Rifle Division 04/550

[Der Alte Fritz]

Reduced Division of April 1944
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=152118461

Artillery Regiment 1944
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=113834928

Proposed reduction of Rifle Regt
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=132632624

Scheme of Rifle Division
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=153904966

[Der Alte Fritz]

Штат № 04/637 Военного Трибунала стрелковой дивизии (военного времени) Military Tribunial
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=112815002

[Der Alte Fritz]

[Nakhodchanin]

I greeting all comunity! In the preparation of these materials: viewtopic.php?f=79&t=238167 there were such organization charts:

Organization chart of Rifle Regiment shtat №04-551.jpg

Organization chart of Rifle Division shtat №04-550 - 04-562.jpg

here is the link: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=132631543.

Best regards

[Der Alte Fritz]

That is very interesting and fills in some of the gaps in the development of the Rifle Division from December 1942.
I believe that this is new material on Pamyat Naroda as our previous search back in 2017 did not bring up anything along these lines. These releases seem to appear without any fanfare and some are sitting there with placemarkers for months on end. To date on the Motor Rifle/Mech Bde side, only 010/370 material has been released while what we really need is the 010/420 material.

[Gary Kennedy]

I have got those same summaries from Pamyat Naroda with save dates of November 2015, likewise for the Rifle Coy options detailed in the same series linked to above.

It would certainly be nice if someone over there could add the Tank and Mechanised unit info some of us are interested in!

Gary

[Art]

Authorized communication equipment in the rifle division, December 1944.
From a report by 87 RD:
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=451682261

[Gary Kennedy]

I can't recall if this was flagged up previously, but I happened across what looks to the revised Communication unit for the Rifle Division. 04/548 gets a mention in the Red Army Handbook as being the Signal Battalion that 'replaced' the Signal Company, but looks more like a slight rearrangement rather than a complete revision of 04/557.

I only had a quick look but it appears 04/548 had fewer motor vehicles authorised than 04/557, though the radio equipment looks the same. The later table also has the full equipment list, which I don't think we found for any of the 04/550 Division units.

https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view ... ::page%5C5

If I'm reading the table title correctly, it does seem to be badged as belonging to a Guards Rifle Division, while the Red Army Handbook suggests it was for all Rifle Divisions?

Gary

[Der Alte Fritz]

Gary
Yes it says Guards Rifle Division but that usually does not mean too many differences for these support units.

[Art]

Order of the People's Commissar for Defense No.00143 of 18 November 1943

...
In order to increase anti-tank firepower of rifle divisions anti-tank battalions of rifle divisions are to be rearmed with 76-mm ZIS-3 guns instead of 45-mm guns.
...

Apparently this rearmament remained only partial, but still in some part of divisions 45-mm battalion was replaced with a modified 76-mm battalion.

[Art]

Order of the People's Commissar for Defense No. 0433, 23 October 1943

....
2. By 5 November one separate ski battalion, shtat No. 04/335 with 420 men is to be formed in rifle and guard rifle divisions of the Karelian, Leningrad, Volkhov, North-West, 2 Baltic, 1 Baltic, West, and Belorussian Fronts and 7 Separate Army.
Separate ski battalion should be directly controlled by division commanders and maintained at the expense of one of rifle battalions of each division.
3....after snow cover appears in addition to the ski battalions the following elements should be reorganized as ski units:
a) in each rifle regiment: foot scout platoon, submachine gun platoon, sapper platoon, cyclists and telephonists of the communication company, and telephone sections of rifle battalions' communication platoon.
b) in each rifle division - separate reconnaissance company.
In addition where the situation and material supplies allow a ski training should be widely organized and other elements should be reorganized as ski elements, first of all separate training battalions and companies, rifle, machine gun and mortar elements and means of communications.
...

Paragraph 4 also ordered to convert to ski units all rifle brigades in the northern sector of the front.

[Piet Duits]

Hi guys,
The links to the Shtats aren't working anymore. Does any of you know if they are completely gone from pamyat-naroda, or does anyone here still have them and are willing to share them with me?

[Gary Kennedy]

Piet,

I took copies of what I think is the full set of shtat for 04/550 from pamyat before they vanished. More than happy to send them on if someone hasn't already done so.

Gary

[Piet Duits]

Please!

[Gary Kennedy]

I'll send 'em this weekend