| Unit Name: | 360th Rifle Division (August 1941 – April 1955) 62nd Rifle Division (April 1955 – May 1957) 108th Motor Rifle Division (May 1957 – 1993) |
| Dates: | 1941–1993 |
| Country: | (1941–1992) Uzbekistan (1992–1993) |
| Branch: | Soviet Army (1941–1992) Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1992–1993) |
| Type: | Motorized Rifle Division |
| Colors: | Red |
| Battles: | World War II
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Tajikistan Civil War |
| Decorations: | (2) Pennant of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR "For Courage and Valor" |
| Battle Honours: | Nevel |
| Disbanded: | December 1993 |
| Notable Commanders: | Maj. Gen. Viktor Genrikhovich Poznyak Maj. Gen. Ivan Ivanovich Chinnov Col. Efim Aleksanrovich Pashchenko |
The 108th Nevelskaya Motor Rifle Division, abbreviated as the "108th MRD," was a unit of the Soviet Ground Forces and the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan. It was the successor to the 360th Rifle Division. The division was created in August 1941 by the State Defense Committee and the Volga Military District Commander, Vasily Gerasimenko, in the Volga Military District. The 360th compiled a distinguished record of service during the Great Patriotic War on the northern sector of the Soviet-German front, including the award of a battle honor and the Order of the Red Banner.
The 360th Rifle Division began forming in August 1941 at Chkalovsk in the Volga Military District.[1] When formed the division's basic order of battle was as follows:
By the end of the year it had been moved via the 60th Reserve Army and the Moscow Military District to 4th Shock Army in Northwestern Front where it was at full strength with 10,000 officers and men assigned.[2] Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 19411945 does not list a commander for the division until January 1, 1942, when Col. Andrei Filippovich Bolotov was named.[3]
On December 18 the STAVKA of the Supreme High Command issued its Order No. 005868 to the command of Northwestern Front, spelling out the goals and objectives of this operation: In the event the operation would not begin until January 9, 1942, due to the poor road and rail network. 4th Shock, commanded by Col. Gen. Andrey Yeryomenko, deployed on a front 50 km wide, facing most of the 253rd Infantry Division; with just 10,000 men the German "line" was in fact a string of outposts, although well-fortified since the Germans had occupied this sector since October. The Army also had 790 guns of 76mm caliber or greater for support. At the outset the 360th was in third echelon, bringing up the rear.[4]
4th Shock was to initially advance towards Andreapol. Following a 90-minute artillery preparation the leading divisions broke through the thin German defenses and advanced as much as 15 km. During the coming week the first echelon divisions surrounded and destroyed a reinforced battalion of the newly arrived 189th Regiment of 81st Infantry Division and liberated Andreapol, seizing needed supplies. The 360th joined the advance on Toropets, which was taken on January 21 with an even larger hoard of much-needed supplies. On January 22, 4 and 3 Shock Armies were transferred to Kalinin Front.[5]
On January 26, Maj. Gen. Ivan Mikhailovich Kuznetsov took over command from Colonel Bolotov. During the rest of January and into February the division took part in several attempts to break into and liberate Velizh, but these were stymied on its outskirts.[6] On March 14, General Kuznetsov was in turn replaced by Col. Viktor Genrikhovich Poznyak. Finally, 4th Shock Army took up defensive lines, where it remained into the summer of 1943.[7]
The division was transferred to the 3rd Shock Army in December 1942,[8] during the Battle for Velikiye Luki, arriving at the front along the Lovat River on the 24th, and immediately helping to drive enemy forces from the village of Alexeykovo and the tactically significant height of point 179.0. By January 3, 1943, the division's 1193rd and 1195th Rifle Regiments were holding a line in front of Alexeykovo and Burtsevo in two echelons, facing the deepest wedge the German forces had driven in attempting to relieve their garrison in the city. However, Soviet intelligence had failed to detect the arrival of the fresh German 205th Infantry Division and a column of tanks from the 11th Panzer Division. On the morning of January 4 these broke through the 1193rd after an hour of fighting. The breakthrough was contained later that day by the 100th Rifle Brigade and the few tanks of the 45th Tank Brigade. By January 12 the German advance was stopped, and on the 17th the city was completely liberated.[9] On February 22, Colonel Posnyak was promoted to the rank of major general, and soon moved to the role of chief of staff of 43rd Army,[10] being replaced by Col. Ivan Ivanovich Chinnov.
