193rd Tank Division - 2nd Formation

2nd Formation

The division was reformed at Sorochinsk, in the South Urals District, from December 1941 to 3 January 1942. It comprised the 685th, 883rd, and 895th Rifle Regiments, 384th Artillery Regiment, 50th Anti-tank Battalion, 4th Sapper Battalion and 320th Reconnaissance Company. In June the division went to the Voronezh Front reserves, but was still far from complete at that time.

On 17 September the division, commanded by Col. F. N. Smekhotvorov, was assigned to 62nd Army and fought during the Battle of Stalingrad. On 22 September the 685th Regiment was ferried from the east to the west bank of the Volga into central Stalingrad and five nights later, on the 27th, the other two regiments went. The 883rd and 895th were deployed in the Red October factory complex. The following day the 883rd was attacked by German tanks. Anti-tank rifleman Mikhail Panikakha was attempting to defend with Molotov cocktails. A German bullet ignited one of the bombs, setting Panikakha alight. He then threw himself against a tank with his remaining bomb and destroyed it, at the cost of his own life. In 1990, Panikakha was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

On 1 October, in a fierce German attack, the division was mauled and pushed back. On 2 October 1942, the division, defending the western part of the Red October Factory - the kitchens, bath house and workers' flats - counter-attacked Hill 107.5. The regiments, down to 200 men, were unequal to the task and were pushed back by German tanks and infantry. Chuikov, writing in 1963, said between 13 and 20 November all the survivors of the 193rd Rifle Division (Smekhotvorov) were consolidated into the 685th Rifle Regiment - the grand total was 250 men. However John Erickson says that by 11 November the division was reduced to 1,000 personnel.

On 27 December the 193rd recrossed the Volga to be rebuilt. In February 1943 the division was assigned to the 65th Army (former 4th Tank Army), under command of Lt. Gen. Pavel Batov, part of Col. Gen. K. K. Rokossovski's Central Front. The 193rd would remain under these commanders for the duration of the war. The Front was redeployed to the Kursk area, where the division, now with a strength of 9,000 troops, made gains in a gap between the German 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army until German reserves brought the advance to a halt. The 193rd remained in the Kursk salient through the following months, including the German Operation Zitadelle. At this time the division was part of the 27th Rifle Corps, and was commanded by Maj. Gen. F. N. Zhobrev. Zhobrev was replaced by Col. A. G. Frolenkov on 28 August. Frolenkov was eventually promoted to Maj. Gen. and named a Hero of the Soviet Union; he remained in command for the duration.

After the German defeat at Kursk, the Red Army launched its first summer offensive. On 15 October the 193rd staged a successful assault crossing of the Dnepr River, with divisional and army artillery firing 1,000 shells per minute in support. In February 1944 the division received 1,700 replacements from the 218th Reserve Rifle Regiment, but remained well understrength for some time. In April the 193rd was joined with the 354th Rifle Division to form the 105th Rifle Corps, commanded by Gen. D. F. Alekseev, where it would remain for the duration.

As part of Rokossovski's 1st Belorussian Front, the 193rd took part in Operation Bagration, also known as the Destruction of Army Group Centre. On 29 June the 193rd assisted the 354th in liberating the city of Bobruisk from the German 9th Army, and on 8 July was credited with liberating the city of Baranovichi. Racing ahead, forward detachments of the division penetrated through the Bialowiecz Forest, and onwards to the Western Bug River where they were temporarily halted in late July by counterattacks by the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. Continuing to advance, the depleted 65th Army managed to carve out a bridgehead over the Narev River, north of Warsaw between Serotsk and Pultusk, on 5 September. This bridgehead was subjected to a major surprise counterattack by German forces on 5 October, but the 193rd was successful in helping to narrowly hold it.

During the next three months the division was brought up to strength yet again, and on 14 January 1945 participated in the massive breakout of the now-renumbered 2nd Belorussian Front from the bridgehead. The 193rd reached the Vistula River on 26 January, and participated in the liberation of Danzig (Gdansk) at the end of March. In a final series of operations, the division advanced to the Oder River and helped stage an assault crossing beginning on 20 April near Stettin. The city officials surrendered to the 193rd at dawn on 26 April.

Division honorifics were - Russian: Днепровская краснознаменная, орденов Ленина, Суворова, Кутузова. (English: Dnepr, Red Banner, Order of Lenin, Order of Suvorov, Order of Kutusov.)