33rd Motor Rifle Division - Pre-war Origin

Pre-war Origin

The 33rd MRD has a most unusual lineage which begun with the order by the Independent Red-Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) No. 30/010 dated 18 March 1932 to the athe 4th Directorate of Works to construct the Blagoveshchensk Fortified Region (Russian: укрепрайон) UR) with the goal of protecting the left bank of the Amur river. Subsequently another order was issued (No. 176/72) on 31 October 1932, directing that the Fortified Region be included in the Army order of battle. The newly constituted Fortified Region was numbered 101st UR and included the following units:

• 108th independent machine-gun battalion;
• 256th independent machine-gun battalion.

By the order of the Peoples’ Commissar of the Military District No.0030 of 5 July 1939, the Fortified District became a part of the newly created Front Group and was subordinated to the 2nd Independent Red-Banner Far Eastern Army.

From 1 August to 1 December 1939, on the basis of the 189th independent Rifle Regiment of the Blagoveshchensk UR of the 2nd Independent Red-banner Far Eastern Army, were formed 20 independent platoons of (Russian: капонирная) caponnier artillery, each with 11 personnel, altogether 220 people, according to the personnel establishment No. 9/913.