Defeat of the 49th Rifle Division - June 1941

[tigre]

Hello to all ; One lesser known story...........................

Defeat of the 49th Rifle Division (over Siemiatycze, Czeremcha, Niemirów, Wysokie Litewskie) - June 1941.

The history of the tragedy involving the troops of the Western Military District in June 1941 contains many unknown facts related to the fighting between the soldiers of the Red Army units and the German troops. One of the lesser known is the story of the 49th Rifle Division. Here is an attempt to determine the chronology of combat operations and the process of disintegration of the said division of the Red Army.

The division arrived in the Western Military District in the second half of July / early August 1940 from the Leningrad Military District. The division participated in the war with Finland, for which it was distinguished and awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On November 1, 1940 (that is, 8 months before June 22, 1941), the composition of the 49th Rifle Division was as follows:

Senior staff (officers): 1,122
Junior staff (NCOs): 1,403
Enlisted personnel: 9,938
Overall - 12,463

Horses: combat - 815, artillery - 1,019, baggage - 1,263, Total - 3,097
Vehicles: cars - 12, trucks - 326, specials - 131, Total - 469
Motorcycles: 8,
Tractors: 72,
trailers: 45
Personal weapons: automatic rifles - 28, rifles - 8,143, revolvers - 2,200
Machine guns: light - 452, mount - 130, anti-aircraft -19 Total - 601
Artillery pieces: 45-mm guns - 63, 76-mm guns - 42, 76-mm anti-aircraft guns - 4,
122-mm howitzers - 19, 152-mm - 12. Total artillery without mortars -140
Mortars: 50mm - 81, 82mm - 61, 120mm - 4 total - 146
T-37/38 tanks - 16,
Armored vehicles - 10
Radio stations and communication devices - 139
Field Kitchens - 79

After November 1, 1940, within a few months, the division received reinforcements in personnel, weapons, and supplies, as did the entire Western Military District. Unfortunately, there is no exact data on this subject, so it can be said that a similar quantitative composition took place on June 21, 1941.

In the fall of 1940, the 49th Rifle Division demobilized most of the soldiers who had gained experience during the Soviet-Finnish war. Young soldiers with no combat experience joined the division. The unit's combat capability also declined due to the need to order Red Army soldiers to build warehouses, barracks, dugouts, and fortifications. In the spring of 1941, the construction of bunkers in fortified areas continued with greater intensity than the previous year, so even less time was devoted to combat training.

In addition, in October 1940, recruits from Kazakhstan and the Samarkand region of the Uzbekistan SSR, along with others, began to arrive at the division. While about half of the former were Kazakhs, the vast majority of Uzbeks coming from Uzbekistan did not speak Russian. True combat training became impossible.

Source: https://kriepost.org/tumaczenia/48-czer ... iaoru.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more...........................

Defeat of the 49th Rifle Division (over Siemiatycze, Czeremcha, Niemirów, Wysokie Litewskie) - June 1941.

Combat Role on June 22, 1941:

Division commander: Colonel Konstantin Fedorovich Vasilyev.
2nd iC: Colonel Nikodem Jemielianowicz Skuriat, year of birth 1888
Chief of Staff: Major Stepan Ivanovich Gurov.
Chief of Operations: Captain Wasilij Fanifatow Iwanowicz, year of birth 1903

15th Rifle Regiment
Commander: Major Konstantin Borisowicz Nisienkov, year of birth 1906
Chief of Staff: Major Anatolij Illarionowicz Żygariew, year of birth 1903

212th Artillery Regiment
Commander: Major Nikolai Ignatievich Kovalenko.
Chief of Staff: Captain Piotr Wasilewicz Czuprow, year of birth 1905

222nd Artillery Regiment
Commander: Colonel Ivan Mikhailovich Yashin
2nd iC: Lieutenant Colonel Awraam Dmitrijewicz Gutarov, year of birth 1894
Chief of Staff: Major Boris Alekseevich Timofeev, year of birth 1902

