139th Rifle Division
Encyclopedia
The 139th Rifle Division was a infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

, formed three times during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in 1939 and twice in 1941.

Its First Formation was established at Kozelsk
Kozelsk
Kozelsk is a town in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Zhizdra River , southwest of Kaluga. Population: -History:The town of Kozelsk was first mentioned in a chronicle under the year of 1146 as a part of Principality of Chernigov...

 in September 1939, on the basis of a regiment of the 81st Rifle Division. It fought in the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 with Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. It initially consisted of the 718th, 609th, and 364th Rifle Regiments. Fighting as part of 8th Army
8th Army (Soviet Union)
The 8th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.The 8th Army was formed in October 1939 from the Novgorod Army Operational Group of the Leningrad Military District with the task of providing security of the Northwestern borders of the USSR. The 8th Army was a field...

, it was defeated at the Battle of Tolvajärvi
Battle of Tolvajärvi
The Battle of Tolvajärvi ['tol.va.jær.vi] was fought on 12 December 1939 between Finland and the Soviet Union. It was the first large offensive victory for the Finns in the Winter War.-Prelude:...

 on 12 December 1939. It was serving with 37th Rifle Corps
Rifle corps (Soviet)
A rifle corps was a Soviet military organization of the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.Unlike army corps formed by Germany...

, 6th Army
6th Army (Soviet Union)
The 6th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army formed four times during World War II and active with the Russian Ground Forces up until 1998...

, Kiev Special Military District, on 22 June 1941. It was wiped out during the Battle of Uman
Battle of Uman
The Battle of Uman was the German and allied encirclement of the 6th and 12th The Battle of Uman (15 July–8 August 1941) was the German and allied encirclement of the 6th (General Lieutenant I.N. Muzyrchenko) and 12th The Battle of Uman (15 July–8 August 1941) was the German and allied...

 in August 1941.

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.

It was recreated (III formation) at Cheboksary
Cheboksary
-Twin towns/sister cities:Cheboksary is twinned with: Eger in Hungary Antalya in Turkey Santa Clara in CubaAlso Partnerships are shown with: Rundu in Namibia -External links:****...

 in January 1942. Fought at Kursk and Gdynia. It received a large number of volunteers from Siberia before participating in the Battle of Kursk
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...

. A popular song was written about a platoon of the division "Na Bazimyannoy Visote" (On a nameless height
On The Nameless Height (song)
On The Nameless Height is a Soviet song about World War II. The text was written by Mikhail Matusovskiy in 1963 and music by Veniamin Basner. The song was based on the real history and is about three soldiers, fifteen friends of whom died in the battlefield...

) 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
Kaluga Oblast
Kaluga Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kaluga.-Geography:Kaluga Oblast is located in the central part of the East European Plain. The Smolensk Highland lays in the western and north-western part of the oblast, while the Central Russian Highland -...

, when the platoon defended against an attack by a German battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 estimated at a strength of 200 on 14 September 1943. There were only two survivors from the platoon, but the height was held. It was serving with the 49th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front was a military formation of Army group size of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...

in May 1945.

The division appears to have disbanded in September 1945.
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