glory, returned home. Some of them continued to serve in the Armed Forces. Most of the front-line soldiers began to rebuild destroyed cities and villages, restore industry and Agriculture. And some decided to devote their lives to the rising post-war generations. The album contains photographs of front-line teachers: Yanov Vladimir Alekseevich, Barablin Nikolay Ilyich, Bibishev Zosim Fedorovich, Bogdanov Ivan Pavlovich, Valyuzhenich Ekaterina Makarovna, Kalachev Alexander Yakovlevich, Kiselev Nikolay Fedorovich, Kolesov Mikhail Ivanovich, Kochedykov Konstantin Ivanovich, Polikarpov Mikhail Petrovich, Polikarpova Zinaida Alekseevna.

The history of the school begins with the decision of the Gorky City Executive Committee to open a men's school in the Leninsky district high school № 148.

September 1, 1953 - the first academic year of the school began. On this stand are photographs of the first teaching staff and graduates of the school. These pictures tell about the everyday life and successes of the school since its foundation. The stand presents only a small part of the material that is stored in the museum’s funds.

Maintaining the continuity of pedagogical excellence, the school employs teachers who were once its students themselves. Artamonova Olga Ivanovna, Malygina Marina Pavlovna, Mitrofanova Marina Konstantinovna, Stolova Margarita Konstantinovna, Ponomareva Galina Alekseevna.

In 2008, for the 55th anniversary of the school, director Egorova Angelina Romanovna reconstructed the museum. The museum has acquired a modern look.

The head of the museum, Nikolai Fedorovich Vasiliev, systematized the museum’s funds for storage. Most The exhibits were put into storage because... Paper storage media deteriorates over time.

On October 29, 2010, the museum turned 43 years old. The appearance of the museum has changed, new exhibitions have been added. Various people led and organized the students' search activities. But one thing remained unchanged - the continuity of the traditions of memory of the feat of the soldiers of the 322nd Infantry Division. Confirmation was the victory in the review-competition of museums of Military Glory in the 2009-2010 academic year. I place in the region, III – in the city.

The teaching staff and students of the school will continue the traditions of the museum, preserving the memory of the famous division. And they will write new interesting pages in the history of the school and the museum.

The present that remembers the past is worthy of the future.