51st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

51st Rifle Division
Army star of the USSR armed forces, here a version of the metallic five-pronged Soviet star, wore by the personnel of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RA), and later Soviet Army (SA), since the 1920s.
Active	1919–1946
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Russian Civil War Petropavlovsk Offensive Kakhovka Bridgehead Perekop-Chongar Offensive Soviet invasion of Poland Winter War World War II Operation München Battle of Rostov Barvinkove-Losowaja Operation Second Battle of Kharkov Battle of Voronezh Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive Siauliai Offensive Battle of Königsberg
Decorations	Order of Lenin (1st formation) Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov 2nd class (2nd formation)
Battle honours	Perekop (1st formation) Vitebsk (2nd formation)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Vasily Blyukher Pavel Dybenko

The 51st Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Army, formed twice. Its first formation was formed during the Russian Civil War and fought in the Perekop-Chongar Offensive in 1920. It also fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland, Winter War and World War II. During World War II, it fought in the Battle of Rostov, Barvinkove-Losowaja Operation and Second Battle of Kharkov before being destroyed at the Battle of Voronezh. Officially disbanded on 28 November 1942, the division was reformed on 15 April 1943 from the 15th Rifle Brigade. The 2nd formation fought in Operation Bagration and the Battle of Königsberg.^[1] It was disbanded in an executive order by Premier Joseph Stalin in 1946.