| 182nd Rifle Division (September 13, 1940 - July 1945) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1940–1945 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa Leningrad strategic defensive Demyansk Pocket Demyansk Offensive (1943) Operation Polar Star Leningrad–Novgorod offensive Staraya Russa-Novorzhev offensive Pskov-Ostrov offensive Baltic offensive Riga offensive (1944) Battle of Memel East Prussian offensive Samland offensive |
| Battle honours | Dno |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Jaan Kruus Col. Mikhail Semyonovich Nazarov Maj. Gen. Vladislav Vikentevich Korchits Col. Vasilii Mitrofanovich Shatilov  Col. Mikhail Vladimirovich Fyodorov |
The 182nd Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army following the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939 and utilizing the personnel of two divisions of the Estonian People's Army. At the outbreak of war with Germany it was still in Estonia, part of the 22nd Rifle Corps of Northwestern Front's (former Baltic Special Military District) 27th Army. It quickly lost strength, both due to combat losses and to the desertion of large numbers of ethnic Estonians from the ranks. The remainder concentrated near Porkhov by the beginning of July. During that month the 182nd, now under command of 11th Army, took part in the counterstroke at Soltsy against LVI Motorized Corps, and a further action near Staraya Russa in August, both of which slowed the advance of Army Group North toward Leningrad. During 1942 and 1943, under 11th, 27th, and 34th Armies, the division would repeatedly attempt to regain Staraya Russa, while the battles for Demyansk went on to its east through most of this period. The evacuation of the Demyansk salient in February 1943 freed up German forces to reinforce a much shorter line, which stymied Marshal G. K. Zhukov's Operation Polar Star. The front began to move again during the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive in January/February 1944; Staraya Russa finally fell after holding out for over 30 months and near the end of February the 182nd, now under command of 1st Shock Army in 2nd Baltic Front, won an honorific for its part in the liberation of Dno. At the start of the summer offensive into the Baltic states it was in 22nd Army, still in 2nd Baltic (although very briefly in 3rd Baltic Front). It was under these commands at it advanced through Latvia and into northern Lithuania before being transferred to 43rd Army of 1st Baltic Front in late September. It was almost immediately involved in this Army's rapid advance on Memel, which was reached on October 10. It was impossible to take this heavily fortified city with the means at hand, so the 182nd went over to the defense on the border of East Prussia. When the winter offensive began the division was soon involved in the fighting for Tilsit, and two of its rifle regiments would receive decorations. Following this it pushed through to the Kurisches Haff, and began isolating the German forces in Königsberg. It played little part in the eventual capture of this city, but in April, as part of 2nd Guards Army, it was involved in the clearing of the Samland Peninsula. In the last days of the war the 182nd returned to 43rd Army, now in 2nd Belorussian Front. It would be disbanded in July.