| Název: Name: | 18. střelecká divize | 18th Rifle Division |
| Originální název: Original Name: | 18-я стрелковая дивизия | |
| Datum vzniku: Raised/Formed: | 25.09.1941 | |
| Předchůdce: Predecessor: | 18. moskevská střelecká domobranecká divize | 18th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division |
| Datum zániku: Disbanded: | 05.01.1942 | |
| Nástupce: Successor: | 11. gardová střelecká divize | 11th Guards Rifle Division |
| Nadřízené velitelství: Higher Command: | 26.09.1941-11.10.1941 32. armáda 12.10.1941-05.01.1942 16. armáda | 26.09.1941-11.10.1941 32nd Army 12.10.1941-05.01.1942 16th Army |
| Dislokace: Deployed: | 26.09.1941-DD.MM.RRRR ?, ? | |
| Velitel: Commander: | 26.09.1941-10.11.1941 Živaľov, Pjotr Kirillovič (Polkovnik / Полковник) 11.11.1941-05.01.1942 Černyšev, Pjotr Nikolajevič (Polkovnik / Полковник) | |
| Náčelník štábu: Chief of Staff: | 21.10.1941-18.11.1941 Šackov, Andrej Georgijevič (Polkovnik / Полковник) DD.12.1941-05.01.1942 Buňašin, Pavel Ivanovič (Podpolkovnik / Подполковник) | |
| Podřízené jednotky: Subordinated Units: | | |
| Čestný název: Honorary Name: | DD.MM.RRRR-DD.MM.RRRR | DD.MM.RRRR-DD.MM.RRRR |
| Vyznamenání: Decorations: | ||
| Poznámka: Note: | - v bojujúcej armáde od 26.09.1941 do 05.01.1942 | - in the Army in the Field from 26.09.1941 to 05.01.1942 |
| Zdroje: Sources: | pamyat-naroda.ru ru.wikipedia.org | |
18. střelecká divize [1941-1942]
18th Rifle Division
18. strelecká divízia - 2. formovanie
18-я стрелковая дивизия (18 сд) - II. формирование
18th Rifle Division
18-я стрелковая дивизияThe division was formed on 2 July 1941 in Krasnogorsk as the 18th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division. Soviet citizens responded to the call of the government and the Communist Party to defend the workers' and peasants' state after the USSR was invaded by the troops of the Hitler coalition, and by the evening of July 4, 1941, the Leningrad regional commission for the formation of the unit received more than 7.500 applications from citizens, among them from enterprises, establishments and institutions of the Moscow District: the Second Clockworks, the Menzhinsky, Osoaviachim and Izolator plants, the Bolshevik and Java plants, the Aviation Institute, the Surikov Art Institute and many others. This foundation of the future division marched on foot to the area of the city of Krasnogorsk in Moscow Oblast on July 10, 1941. In August 1941, the division was moved to the area between Volokolamsk and Tikhovskaya Station, its members began to build fortifications there.
As of 20 September 1941, the division had 10,668 men, of which 8,621 were in the lowest rank - ryadovy. On Thursday, 25 September 1941, the 18th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division was renamed the 18th Rifle Division.
On 3 October 1941, the division began occupying the designated border in the bend of the Dnieper River - near the villages of Volochek, Kamenets and Obledy. On the very next day after taking the designated positions, i.e. on 4 October 1941, the division's units were attacked by German tanks advancing with the support of artillery and aviation, but the German attack was repulsed. Later, German infantry withdrew behind the mobile units of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht), and for the next four days there was continuous fighting, passing into hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. In these battles the division suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment. By 5-6 October 1941, the division was surrounded, but by 12 October 1941, after heavy fighting, it managed to emerge from the encirclement in the area of Gzhatsk.
On 20. October 1941, the division, together with the 17th Rifle Division (also a former People´s Militia division), reached the Skirmanovo line west of the Istria River. From 27 October 1941, the division fought fierce battles for fourteen days, holding back the German offensive. At the end of October 1941, the 18th Rifle Division was given the task, together with Major General Panfilov's 316th Rifle Division and Colonel Beloborodov's 78th Rifle Division, of capturing Skirmanovo. During the last days of October and early November, the 18th Rifle Division attempted to capture Skirmanovo, but all its attempts were unsuccessful. Rokossovsky decided to prepare thoroughly, plan everything carefully, and strike. The Eighteenth Division, together with General Pliyev's 50th Cavalry Division and Major-General Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Brigade, supported by the 523rd Artillery, 289th, 863rd, 694th Anti-Tank Regiments, and three detachments of Guards mortars, was to strike at the enemy defenses, not head-on this time, but to outflank them and seize the village. On 12 November, after heavy artillery preparation, the divisions went on the offensive, and after fierce, bloody fighting, they captured Skirmanovo on 13 November. While the Red Army fought defensive battles, Soviet casualties at least did not exceed German ones. For example, the 28th Tank Brigade destroyed 24 enemy tanks in defensive fighting. Skirmanovo, however, was occupied at too great a cost and, moreover, for only three days. On the sixteenth of November the Germans launched a new offensive on Moscow, and Skirmanovo had to be abandoned by the Soviet troops.
On 25 November, a difficult situation developed in the division's area. The division's covering units were forced to withdraw to the eastern bank of the Istria River. Here the enemy forcibly crossed the river and broke through the division's defensive line. The division fought heavy battles with large forces of enemy infantry and tanks north of the Istra, with parts of the German 11th Panzer and 5th Panzer Division continuing to advance against it. From 6 December 1941, the division took part in the counter-offensive, forcibly crossed the Istra River, and liberated 47 villages and settlements. The division's assault groups pushed the Germans back to the Ruza River, on the banks of which the division's fighters welcomed the New Year 1942.
In the December battles, members of the 18th Rifle Division eliminated approximately 17,000 enemy soldiers and officers, as well as a large number of its weapons, military equipment and combat supplies. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics No. 1 of 5 January 1942, for the courage and heroism of its members, the unit was given the honorary title "Guards" and a new military number, and was transformed into the 11th Guards Rifle Division, the first of 60 People´s Militia divisions created in the USSR. On February 23, 1942, the division was ceremonially presented with a Guard flag.
Sources:
pamyat-naroda.ru
ru.wikipedia.org
https://smol1941.narod.ru/divnaropolh.htm
![18. střelecká divize [1941-1942] -](/attachments/6701/18strd_pohyb.jpg)
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