343rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

As the Red Army prepared a new offensive to liberate the city of Kharkov in May, in part from the Izium Salient, the 343rd was in the reserves of the Southwestern Direction, along with the 277th Rifle Division, 2nd Cavalry Corps, and three separate tank battalions. The division had been given orders to:

"...prepare a defence along the line of Nurovo, Hill 191.0 and Kune, and be constantly ready to repel possible enemy attacks along the Bogodarovka, Nurov; Balakleia, Aleksandrovka; and Izium, Kune axes."

These positions would leave the division east of the base of the salient, sparing it the fate of much of the rest of the two attacking Fronts.[5]

The offensive began on May 12. While it made some impressive gains in the early days, the Soviet forces were, at the same time, leaving themselves more and more vulnerable to counterattack as they pressed westward. By May 16, German mobile forces, especially their III Motorized Corps, were building up on the south side of the salient. On the following day, the southern half of the Soviet operation went over to the defensive. In spite of this, the German counteroffensive broke through most of the positions of 9th Army, and the eastern flank of 57th Army. The commander of the Southwestern Direction, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, ordered the 343rd, along with the 92nd Separate Tank Battalion and an antitank battalion, to concentrate south in the Izium region, cross to the right bank of the Northern Donets River and take up defensive positions on the southern approaches to Izium to backstop 9th Army.[6]

On the morning of May 18, while an estimated 150 German tanks were advancing on Izium, the division began its march to the south. By 1230 hrs., German forces captured the southern part of the town, in part because the 343rd had not yet reached there, but overnight it forced the enemy out, and, in cooperation with 5th Cavalry Corps, protected the crossings of the Northern Donets and built a defense on the southern approaches. However, during the 19th it was not ready to force the river crossings so had not completed its mission. On the following night the crossings were accomplished. However, none of this prevented the attacking Germans from sidestepping to the west and completing the encirclement of the forces inside the bridgehead on May 22. During the encirclement battle over the next week there was little the 343rd could contribute apart from providing fire support to the small groups attempting to escape through the German lines.[7]

While the Kharkov battle had left the 343rd relatively unscathed, it was about to face its sternest test, as the German summer offensive began on its sector on June 28. On this date it was serving in 21st Army, still in Southwestern Front. This Army was holding a line along the Oskol River, roughly from west of Stary Oskol to west of Novy Oskol, facing the bulk of German Sixth Army. The division was once again in a reserve role, backing up the 76th and 293rd Rifle Divisions on the Army's south flank.[8]

When the German storm broke, during the month of July, the 343rd and its Army could do little except stage a costly fighting withdrawal across the steppes. By August 1 it had been incorporated into the new Stalingrad Front, fighting west of the Don River. By August 12 the defense had been withdrawn east of the Don, and 21st Army was assigned a 140-kilometre-wide sector from the mouth of the Khoper River to Melo-Kletskii. 4th Tank Army was still holding a bridgehead south of the Don, which was reinforced overnight on the 12th-13th by the 343rd near Melo-Kletskii. The division was reported at this time to have a personnel strength of 8,677 men. On the following day, Sixth Army launched a diversionary assault with its XI Army Corps, which forced the 343rd and the 321st Rifle Division to withdraw back across the Don. While the situation of the bridgehead deteriorated, Stalingrad Front ordered a counterstroke to begin at dawn on August 17, using the 343rd, 321st, and two other rifle divisions, plus arriving elements of the fresh 1st Guards Army. This counterstroke was unsuccessful; by the end of the day the bridgehead had been encircled, and the 343rd's strength had eroded to just 230 "bayonets" (front-line infantry) and six guns. Only the timely arrival of two divisions of 1st Guards Army allowed those remnants to escape. The bridgehead battle had been extremely costly for the division.[9]

