1st Formation After Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front. On 12 July 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was established in
Alma Ata, the capital of the
Kazakh SSR. Major General
Ivan Panfilov, the
military commissar of the
Kyrgyz SSR, was appointed its commander. The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics; when formed, the division was noted as being 90 percent Kazakh and Kirgiz, with 10 percent Russians. It consisted of three infantry regiments: the 1073rd, the 1075th and the 1077th. The 316th soldiers' were sworn in on 1 August, and boarded trains to the front from the 18th to the 20th. They arrived in
Borovichi, near
Malaya Vishera, in late August. Intense fighting against the Germans already took place in the region, as part of the campaign to defend Leningrad from the attack of Army Group North. The 316th was involved in several skirmishes, but on 8 September was consigned as the reserve of the 52nd Army. It spent a month in the rear.
Subordinate Units • 1073rd Rifle Regiment • 1075th Rifle Regiment • 1077th Rifle Regiment • 857th Artillery Regiment • 597th Sapper Battalion • 690th Rifle Regiment (Attached from
126th Rifle Division) 14 October
2nd Formation Formed in late June to 10 July 1942 at
Vyazniki in the
Moscow Military District. The cadre for the unit came from either the
41st,
52nd or
157th Rifle Brigades. The division was assigned to the
9th Reserve Army in the STAVKA reserve and remained there until late August. The division was then assigned to the
8th Reserve Army and remained assigned to the army when it was redesignated as the
66th Army on 24 August and sent south to the
Stalingrad Front. From the divisions arrival at the front in September it fought under the
24th, 66th, and
1st Guards Armies. The division was practically destroyed in the fighting and on 4 November 1942 the division headquarters was disbanded and the remnants of the division used to reinforce the
260th Rifle Division.
Subordinate Units • 1073rd Rifle Regiment • 1075th Rifle Regiment • 1077th Rifle Regiment • 857th Artillery Regiment • 597th Sapper Battalion Postwar, the division moved to
Mogilev-Podolsky with the
37th Rifle Corps. It was disbanded either before or around July 1946 when the corps disbanded. ==In popular culture==