A division numbered as the 231st began forming in March 1941 in the
Moscow Military District but in May it was disbanded to provide a cadre for the 8th Airborne Brigade of
4th Airborne Corps. Another division numbered as the 231st began forming in February 1942 at
Kungur in the Ural Military District. Its first commander, Col. Fyodor Maksimovich Rukhlenko, was not officially appointed until April 16 and it remained in the District training and equipping its units until May. Once formed, its official order of battle, based on a version of the
shtat (
table of organization and equipment) of March 18, 1942, was as follows: • 607th Rifle Regiment • 623rd Rifle Regiment • 639th Rifle Regiment • 1041st Artillery Regiment • 423rd Antitank Battalion • 477th Antiaircraft Battery • 826th Mortar Battalion • 250th Reconnaissance Company • 339th Sapper Battalion • 913th Signal Battalion • 283rd Medical/Sanitation Battalion • 189th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company • 543rd Motor Transport Company • 386th Field Bakery • 856th Divisional Veterinary Hospital • 1845th Field Postal Station • 1164th Field Office of the State Bank In late May it was assigned to the 8th Reserve Army in the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command and began moving southwestward in the direction of the
Don and Volga Rivers.
Kotluban Offensives At the start of July the 231st was still one of six rifle divisions in 8th Reserve. The German summer offensive was just beginning and the
STAVKA was unclear if the planned objective was toward Moscow or the Caucasus. On August 14 Colonel Rukhlenko left the division; he would later lead the
123rd Rifle Division and then serve as deputy commander of
30th Rifle Corps being promoted to the rank of major general on April 19, 1945. He was replaced the next day by Col. Gavriil Efremovich Odaryuk. This officer had been commandant of Belotserkovsk Infantry School and led the division for the duration of the 1st formation. On August 21 the XIV Panzer Corps of German
6th Army struck eastward from a bridgehead over the Don River and by the 23rd had reached the Volga and the northern outskirts of Stalingrad in some strength. This seemingly vulnerable corridor, which passed near the village of Kotluban and its railway station, would attract Soviet counterattacks into November. At this time 8th Reserve was in the
Kamyshin region roughly 150km north of Stalingrad and late the next day the
STAVKA issued the following orders:The Army would also have three tank brigades, two
Katyusha regiments, and a mixed aviation corps under command. The Army, subordinated to Stalingrad Front, was intended to prevent German forces from advancing northward from the Stalingrad region but the Front commander, Col. Gen.
A. I. Yeryomenko, was aware that it would take several days to reach its designated assembly areas. In the event the 231st did not join the fighting front until August 31. By September 3 the Army had lost the 207th and 292nd Divisions but had gained a fourth tank brigade (10th, 69th, 148th and 246th Brigades). On this date the 231st was deployed southeast of Erzovka, facing the boundary between the
3rd Motorized and
16th Panzer Divisions. Late on September 4 the 66th and
24th Armies had still not completed their attack preparations but were ordered to attack regardless at 0900 hours the next day. The mission of 66th Army was to "cut off and destroy the enemy grouping which has penetrated to the Volga by an attack [southward] toward
Orlovka." In the report on the first day's fighting the 231st was stated as having reached from the Motor Tractor Station (6km northeast of Orlovka) to Hill 111.2 (8km northeast of Orlovka) but this was one of the few minor successes the Army could record. Overall the offensive had already failed although fruitless efforts were made to revive it until September 13. A new offensive began on September 18 but this mainly involved the 24th and
1st Guards Armies farther to the west, with the 66th playing a supporting role. This supporting attack was made primarily by the
38th and
41st Guards and
116th Rifle Divisions on the Army's right (west) flank; the 231st was initially still deployed southeast of Erzovka. After failures to gain ground in the early days the boundaries between the armies were substantially altered and the division was moved to the right flank of 24th Army, coming under its command. An effort to reinforce a success by 1st Guards Army on September 24 had little effect. While the offensive was still going on the
STAVKA reordered command arrangements in the region, creating
Don Front on September 28 and subordinating six armies to it, including the 24th and 66th. On October 2 the offensive was again suspended. Later in the month the 231st returned to 66th Army, which now contained several heavily depleted divisions. At the start of the 4th Kotluban offensive on October 20 it was in the Army's second echelon, with roughly the equivalent of a battalion of infantry remaining. As a reflection of this weakness, at the end of the second day of the offensive it was reported as situated it its previous position. At the end of the month the remaining personnel were transferred as replacements to the 116th Rifle Division and on November 2 the division was officially disbanded in Stalingrad Front. Colonel Odaryuk was soon hospitalized but after his recovery in March 1943 he moved to a staff appointment and later to the training establishment, being promoted to the rank of major general in November of that year. == 2nd Formation ==