244th Rifle Division

The 244th Rifle Division was the second of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was largely based on what would become the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, with several variations. Initially assigned to the 31st Army, it was soon reassigned to 30th Army in Western Front northeast of Smolensk; under this command it took part in the first Dukhovshchina offensive against German 9th Army before being transferred to 19th Army in the third week of August for the second attempt to take this objective. After this failed the division went over to the defense at the boundary between the 19th and 30th Armies, where it was overwhelmed by 9th Army and 3rd Panzer Group at the outset of Operation Typhoon and soon destroyed.

A new 244th was formed in late December 1941 from the redesignation of a 400-series rifle division at Stalingrad and was moved west in March 1942 to join the 28th Army east of Kharkiv, eventually becoming part of Southwestern Front. It formed part of the northern shock group intended to liberate the city in May 1942, but was struck by a counterattack from the 3rd Panzer Division and fell apart; it was soon disbanded again.

The third formation of the 244th took place within weeks, also in Southwestern Front, and may have incorporated survivors of the second formation under new leadership. It was formed while the German summer offensive was already underway and barely escaped being disbanded for a third time. Instead, it was sent to the 57th Army of Southeastern Front south of Stalingrad, and helped to blunt the drive of 4th Panzer Army toward the city. It then fell back into the southern suburbs, and eventually the city itself, defending strongly until it was evacuated in October. What little remained was then pulled back to the Moscow area for yet another rebuilding before being assigned to 1st Guards Army for the last part of the winter counteroffensive. With most of Southwestern Front it pushed deep into eastern Ukraine before being struck by Army Group South's "backhand blow" in mid-February 1943, ending up partly encircled and nearly destroyed again. The 244th was rebuilt during the lull in operations in the spring and then joined in the offensives into the Donbas and toward the Dniepr in the summer and autumn as part of 66th Rifle Corps of 12th Army, winning a battle honor in the process. It would remain in this Corps for most of the rest of the war. When 12th Army was disbanded the division was moved to 6th Army and it won a pair of decorations during the winter and spring campaigns in southern Ukraine in 1944. When this Army was in turn disbanded the 244th joined 37th Army where it remained, with one brief exception, into the postwar. It took part in the August offensive into Moldavia and then advanced into Bulgaria where the 37th took up occupation duties for the duration of the war. In 1946 it was converted to a mechanized division which was disbanded in 1947.