The 2nd Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army that served from the Russian Civil War to the Second World War. Originally formed in 1919 from the 1st Ryazansk Rifle Division, the division was twice destroyed and reformed during the war. The division contained two or three rifle regiments.
The 2nd Rifle Division was formed in Moscow in September 1918. It fought at Ufa on the Eastern Front in April–July 1919. Then it fought against Yudenich with the 7th Army in October–December 1919. Finally it fought in the Polish Campaign on the Western Front in May–August 1920, and against Bulak-Balakhovich in October 1920.
During the war there were four distinct formations that bore the title of 2nd Rifle Division.
Formed in 1919 in the Belorussian Military District. On 22 June 1941 the division was part of the 1st Rifle Corps, 10th Army and took up defensive positions on the right flank of the army stationed in the Bialystok "bulge". The division escaped from the Bialystok pocket only to be annihilated by the German army in a pocket west of Minsk in early July 1941. The division was removed from the Soviet order of battle on 24 July 1941 and officially disbanded on 19 September 1941.[1][2]
The full honorific title of the division was the 2nd Belorussian Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of M.V. Frunze.
Formed from the 2nd Moscow Militia Division on 26 September 1941, the second formation served in the 32nd Army. The division received new equipment to supplement the equipment issued by the Moscow Militia. With the start of the German offensive against the Western Front at the end of September the division was forced into combat before it was fully brought up to strength. By 10 October 1941 the division had been driven into the 19th Army's and was encircled and destroyed by the Germans in the Vyazma pocket in October 1941. The division was destroyed by the end of October and officially removed from the order of battle on 23 November 1941.[2][3]
Formed in Sevastopol fortress on 23 November 1941 from the dismounted 2nd Cavalry Division, this formation served with the Separate Coastal Army and was renamed the 109th Rifle Division on 29 January 1942.[2][3]
Commenced forming in Arkhangelsk on 21 December 1941 possibly from the 410th Rifle Division. By the end of March 1942 the division was "ready" for combat and transferred to the Volkhov Front. The division took part in numerous operations, including the rescue of 2nd Shock Army (May-Jul 1942), Operation Iskra in January 1943, and the Leningrad-Novograd Strategic Offensive Operation in early 1944. During the summer of 1944 the division took part in the operations to clear the Baltic States, ending in Estonia at the end of 1944. During December 1944 the division was transferred to the 2nd Belorussian Front's 50th Army. It took part in the East Prussian Strategic Offensive Operation ending the war near Königsberg as part of the 81st Rifle Corps in the 3rd Belorussian Front.[2] With the 81st Rifle Corps, it was withdrawn to the Kiev Military District and disbanded with the corps on 30 December 1945.[4]