| 170th Rifle Division (September 15, 1939 – October 4, 1941) 170th Rifle Division (January 31, 1942 – August 20, 1945) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1939–1945 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | &sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Red_Army_flag_(Fictitious).svg){kind=small} Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Battle of Smolensk (1941) Operation Typhoon Battle of Demyansk Pocket Battle of Kursk Operation Kutuzov Gomel-Rechitsa offensive Parichi-Bobruisk offensive Operation Bagration Bobruysk offensive Minsk offensive Lublin-Brest offensive Vistula-Oder offensive East Prussian offensive Heiligenbeil Pocket |
| Decorations | &sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Order_of_Red_Banner.svg){kind=small} Order of the Red Banner (2nd Formation)&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Order_of_Suvorov_2nd_class.png){kind=small} Order of Suvorov (2nd Formation) |
| Battle honours | Rechytsa (2nd Formation) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Tikhon Konstantinovich Silkin Col. Nikolai Matveevich Laskin Col. Ivan Vladimirovich Panchuk Col. Stepan Ignatevich Ushakov Col. Abram Mikhailovich Cheryak Col. Semyon Grigorovich Tsiplenkov |
The 170th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the Ural Military District in September 1939, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that same month. It was still in this district at the time of the German invasion as part of the 22nd Army and began moving west by rail, joining the Western Front when it arrived at the fighting front well to the north of Polotsk. During early July 1941 it was encircled along with its 51st Rifle Corps near the town of Nevel and struggled to break out at the cost of considerable losses in personnel and equipment. After the first battles around Velikiye Luki it was partly rebuilt with the escaped elements of the other divisions of its former Corps, but it was again encircled in late August and reduced to remnants. By the beginning of October this cadre had been moved to 24th Army in Reserve Front for another rebuilding, but during Operation Typhoon it was so severely depleted that it had to be disbanded a few days later.
A new 170th was formed between December 1941 and January 1942. In April it joined the 34th Army in the Northwestern Front, which was engaged in the dismal fighting around Demyansk. In July it was reassigned to 11th Army in the same Front and took part in three futile and costly offensives in August, September and November to sever the corridor that joined German 16th Army to its forces inside the pocket. After these forces evacuated Demyansk in February 1943, the 170th was assigned to 53rd Army and moved south to join Central Front inside the Kursk salient. In June it was moved to 48th Army of that Front and it would remain in this Army, with one brief exception, for the duration of the war, mostly as part of 42nd Rifle Corps. The division saw little combat during the German Kursk offensive, but went over to the offensive itself on July 15 when Central Front joined the operation against the German-held Oryol salient. This objective was reached around August 18, and within days the 170th began an advance through northeastern Ukraine toward eastern Belarus. In November, as part of the renamed Belorussian Front it won a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Rechytsa. Through the winter it participated in several battles through the frozen swamps and along the many river lines of this region, after February 1944 as part of the renamed 1st Belorussian Front. During the summer offensive the 170th operated on the northern axis of advance toward the city of Babruysk, assisting in an encirclement operation in the Rahachow–Zhlobin area, and then advancing on Babruysk where it mopped up the German forces that had been trapped there. For these accomplishments it was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd Degree. In the second phase of the offensive the division advanced through Baranavichy in the direction of Brest. In January 1945, as part of 2nd Belorussian Front during the Vistula-Oder offensive, the 170th attacked out of a bridgehead over the Narew River toward Mława, and then in late January reached the Frisches Haff, cutting off the German forces in East Prussia; for its role in this success it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In the last months of the war it was in 3rd Belorussian Front and took part in the elimination of a group of German forces southwest of Königsberg, for which several of its subunits received decorations. It remained in the East Prussia area until it was disbanded in August.