34th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

34th Rifle Division
Active	1920-1945; 1955-1956
Country	Soviet Union
Allegiance	Red Army
Branch	Infantry
Garrison/HQ	Samara (as territorial division)
Engagements	Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Decorations	Order of the Red Star (1st formation)
Battle honours	Middle Volga (1st formation) In the name of Valerian Kuybyshev (1st formation)

The 34th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed twice. The division was first formed in 1920. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. Postwar, it became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division. The 34th was reformed from the 216th Rifle Division in 1955 but disbanded in 1956.

History

The 34th was originally formed as a territorial division of the Volga Military District. It was named "Middle Volga" on 13 February 1930.^[1] In March 1934, it attained Cadre status and was transferred to the Far Eastern Military District. On 10 June 1935, it received the honorific "In the name of Valerian Kuybyshev".^[1] It was part of the 15th Army and the 18th Rifle Corps ^[2] and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. In the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the division participated in the offensive across the Sungari River.^[3] It became part of the 5th Rifle Corps from 3 September 1945. For its combat service, it was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 14 September 1945.^[1] However, Avanzini and Crowfoot say that it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.^[4] In the fall of 1945, the division became part of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District at Vyazemsky.^[5] It became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division in 1948.^[6]

In 1955, it was briefly reformed from the 216th Rifle Division at Baku with the 4th Army. It was disbanded on 7 July 1956.^[7]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division.^[1][4]

• Semyon Avvakumovich Spilnichenko (1925)
• Mikhail Khozin (1926-1932)
• Komdiv Vilyam Yuryevich Rohi (?-1937) - arrested and shot during the Great Purge
• Prokofy Loginovich Romanenko (May 1940 – 1941)
• Colonel Aleksei Ivanovich Prilepsky (26 March 1941 – 7 February 1942)
• Major General Nikolai Alekseevich Kichaev (8 February 1942 – 27 April 1943)
• Colonel Ignat Andreevich Vetvitsky (28 April-14 December 1943)
• Colonel Stephen Vladimorovich Kolomiets (15 December 1943 – 3 September 1945) - promoted to Major General on 13 September 1944

Composition

The division included the following units during World War II.^[4]

• 83rd Rifle Regiment
• 134th Rifle Regiment
• 327th Rifle Regiment
• 63rd Artillery Regiment
• 145th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
• 75th Separate Antitank Artillery Battalion
• 478th Separate Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
• 7th Reconnaissance Company
• 59th Sapper Battalion
• 89th Separate Signals Battalion
• 12th Medical Battalion
• 14th Separate Chemical Defense Company
• 9th Repair and Reconstruction Company
• 58th Auto Transport Company
• 102nd Field Bakery
• 62nd Divisional Artillery Workshop Battalion
• 33rd Field Mobile Hospital
• 217th Veterinary Field Hospital
• 69th Field Postal Station
• 265th Field Cash Office of the State Bank

References

1. "34-я Средне-Волжская Краснознаменная стрелковая дивизия им. В. Куйбышева" [34th Middle Volga Red Star Rifle Division in the name of V. Kuybyshev]. samsv.narod.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
2. "34-я Средне-Волжская Краснознаменная стрелковая дивизия им. В. Куйбышева" [34th Middle Volga Red Star Rifle Division in the name of V. Kuybyshev]. rkka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 26 February 2016.
3. Glantz, David (2004-08-02). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: 'August Storm'. Routledge. ISBN 9781135774998.
4. Avanzini, Michael; Crofoot, Craig (2004-10-01). Armies of the Bear. Tiger Lily Publications LLC. ISBN 9780972029629.
5. Feskov et al 2013, p. 579
6. Feskov et al 2013, p. 581
7. Feskov et al 2013, p. 152

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.