262nd Rifle Division

262nd Rifle Division
Active	July 1941–1946
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Rifle division
Engagements	World War II
Battle honours	Demidov Khingan

The 262nd Rifle Division (Russian: 262-я стрелковая дивизия) was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.

History

World War II

The 262nd Rifle Division began forming at Vladimir in the Moscow Military District as the 16th NKVD Mountain Division on 26 June 1941. It used 1,500 NKVD troops as a cadre, and was transferred to the Red Army as the 262nd Rifle Division before 10 July. It included the 940th, 945th, and the 950th Rifle Regiments, the 788th Artillery Regiment, a separate communications company (later the 684th Communications Battalion from 1944), the 315th Anti-Tank Battalion, 428th Sapper Battalion, and 337th Reconnaissance Company. By mid-July, the division, probably commanded by an NKVD officer, was assigned to the 34th Army. The 262nd was holding positions southwest of Lake Ilmen by 1 August with the 34th Army, part of the Northwestern Front. On 19 September, its first Red Army commander, Colonel Matvey Tereshchenko, was assigned. In late November, it moved east to the Kalinin Front, which was preparing for the Soviet winter counteroffensive in the Battle of Moscow. The division spent most of the winter of 1941–1942 with the front's 39th Army.

The division remained with the Kalinin Front, which became the 1st Baltic Front on 20 October 1943. It was reassigned to the 39th Army in January 1944. The army became part of the 3rd Belorussian Front for Operation Bagration in June 1944, and remained with the front until April 1945. The division spent the last months of the war in the Samland Group of Forces near Königsberg. The division's fighting in the Battle of Königsberg was mainly done by its artillery. On 15 February, the 262nd's 950th Rifle Regiment had only 631 men left, divided into two small battalions, but its artillery regiment was at full strength with three firing battalions.

In April, the division and the rest of the 39th Army were withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and moved to the Soviet Far East in preparation for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, which began on 9 August. At the beginning of the invasion, the division was part of the 39th Army's 113th Rifle Corps in the Transbaikal Front. The campaign consisted mainly of fast marches across the Mongolian deserts and the Greater Khingan mountains in temperatures nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit with little water.

Postwar

The division was disbanded in the summer of 1946, part of the 39th Army's 113th Rifle Corps, garrisoning Port Arthur and Dalian. The 25th Guards Machine Gun Artillery Brigade was formed from the headquarters of the division's 662nd Divisional Artillery Brigade.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division during World War II:

• Colonel Matvey Tereshchenko (19 September–killed in action 10 December 1941)
• Colonel (promoted to Major General 21 May 1942) Vladimir Gorbachyov (11 December 1941–25 June 1943)
• Major General Zakhary Usachyov (26 June 1943–after 3 September 1945)