The 171st Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in the North Caucasus Military District on September 18, 1939, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that same month. It was in the Kharkov Military District at the time of the German invasion, and it was soon moved to the northwest of Kyiv as part of Southwestern Front. It would remain defending the Ukrainian capital into September, eventually as part of 37th Army, when it was deeply encircled and destroyed.
A new 171st was designated in January 1942, based on a 400-series division that had begun forming the previous month in the Ural Military District. After several months to complete formation and training the division was railed to Northwestern Front where it joined 34th Army near Demyansk. Over the next ten months it mostly held the line containing the German forces in the pocket around that town, occasionally participating in unsuccessful attacks against well-prepared defenses. In February 1943 the 171st was moved to 27th Army in the same Front just as Army Group North was evacuating the salient, but returned to 34th Army in April. During the summer and early autumn it fought local actions along the Lovat River, briefly as part of 1st Shock Army, before being moved west to 2nd Baltic Front in November, joining 79th Rifle Corps in 3rd Shock Army, where it would remain for the duration. After spending the winter and spring of 1944 deep in the Nevel salient, in July it took part in the Pskov-Ostrov Offensive and quickly won a battle honor for its role in the liberation of Idritsa. Shortly after it was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner after the fall of the Latvian city of Rēzekne. It continued to advance through Latvia into November, but was then redeployed with the rest of 3rd Shock to 1st Belorussian Front east of Warsaw. During the winter offensive into Poland the Army was initially in reserve but moved into the line in order to close the gap that had developed between 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts in East Pomerania. During this operation two of the 171st's regiments and the division as a whole received awards. After it concluded 3rd Shock was reinforced and redeployed into the bridgehead over the Oder River at Küstrin just prior to the Berlin offensive. This operation began on April 16, with the division in the first echelon of its Corps, as 3rd Shock smashed through several German defense lines before entering the northeastern borough of Pankow and the central district of Moabit. On April 29, 79th Corps was assigned the task of capturing the central governmental area, including the symbolic Reichstag building, which had been a burnt-out ruin since 1933. The 171st crossed the Spree River under cover of darkness in two places, and then cooperated with the 150th Rifle Division in consolidating the bridgehead. During April 30 the 380th and 525th Regiments both played leading roles in taking the Ministry of Internal Affairs building; the latter then moved on to clear a block of buildings to the northeast while the 380th pressed on toward the Reichstag. This regiment's 1st Battalion penetrated the building in the early afternoon along with two battalions of the 150th while the 2nd Battalion, along with the 185th Antitank Battalion, repelled one of the last German counterattacks. On May 2 the division, along with several of its subunits, were awarded the battle honor of "Berlin". Later that month it became part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, along with the rest of 3rd Shock Army, and by December it had been converted to the 16th Mechanized Division, which was disbanded in 1947.
1st Formation The division first began forming on September 18, 1939, in the North Caucasus Military District, based on a cadre from the 38th Rifle Division. Its order of battle on June 22, 1941, was as follows: 380th Rifle Regiment 525th Rifle Regiment 713th Rifle RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 84 357th Light Artillery Regiment 478th Howitzer Artillery Regiment 121st Antiaircraft Battalion 131st Reconnaissance Battalion 120th Sapper Battalion 140th Signal Battalion 119th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 183rd Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 138th Motor Transport Battalion 114th Field Bakery 205th Field Postal Station 222nd Field Office of the State Bank Kombrig Aleksandr Efimovich Budykho had been appointed to command the new division on August 19, even before it began forming. This officer had been serving as assistant commander of the 38th Division since the previous October and his rank would be modernized to major general on June 5, 1940. He would remain in command of the first formation for its entire existence.
At the start of the German invasion the 171st was part of 34th Rifle Corps in 19th Army, but as it moved toward the front it came under direct command of Southwestern Front by the start of July, and by July 10 it was in the rebuilding 27th Rifle Corps of the same Front, along with the 28th Mountain Rifle Division.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, pp. 10, 17, 24
Defense of Kyiv The 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions reached the Irpin River west of Kyiv on July 11 after breaking through Southwestern Front near Zhytomyr. The German command was divided on plans to directly attack Kyiv to seize its crossings over the Dniepr River, but by July 13 German reconnaissance made it clear that Soviet fortifications and troop concentrations ruled out any possibility of taking the city by surprise. Kyiv would remain in Soviet hands for more than two further months. At about the same time the 27th Corps, after concentrating in the Yasnohorodka area, moved into positions along a line west of Irpin, with the 171st on the east and the 28th further west.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 77-80 The two divisions entered combat with German infantry and tanks on July 16 along a sector from Nalivaykovka to Makarov, which continued for several days.
