52nd Rifle Division

52nd Rifle Division
Active
  • RSFSR formation: 1918–1919
  • 1st formation: 1935–1941
  • 2nd formation: 1942–1946
  • 3rd formation: 1955–1957
Country
Branch Red Army / Soviet Army
TypeDivision
RoleInfantry
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Stanisław Bobiński
Stefan Żbikowski
Col. A. Ia. Maksimov

The 52nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, the interwar period, World War II, and the Cold War, formed once during the Russian Civil War and three times during the existence of the Soviet Union.

The Western Rifle Division (Polish: Zachodnia Dywizja Strzelców) was formed during the Russian Civil War,[1][3] and later redesignated the 52nd Rifle Division on 9 June 1919.[4] Most of its members were Poles until mid-1919.[5] It was reduced to a brigade and disbanded after the end of the Russian Civil War in 1921. The first formation of the 52nd during the existence of the Soviet Union occurred during the interwar period in 1935. After the first formation of the division was promoted to Guards status as the 10th Guards Rifle Division during World War II in late December 1941, a second formation of the division fought on for the duration in several Fronts. The second formation was disbanded in 1946 after the end of the war. A third formation of the division was formed by renumbering the 315th Rifle Division in 1955 during the Cold War, becoming a motor rifle division in 1957.

  1. ^ a b M. K. Dziewanowski, The Foundation of the Communist Party of Poland, American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. 11, No. 2. (April 1952), pp. 106-122. p.115 JSTOR
  2. ^ Polskie formacje wojskowe podczas I wojny światowej Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Last accessed on 9 April 2007.
  3. ^ (in Polish) Zachodnia Dywizja Strzelców Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. WIEM Encyklopedia. Last accessed on 9 April 2007
  4. ^ "KAWALERIA POLSKA - zawartosc". 2007-09-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  5. ^ Andrzej Leszek Szcześniak, Wojna polsko-radziecka 1918-1920 [Polish-Soviet War 1918–1920], pp. 27–28. Wydawnictwo ODISS, Warszawa 1989, ISBN 83-7012-045-8.