139th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 139th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed three times during World War
II, in 1939 and twice in 1941.

Contents
First Formation
Second Formation
Third Formation
Notable commanders
See also
Notes

First Formation
Its First Formation was established at Kozelsk in September 1939, on the basis of a regiment of the 81st
Rifle Division. It fought in the Winter War with Finland. It initially consisted of the 718th, 609th, and 364th
Rifle Regiments. Fighting as part of 8th Army, it was defeated at the Battle of Tolvajärvi on 12 December
1939. It was serving with 37th Rifle Corps, 6th Army, Kiev Special Military District, on 22 June 1941.[1] It
was wiped out during the Battle of Uman in August 1941.

Force Composition 2 October 1939

364th Rifle Regiment

609th Rifle Regiment
718th Rifle Regiment
354th Light Artillery Regiment

Second Formation
It was recreated (II formation) from 9th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division (In 1941, residents of
Zamoskvorechye formed the Twelfth Militia Division of Kirovsky District (дивизия народного ополчения
Кировского района) (Zamoskvorechye District). It was destroyed again at Vyazma in October 1941.

Third Formation
It was recreated (III formation) at Cheboksary in January 1942. Fought at Kursk and Gdynia. It received a
large number of volunteers from Siberia before participating in the Battle of Kursk. A popular song was
written about a platoon of the division "Na Bazimyannoy Visote" (Russian: "На безымянной высоте") (On
a nameless height) featured in the film "Tishina" (Silence) that documented the events of a defence of a
height at the village of Rubezhenka, Kuybyshevsky rayon, Kaluga Oblast, when the platoon defended
against an attack by a German battalion estimated at a strength of 200 on 14 September 1943. There were
only two survivors from the platoon, but the height was held.[2] It was serving with the 49th Army of the
2nd Belorussian Front in May 1945.

The division appears to have disbanded "in place" with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany during the
summer of 1945.[3]

Notable commanders
Pavel Ponedelin (15 December 1939 – 1940)

See also
On the Nameless Height

Notes
1. "139th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)" (http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_organ/div_rifle/rd_03.ht
ml). orbat.
2. http://www.ocito.kaluga.ru/res/sites/bsch/content/site/index.htm
3. Feskov et al 2013, pp. 380–381.

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.

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This page was last edited on 31 December 2019, at 23:45 (UTC).

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