On July 24 the 171st, along with units of the Kiev Fortified Region, foiled a German attack by elements of XXIX Army Corps of German 6th Army and took up positions on the line ZabuyanyeGoleDruzhnyaBorodyanka. This was the first of many such attempts to capture Kyiv during late July and into early August but all of these were unsuccessful. On August 8 the division, with one regiment of 28th Mountain, dug in along a line from Vishnyakov to Druzhnya. This line stretched due west from Hostomel.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 81, 84-85 27th Corps (now also containing the 87th Rifle Division) was subordinated to 37th Army on August 21, and by the beginning of September the Corps headquarters was being disbanded.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 43 Meanwhile, on August 21 the 171st began its withdrawal across the Dniepr at two crossing points, with the 713th Rifle Regiment and one battalion of the 294th Artillery Regiment acting as rearguard. These were attacked by advance elements of the 111th Infantry and 11th Panzer Divisions on August 23 and scattered, but the main body of the division crossed successfully.
Despite this, the 171st was in a very precarious position. In the last days of August the 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army of Army Group Center began their drives southward. By September 10 the remnants of 5th and 37th Armies were grouped north of Kozelets but on September 16 the 2nd Panzers linked up with the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South well to the east and the Army was deeply encircled.Stahel, Kiev 1941, pp. 210, 228-29 On September 21 the division was isolated from the rest of its Army, and the following day General Budykho was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. Only individuals and small groups were able to reach friendly territory over the following weeks and months. In common with most of the encircled divisions of Southwestern Front it officially remained on the books until December 27, when it was finally written off.
The subsequent fate of Budykho was unusual. After recovering from his wounds in June 1942 he volunteered to join the newly-formed Russian Liberation Army. In October 1943 he was sent with his unit to the Leningrad area, where he almost immediately "deserted" to the 4th Leningrad Partisan Brigade. Within weeks he was discovered by higher authorities and arrested. He was condemned to death for treason, a sentence that was finally carried out on April 19, 1950.
2nd Formation The 440th Rifle Division began forming in December 1941 at Zlatoust in the Ural Military District. The next month it was redesignated as the new 171st Rifle Division.Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 99 Its order of battle was generally similar to that of the 1st formation: 380th Rifle Regiment 525th Rifle Regiment 713th Rifle Regiment 357th Artillery Regiment 185th Antitank Battalion 131st Reconnaissance Company 137th Sapper BattalionSharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 68 140th Signal Battalion (later 893rd Signal Company) 119th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 537th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 90th Motor Transport Company 453rd Field Bakery 918th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 2831st Field Postal Station (later 1674th) 1095th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Bogumil Iosifovich Zobin was appointed to command on January 21. The division had a relatively generous amount of time to form up and train as it remained in the Urals until April, when it began moving west to join the 34th Army in Northwestern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 38, 57, 76, 81
Battle of Demyansk
Forces of this Front had isolated the II Army Corps of 16th Army in a pocket centered on Demyansk on February 25, but on April 21 a narrow corridor had been pushed through the village of Ramushevo from inside and out. Because the corridor was still under Soviet artillery fire it was not sufficient as a line of communications, and II Corps continued to rely on air supply for most of its needs through the remainder of the battle. Northwestern Front was under command of Lt. Gen. P. A. Kurochkin and at this time consisted of four Armies (1st Shock, 11th, 53rd and 34th). Maj. Gen. N. E. Berzarin was in command of the latter.Robert Forczyk, Demyansk 1942-43: The Frozen Fortress, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2012, Kindle ed.
A first effort to cut the corridor was made in May by 1st Shock and 11th Armies, but this did not directly involve the 34th, which was positioned around the northeastern sector of the pocket. In June the 27th Army was added to the Front's forces, but a further effort to sever the corridor in July was unsuccessful. The STAVKA was now questioning the leadership of Kurochkin and Marshal S. K. Timoshenko was called on to supervise the next effort. This took place in August and involved 34th Army making local attacks, but these were easily beaten off by the well-fortified II Corps. Timoshenko took over the Front officially on November 17. What turned out to be a final effort to cut the corridor began in late December, but this concluded in another failure by January 13, 1943, after which the 34th and 53rd Armies went over to the attack with similar results. In mid-February the 171st was located on 34th Army's left flank.Forczyk, Demyansk 1942-43: The Frozen Fortress, Kindle ed.
Operation Ziethen