On August 23, the XXXX Panzer Corps of Sixth Army crossed the Don and staged its one-day dash across the steppe to the Volga, just north of Stalingrad. This move left 21st Army facing the north side of the corridor. Over the coming months Soviet forces on both sides would make several attempts to sever the corridor; collectively these are known as the Kotluban Offensives after a village north of the corridor. On September 28 the STAVKA ordered the formation of the new Don Front, to which 21st Army was assigned. During the same month the remnants of the 343rd were reassigned to 24th Army of that Front, where they fought to capture the Mty region on October 10 during the third offensive.[10] Later that month the division was transferred again, now to the new 66th Army, where it would remain until both it and its Army were raised to Guards status early the next year.[11]

Beginning on October 20, a fourth Kotluban offensive was launched. While it was increasingly apparent these offensives would not break the German lines, they were diverting enemy strength from the fighting in Stalingrad itself. The shock group of 66th Army consisted of four relatively fresh divisions, with three tank brigades in support. The Army's remaining nine divisions, including the 343rd, were to make supporting attacks on the flanks, although they were all severely under strength, with roughly a battalion of attacking infantry each. The division was paired with 49th Rifle Division on the right flank, with minimal armor support, to attack south towards Kuzmichi. In the event, the attack failed. In a report filed on October 21, the "343rd RD, encountering strong enemy fire, fought in the region 4 kilometres northeast of Kuzmichi." On the two following days it was reported fighting in its previous positions. The Soviet forces dug in on any gains they had made on October 27.[12]

As Operation Uranus began the division remained in its former positions, now in the second echelon of 66th Army. The Army did not have an active role in the offensive, but was expected to tie down enemy forces through local attacks and raids to prevent them shifting westward to where the penetration was to take place.[13]

On December 23, Maj. Gen. Matvei Alekseevich Usenko took command of the division. Usenko had had a very trying time at the front to this point. He had been convicted for "unskillful command of forces" while leading the 2nd Cavalry Corps in December, 1941; he was sentenced to 10 years to be served after the war, and was reduced in rank to Colonel. In June, 1942, he was assigned to command of the 226th Rifle Division, which performed very well and later became the 95th Guards Rifle Division. When Usenko took command of the 343rd, many of the recent recruits had been taken from the GULAG or from the criminal justice system, including some of the officers and NCOs. Based on his experiences, Usenko knew how to make these men into an effective fighting formation.[14]

Following the encirclement of Sixth Army and the defeat of the German relief operation, 66th Army began its share of operations to reduce the pocket. Between December 26 and 31 attacks by the 16th, 266th and 343rd Rifle Divisions struck the hilltop positions of 16th and 24th Panzer Divisions north and northwest of the town of Orlovka. Over the course of that week the already heavily depleted German units lost 712 men.[15]

When the final stage of Operation Ring began on January 26, 1943, German XI Army Corps fell back towards the factory district of Stalingrad. The 343rd helped to finally liberate Orlovka, and advanced as far as the west bank of the Mechetka River. On the 28th the division crossed the river with the 99th Rifle Division and advanced about 100 metres into the Tractor Factory village. On February 1, 66th Army attacked at 1000 hrs. into the last enemy-held positions in the village. By this time the 343rd had no more than 1,000 front-line infantry remaining. The following day the remaining Germans in the northern pocket laid down their arms.[16] During the course of Operation Ring the division was officially credited with capturing 6,647 enemy officers and men, and seizing 67 artillery pieces, 297 machine guns, 30 tanks, 521 other vehicles, and 5,253 rifles.[17]

When the fighting at Stalingrad concluded, the 343rd was first assigned to the Stalingrad Group of Forces on February 6. On March 13 it went into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command with the rest of 66th Army.[18] In April, 1943, the Army was re-designated as 5th Guards Army, and on May 4 the division became the 97th Guards Rifle Division.[19] General Usenko continued in command of the 97th Guards until May 12, when he died near Voronezh after being blown up by a mine while his vehicle was crossing a road.[20]

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. p. 271
• Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945 - 1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-03. Retrieved 2018-04-02.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)