31st Light Artillery Regiment
Commander: Major Timofey Nikolayevich Tovstik, year of birth 1905
Chief of Staff: Major Sergey Iwanowicz Klucznikow, year of birth 1902

166th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
Commander: unknown

79th communications battalion
Commander: Captain Iwan Evstafiewicz Mietkalov, year of birth 1907

91st Reconnaissance Battalion
Commander: Captain Walentyn Michałowicz Pankratow, year of birth 1904

121st Anti-Tank Squadron
Commander: Captain Stepan Alekseevich Nikiforov

291st anti-aircraft artillery squadron
1st Battalion of sappers
85th Transportation Battalion
85th Medical Battalion
97th Motorized Campaign Bakery
Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Wasilij Iwanowicz Mołoknow, year of birth 1889

The Division HQ was located at Wysokie-Litewskie. On June 21, 1941, most of the units of the 49th Rifle Division were in the forest in summer camps near the localities of Mętna (Ментна) and Koterka (Котерка).

Source: https://kriepost.org/tumaczenia/48-czer ... iaoru.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more...........................

Defeat of the 49th Rifle Division (over Siemiatycze, Czeremcha, Niemirów, Wysokie Litewskie) - June 1941.

Until mid-May 1941, the HQ of the 15th Infantry Regiment was located in Wysokie-Litewskie (Высоко-Литовск, now biał. Высокае). It was then stationed in the village of Wólka-Pużycka (Волька-Пузецка) near the Wysokie-Litewskie - Drohiczyn route. Three kilometers from the regiment, in the village of Tokary (Токары), was the 85th Transport Battalion.

In the same village, Wólka Pużycka, the 121st Anti-Tank Group was stationed.

The 212th Infantry Regiment was located in the town of Nurzec-Stacja (Нурец-Стацья), on the railway in the direction from the Czeremcha (Черемха) station to the border.

The 222nd Infantry Regiment was the second echelon of the division and was stationed deep in the place of dislocation of the unit at the Czeremcha station, by the same railway.

The second echelon also included the 166th Field Artillery (Howitzer) Regiment, which was stationed at Milejczyce (Милейчицы) in the Kleszczele region.

The 31st Light Artillery Regiment was located 5 km southwest of Wysokie-Litewskie on the Aleksandria farm (Александрия) right next to the village of Ogrodniki (Огородники).

The 291st Anti-aircraft Artillery Group covered Wysokie-Litewskie and was located 7 km northwest of the city in the town of Klukowichi (Клюковичи).

The 1st Sapper Battalion was building an airfield at Zwody Małe (Малые Зводы) for the 10th Air Division of the 4th Army. Three days before the start of the war, the 74th Air Assault Regiment of the 10th Air Division flew here from the city of Kobrin (Кобрин). The airfield was operated by the 202nd Ground Service Battalion.

The 91st Reconnaissance Battalion was stationed in the westernmost part of the division's deployment area, at Siemiatycze station, on the same border rail line with Czeremcha. One kilometer further south was the Wysokie-Litewskie - Drohiczyn road. Siemiatycze station was (and still is) 2 km from the railway bridge over the Bug River and 5 km east of the city of Siemiatycze.

The 79th Communications Battalion was stationed 1 km east of Wysokie-Litewskie at the Marianów (Марьянов) station on the Białystok-Brest railway line.

Therefore, the last pre-war moves were made to the west and brought the division closer to the place of the proposed line of defense - to the west and north-west of the city of Drohiczyn. According to pre-war plans, the 49th Rifle Division with its line of defense should have been attached (together with the 113th Rifle Division) to the 2nd Rifle Corps of the new 13th Army. The HQ of the 13th Army formed in the city of Mogilev (Могилеве) was initially planned to be located in Bielsk (Бельск).

Source: https://kriepost.org/tumaczenia/48-czer ... iaoru.html

Cheers. Raúl M .