In February, 360th was moved back to 4th Shock Army, and remained in that Army, apart from short assignments to 6th Guards Army and 11th Guards Army, until January 1945.[11] The division's next major action was the Nevel Offensive Operation, which began on October 6. It was on the rightmost flank of 4th Shock, in 2nd Guards Rifle Corps, adjacent to 28th Rifle Division on the left flank of 3rd Shock Army. The operation began with a reconnaissance in force at 0500 hrs., followed by a ninety-minute artillery preparation at 0840, then a wave of bombing strikes. The assault stepped off at 1000 hrs., and by noon 28th Rifle Division had routed the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division and smashed the right flank of 263rd Infantry Division and was pouring through the gap, which was at the boundary between Army Groups Center and North. This success eased the way for the 360th, which gained 10 km by the end of the day and about 10 more by October 10.[12] In the aftermath of this success the division was given its battle honor:
Further fighting later that month made few gains. By November 1 the division had been transferred to the 83rd Rifle Corps. On November 2 the 1st Baltic (former Kalinin) Front began a fresh offensive towards Vitebsk, with 4th Shock Army ordered to attack south towards the latter city. The joint assault with 3rd Shock Army soon produced a 16 km-wide gap in the defenses of Third Panzer Army, but 83rd Corps' role was to make local attacks to guard the flank of 60th Rifle Corps as it exploited to the south. As the situation evolved the 360th was moved to 36th Rifle Corps in 11th Guards Army in December before the new offensive towards Gorodok. After that city was liberated the division went back to 83rd Corps in 4th Shock Army; it would remain in this Corps until the last months of the war. During January – February 1944, the 360th took part in grinding battles west of Vitebsk. By now, in common with the rest of the divisions of 4th Shock, it was down to between 4,500 – 5,000 men. On February 15 it helped to capture German strongpoints at Gorbachi and Bryli, forcing the defenders back about 2 km to the line of the Vitebsk-Polotsk rail line, but could advance no farther.[13]
In preparation for the Baltic Offensive in July, the 360th was deployed just east of the Panther Line. For its role in the liberation of Polotsk, on July 23, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. By the beginning of August it had advanced along the north bank of the Western Dvina River as far as Daugavpils.[14] In early September General Chinnov was killed in action. Although the 360th was not conducting active operations at this time, the German forces were regularly firing artillery and mortar rounds into its positions, and German snipers were also active. At 1830 hrs. on September 6 Chinnov was killed by an enemy sniper while conducting a personal reconnaissance of the terrain between his 1195th and 1193rd Rifle Regiments. The adjutant to the commander of the 1193rd was also severely wounded while standing near the general.[15] He was replaced six days later by Col. Efim Aleksandrovich Pashchenko, who remained in command for the duration of the war. By the same date, the division had continued its advance as far as Biržai in Lithuania. In early October, as the Courland Pocket began to be closed off, the division and its Army had reached farther west, to the vicinity of Žagarė.[16]
In January 1945, 360th was briefly moved to 42nd Army in 2nd Baltic Front, still in 83rd Corps, then in February to 119th Rifle Corps in 1st Shock Army of the same Front. In March, 1st Shock became part of the Kurland Group in Leningrad Front, and the division ended the war containing the German forces in the Courland Pocket in Lithuania.[17]
Until October the division was posted on the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Military District. During that month the division was relocated by railway to the Turkestan Military District in the city of Termez. Arriving there at the start of November the whole division was housed in military camps for combat and political training until the end of the year. In November and December, new units were created. By September–October 1945, 360th Rifle Division (Military Unit No. 11090) was part of the 119th Rifle Corps with its headquarters at Dushanbe.[18] By May 1949 it had shifted into the 17th Rifle Corps.
