158th Rifle Division

The 158th Rifle Division was originally formed as an infantry division of the Red Army on September 15, 1939 in the North Caucasus Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of that month. After remaining in that District through 1940 it was moving through Ukraine in June 1941 as part of 19th Army when the German invasion began. Shortly after arriving at the fighting front it was pocketed by forces of Army Group Center west of Smolensk, along with most of its Army. The division fought in semi-encirclement through the latter half of July under command of 16th Army, suffering heavy casualties, before its remnants were able to withdraw across the Dniepr River in the first days of August. These came under 20th Army briefly before the 158th was disbanded by August 15.

The second division of this number was designated in January 1942 from the 5th Moscow Workers Rifle Division, which had been defending the Soviet capital since the previous November. After a brief period of reorganization it was assigned to the 22nd Army of Kalinin Front deep inside the Toropets salient. In April it was reassigned to 30th Army, then to 39th Army in August, and it was under this command in November and December during Operation Mars, taking part in the difficult fighting at the northern tip of the Rzhev salient. It made minor gains here at considerable cost, and in March 1943 followed up the German evacuation. After a pause through the spring it took part in the August offensive to retake Smolensk, and when this was accomplished the 158th advanced toward Vitebsk, winning a battle honor in the process. During the hard-fought battles of the winter and spring near this city, as part of the 84th Rifle Corps, it made minor gains while taking significant casualties. When the summer of 1944 offensive began it was positioned to the southeast of Vitebsk, and within days assisted the 145th Rifle Division in clearing the city of German forces; in recognition it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Following this it advanced into Lithuania as part of 1st Baltic Front. In August it received the Order of Suvorov for its part in the battle for Kaunas, but later that month one of its rifle regiments was encircled and largely destroyed during a German counteroffensive. The remaining regiments gained distinctions in the final fighting near Riga in October, but as the Soviet advance continued the 158th remained in Lithuania, eventually being rebuilt in March 1945 from the disbanded 145th, inheriting the latter's awards. Once this was complete it moved into Germany with 14th Rifle Corps to join 2nd Belorussian Front but arrived too late to see action before the German surrender. The division was disbanded in July.