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The 304th Rifle Division began service before the Great Patriotic War, as a standard Red Army rifle division before being reorganized as a mechanised division a few months later. Soon after the German invasion it was once again reorganized as a standard rifle division and renumbered as the 304th. It fought in the southwestern part of the Soviet-German front for more than a year and a half following. The division did not distinguish itself until Operation Uranus in late 1942 and the subsequent Operation Ring, in which it helped defeat the encircled German Sixth Army. In recognition of these successes, even before the German surrender at Stalingrad, it was raised to Guards status as the 67th Guards Rifle Division. A second 304th was raised six months later and continued in combat through Ukraine and Poland before ending the war near Prague. == 1st Formation == The 109th Mechanised Division, 5th Mechanised Corps, (formed from the 109th Rifle Division, first formed April 15, 1939, at Tatarsk) began moving to Zolotonosha, east of the Dniepr River, to reform as the 304th Rifle Division on July 12, 1941. Its order of battle was revised to the following: * 807th Rifle Regiment newly formed from reserves and added to replace the 16th Tank Regiment * 809th Rifle Regiment from 381st Motorized Rifle Regiment * 812th Rifle Regiment from 602nd Motorized Rifle Regiment * 560th Artillery Regiment from 404th Motorized Artillery Regiment * 602nd Sapper Battalion * 635th Signal Battalion * 378th Antitank Battalion * 318th Reconnaissance Company〔Charles C. Sharp, ''"Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December, 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX'', 1996, p 69 and Russian Wikipedia.〕 After several weeks in Southwestern Front reserves, the 304th was assigned to 38th Army in early August, just as that Army was itself forming up. The division remained in that Army until July, 1942. It was able to avoid encirclement near Kiev as it was located just east of the point where 1st Panzer Group broke through the Soviet front, and was able to retreat through Poltava.〔David Stahel, ''Kiev 1941'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, map on pp 262–63〕 The division also managed to stay clear of the debacle at Kharkov in May of 1942.〔Sharp, ''"Red Tide"'', p 69〕 Shortly after Operation Blue began, the 304th was moved to the 21st Army, first under Stalingrad Front, and in September in Don Front. In October the division was reassigned to 65th Army as that Army was being organized, and it was part of the northern prong of Operation Uranus, driving southwards to isolate and encircle the German 6th Army in and around Stalingrad. During the subsequent Operation Ring the division pressed on against the German forces trapped in the cauldron, and in recognition of these accomplishments, on Jan. 21, 1943, the 304th Rifle Division became the 67th Guards Rifle Division.〔Sharp, ''"Red Tide"'', p 69〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「304th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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