101st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 101st Rifle Division was a formation of the Soviet Red Army initially formed as a mountain rifle division on 28 August 1938 within the 2nd Separate Red Banner Army in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city. [ [http://www.sakhalin.ru/Region/WORLDWAR2/perstext.htm#r36 Sakhalin and Kurile islands in the Second World War] ]

Initially the division included the 138th rifle regiment formed during 1938 from 292nd rifle regiment of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, which was in turn created during 1937 based on the 10th separate territorial rifle battalion of the 4th Bashkir regiment. In 1940 because of an inspection by the order of Far Eastern Front, the division was removed from the roll of first line formations. In June 1942 the division was reorganized into a field rifle division. In 1943 the HQ of the 101st division were operationally subordinated: an air division (128th mixed aviation division), Petropavlovsk Military Naval Base, border security detachment, 428th howitzer artillery regiment, 302nd separate rifle regiment, three separate artillery divizions, 5th separate rifle battalion, a number of storage facilities. From 15 January 1945 the division was included in the composition of the Northern Group of Forces of the Far Eastern Front and subordinated to the Kamchatka Defensive Rayon of the Front ( _ru. Камчатский Оборонительный район (КОР) ДВФ).

In August 1945 the composition of the 101st rifle division was::Headquarters and Staff:KAD (Commander of artillery division) ( _ru. КАД (Командующего артиллерийской дивизии)) command platoon :138th rifle regiment:302nd rifle regiment:373rd rifle regiment:279th light artillery regiment:separate training rifle battalion:169th separate anti-tank destroyer battalion:119th separate sapper battalion:103rd separate signals battalion :131st separate medical and sanitary battalion:38th separate chemical protection company:70th field post office:divisional sewing repair shop:separate anti-aircraft machine gun company:13th mobile field hospital:178th divisional veterinary infirmary:9th field bakery:SMERSH counter espionage detachment:Armored train of the 19th separate cavalry squadron

For the model fulfilment of command’s assignments displaying combat mastery during the taking of islands Shumshu and Paramushir in the course of the conducting the Kurile desant operation, by edict of Presidium of the Highest Council of the USSR from 14 September 1945, declared by the order of NKO № 0164 dated 28 September 1945 the division was awarded the Order of Lenin.

The division appears to have been disbanded in 1945-46. [Feskov et al 2004, p.77]

Commanders: Major (from 21 September 1940 brigade commander) Gorodnyanskiy Aksentiy Mikhaylovich (August 1938 - 25 October 1940); Colonel, General Major Pichugin Ivan Pavlovich (25 October 1940 - 27 June 1942); General Major Mozhaev Semyon Fedorovich (from 27 June 1942); General Major D’yakov Porfiry Ivanovich (22 September 43 - 04 November 1945).

ources and References

*http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/sd101/default.html