- Western Rifle Division
Western Rifle Division ( _pl. Zachodnia Dywizja Strzelców) was one of the
Bolshevik s military formations during theRussian Civil War .M. K. Dziewanowski , "The Foundation of the Communist Party of Poland", American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. 11, No. 2. (Apr., 1952), pp. 106-122. p.115 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1049-7544%28195204%2911%3A2%3C106%3ATFOTCP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q JSTOR] ] pl icon [http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/7273,,,,zachodnia_dywizja_strzelcow,haslo.html Zachodnia Dywizja Strzelców] .WIEM Encyklopedia . Last accessed on9 April 2007 ]It was formed in summer 1918 from the intiative of
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) andPolish Socialist Party-Left (PPS-Lewica). The division was created on the basis of aPolish communist regiment , the "Red Regiment of Revolutionary Warsaw" (Czerwony Pułk Rewolucyjnej Warszawy) and in the beginning it was mostly composed of Polish volunteers.First it fought on the Southern Front against the White
Cossack s ofPyotr Krasnov ; later against the forces ofAnton Denikin andPyotr Wrangel . During thePolish-Soviet War it was part of the Western Army, it fought against theLithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence units and laterPolish Army of the newly createdSecond Polish Republic in the opening phase of thePolish-Soviet War . Spearheading theRussian westward offensive of 1918-1919 ('Target Vistula') it tookWilno in January 1919; it sustained heavy losses during the fights atBaranowicze against forces of generalStanisław Szeptycki (part of Operation Wilno, a Polish counteroffensive).After losses of 1918 and mid-1919, in June 1919 it was heavily reinforced with
Russians ,Belarusians andUkrainians and lost its Polish character; it was then (9 June) renamed to 52nd Rifle Division of theRed Army .Commanders of the division were commissairs
Stanisław Bobiński andStefan Żbikowski .Organization:
*I Brygada Strzelców – Rewolucyjny Czerwony Pułk Warszawski, 3 Rewolucyjny Pułk Siedlecki, Warszawski Pułk Huzarów and I dywizjon artylerii lekkiej
*II Brygada Strzelców – 2 Rewolucyjny Pułk Lubelski, 4 Rewolucyjny Pułk Warszawski, Mazowiecki Pułk Ułanów, II dywizjon artylerii lekkiej
*III Brygada Strzelców - 5 Rewolucyjny Pułk Wileński, 6 Rewolucyjny Pułk Grodzieński, Warszawski Pułk Huzarów, III dywizjon artylerii. [http://www.kawaleria-polska.pl/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=148 Polskie formacje wojskowe podczas I wojny światowej] . Last accessed on9 April 2007 .] The division also comprised various support units. Dziewanowski notes it had 5 regiments.References
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