In April 1955, 360th Rifle Division was re-designated the 62nd Rifle Division.[19] In May 1957 the 62nd Rifle Division became the 108th Motor Rifle Division.
Between World War II and late 1979 the division provided security for the Soviet Union along its southern borders. On February 19, 1962, 333rd Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion and 646th Separate Missile Battalion were formed. In 1968, the 271st Separate Sapper Battalion became a sapper-engineer unit. On November 15, 1972, the 738th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion was activated.[20]
In December 1979, the division, as part of the 40th Army, was part of the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. On December 13, 1979, the whole division was brought to full combat preparedness after years of cadre status. On December 24, the Minister of Defense signed a directive for the entry of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The 781st Independent Reconnaissance Battalion became the first unit of the Soviet Ground Forces to cross into Afghanistan. At the same time, military transport planes carrying the 103rd Guards Airborne Division also crossed the border. On December 27, advance units of the 108th MRD entered Kabul to strengthen the protection of military administrative buildings. By mid-January 1980 the invasion of the 40th Army into Afghanistan was largely complete. The divisional headquarters was established at Khair Khana camp to the northwest of Kabul, on the road to Bagram airfield.[21]
From 1980 to 1989 the division carried out tasks to ensure the safety of convoys along the Doshi-Kabul and Kabul-Jalalabad routes, and the protection of key facilities (Bagram airfield, grain elevators, fuel and lubricant supply depots, a power station in Kabul, a dam and hydroelectric power station site in Surubi, etc.)
The division's operations in Afghanistan can be divided into four stages:
The stages of the war in Afghanistan were not uniform and differed in terms of the intensity and types of military activities. Thus, the third and fourth stages were characterised by increased concentrations of rebel forces, and the creation of numerous military bases across Afghanistan with more active hostilities.
In terms of sheer personnel, the 108th MRD was the largest division in the Soviet Armed Forces during the invasion of Afghanistan. During this period. V.I. Feskov states the division had four motor rifle regiments, the 177th, 180th, and 181st with BTRs; and the 682nd with BMPs.[24] Among the other regiments of the division was the 1415th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment. The division was the only one of its kind in the Armed Forces because of its structure and quantity of its weapons and other military equipment.
For much of this period the division was mis-identified in open Western sources as the "360th Motor Rifle Division," with the assumption that it had reverted to its Second World War designation in 1957.[25] CIA-DIA documents from 1983 show that at "Secret" level, the division was correctly identified.[26]
On February 11, 1989, the Division acted as rearguard for the 40th Army as it was withdrawn from Afghanistan. The division was then based in Termez.
In 1992, the division became part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It fought in the Tajikistani Civil War. In 1993, the division was broken up into brigades.[27]
In 1992–1993, the situation in Afghanistan continued to deteriorate, and a Civil war broke out in Tajikistan.
As a result, the leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan, fulfilling the CSTO Charter, sent units of the 108th MRD and the 15th Separate Special Purpose ("Spetsnaz") Brigade on a joint combat mission with the 201st Motor Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces to destroy paramilitary groups of the Tajik opposition and the Afghan Mujahideen on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.
In December 1993, by the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in connection with the transition of the structure of the troops to brigade recruitment, the 108th MRD was disbanded, and its units and divisions after re-forming, became part of the 1st Army Corps (1st AK) with the headquarters in Samarkand, some of them were transferred to the Central subordination.
The following re-formation of regiments, individual battalions and divisions of the 108th Motor Rifle Nevel Division took place:[28]
In 2000, as a result of the ongoing reform in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the South-Western Special Military District was established with its headquarters in Karshi. It currently includes the formations of the former 108th msd.
Incomplete list of commanders of the 108th Motorized Rifle Division: