134th Rifle Division

The 134th Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in early September 1939 in the Kharkov Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13. At the start of the German invasion in June 1941 it was part of 19th Army, located in the Poltava Oblast, but soon began moving by rail toward Vitebsk, coming under command of Western Front. After offloading it made several futile counterattacks but as the LVII Motorized Corps pushed north it was cut off from its Army, forced to attach itself to 22nd Army, and then became encircled in the area of Nevel. Roughly half of its personnel were able to escape, but the divisional commander was killed. The remnants of the division were moved to the reserves of 30th Army in mid-August for rebuilding and replenishment, but were moved northwest of Bely to defend that axis when 22nd Army was defeated near Toropets in the last days of the month. It remained in these positions through most of September, moving to the reserves of Western Front before redeploying to the Vyazma axis, north of the Moscow-Minsk highway, just before Army Group Center began its final offensive toward Moscow. In the first days it returned to 19th Army and held its positions until the German pincers had nearly closed when it was authorized, with its Army, to withdraw. This turned into a desperate effort to escape the encirclement, and by October 20 only a small number of personnel had managed it, too few to provide a cadre for another rebuilding, so it was disbanded in late December.

A new 134th was created in early January 1942, on the basis of a late 300-series division, largely at Solnechnogorsk in the Moscow Military District. It was soon sent west to join Kalinin Front, being briefly assigned to 4th Shock Army before being moved back to Front reserves for further training. In May it was moved to 41st Army, in the same Front, and took up positions west of Bely, where it remained until the start of Operation Mars in late November. During that offensive part of the division took part in the fighting for that fortified town, but ultimately failed at considerable cost. Bely finally fell in March 1943 when German 9th Army evacuated the Rzhev salient, and the 134th was soon transferred to 39th Army. Just prior to the start of Operation Suvorov the division staged a set-piece attack which took the village of Verdino and would later be given its name as a battle honor. During August and September it advanced with its Army into eastern Belarus but soon became engaged in the dismal fighting around Vitebsk which stretched through the winter and spring of 1944. In March it left this area for a brief period of rebuilding before being reassigned to 69th Army in 1st Belorussian Front, where it would remain for the duration. It returned to battle in July during the Lublin-Brest operation, and won the Order of the Red Banner, as did one of its regiments, shortly after advancing into Poland. Late that month it crossed the Vistula at Puławy, and fought to expand and hold this lodgement over the coming months. In January 1945 it helped break the German defenses south of Warsaw and received the Order of Suvorov as it advanced through Poland and eastern Germany to the Oder River. When the final offensive on Berlin began in April the 134th attacked from the bridgehead that had been established north of Frankfurt-on-Oder in February, and in the course of the operation played a leading role in the encirclement and elimination of 9th Army south of the city, after which it advanced to the Elbe, where it joined hands with US forces. After the shooting stopped the division was given the Order of Lenin for its part in the Berlin campaign, and its subunits also received several awards, making it one of the most decorated regular rifle divisions in the Red Army. Despite this, it would be disbanded in July.