| 314th Rifle Division (July 15, 1941 – May 29, 1945) | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Soviet_Major_General_Ivan_Mikhailovich_Aliev.jpg) Maj. Gen. Ivan Mikhailovich Aliev | |
| Active | 1941–1945 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | &sq=&lang=&file=File:Red_Army_flag_(Fictitious).svg){kind=small} Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Continuation War Siege of Leningrad Sinyavino Offensive (1942) Operation Iskra Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive Narva Offensive Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Offensive Vistula-Oder Offensive Upper Silesian Offensive |
| Decorations | &sq=&lang=&file=File:Order_Kutuzov_2.png){kind=small} Order of Kutuzov |
| Battle honours | Kingisepp |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Afanasii Dmitrievich Shemenkov Col. Dmitrii Ivanovich Stankevskii Lt. Col. Aleksei Andreevich Zaitsev Maj. Gen. Ivan Mikhailovich Aliev Col. Mikhail Sergeevich Elshinov Col. Pyotr Filimanovich Efimenko |
The 314th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division formed on July 15, 1941 at Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, in the 7th Separate Army east of Lake Ladoga, facing the Finnish Army in East Karelia for more than a year. In consequence the division saw relatively uneventful service on this mostly quiet front until the autumn of 1942, when it was moved south to face German Army Group North, and took a leading role in Operation Iskra, which finally drove a land corridor through to besieged Leningrad in January 1943; a year later it also served prominently in the offensive that broke the enemy siege for good. During the summer the division played a role in the offensive that drove Finland out of the war. Following this, the 314th spent a few months fighting in the Baltic States, before being reassigned southwards to 1st Ukrainian Front to take the fight into Poland and then into the German heartland in the winter and spring of 1945. It ended the war in Czechoslovakia with a distinguished record of service.