142nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 142nd Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in August 1939 in the Leningrad Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of the following month. It participated in the Winter War against Finland as part of 7th Army on the Karelian Isthmus, taking heavy casualties in the fighting for Taipale on the east end of the Mannerheim Line, but gained enough distinction to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner. It remained on the Karelian Isthmus and had a relatively uneventful war facing the Finns until the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive began on June 10, 1944, from which point it saw much more active service. Attacking northward from much the same place it had begun in the Winter War, now as part of Leningrad Front's 23rd Army, it soon reached the Vuoksi River where it helped stage a successful crossing operation on July 9, and eight of its soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Shortly after it went on the defense and in September entered the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in preparation for moving to Poland for the final offensive on Germany. The 142nd became part of 2nd Shock Army in 2nd Belorussian Front; its soldiers distinguished themselves in the capture of the German city of Graudenz and later Gdańsk after fighting through northern Poland and Pomerania. As part of the Northern Group of Forces it was disbanded in July 1945.