The 195th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It first began forming just months before the German invasion in the Kiev Special Military District. When the German invasion began it was in 31st Rifle Corps in the reserves of Southwestern Front. In the first days of July it was assigned to 5th Army, where it remained for the duration of this formation. This Army was considered by the German high command as a threat to the flanks of both Army Groups Center and South and was one of the main reasons behind the decision to encircle Southwestern Front east of Kyiv in September. The 195th was trapped in this pocket and destroyed, although not officially written off until late December.
A new 195th was designated at the end of December, based on the 423rd Rifle Division, which had begun forming in October in the South Ural Military District. In total it took over six months forming up and training before it went to the active front in the vicinity of Voronezh as part of 60th Army. During the summer and into October it was steadily weakened in attritional fighting along the Don River until it was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. It soon returned to the front along the Don, now as part of 1st Guards Army in Southwestern Front. It would remain in this Front (later renamed 3rd Ukrainian) until nearly the end of 1944. As part of 4th Guards Rifle Corps it took part in Operation Little Saturn and made one of the first penetrations into the defenses of Italian 8th Army. Once this Army had been effectively destroyed the 195th took part in Operation Gallop, driving into the Donbas region before being halted and temporarily encircled in Field Marshal E. von Manstein's "backhand blow" in February/March 1943. It resumed the offensive in August, advancing into eastern Ukraine and winning a battle honor as it approached the Dniepr River. Just a month later it took a leading role in the liberation of Dniprodzerzhynsk, for which it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Over the winter of 1943-44 it took part in the battles in the Dniepr bend under command of 46th Army before driving deeper into western Ukraine, taking part in the liberation of Voznesensk, where its commander was killed. It was then reassigned to 37th Army, and it would remain under that command for the duration of the war. Serving in the 6th Guards Rifle Corps of this Army the 195th advanced to the Dniestr River in early April, where it helped to establish a substantial bridgehead in the Tiraspol area, but this was contained by German reinforcements and 3rd Ukrainian Front went over to the defensive for several months. At the start of the August offensive it was in the second echelon of 6th Guards Corps, but on the second day played a key role in breaking the second German defense line, after which it took part in the pursuit, within days taking part in the encirclement and defeat of the forces of German 6th Army. Following this victory it advanced into Romania and Bulgaria, eventually becoming part of the occupation force of the latter country when the 37th Army was detached from 3rd Ukrainian Front. Postwar, it was part of the Southern Group of Forces, until it was moved to the Odesa Military District in early 1946, being disbanded there in July.
1st Formation
The division began forming on March 14, 1941, as part of the prewar buildup of Soviet forces, in the Kiev Special Military District. Its order of battle was as follows: 564th Rifle Regiment 573rd Rifle Regiment 604th Rifle Regiment 505th Artillery Regiment 475th Howitzer Artillery Regiment 41st Antitank Battalion 215th Antiaircraft Battalion 330th Reconnaissance Battalion 362nd Sapper Battalion 546th Signal Battalion 18th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 200th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 253rd Motor Transport Battalion 702nd Field Postal Station 594th Field Office of the State Bank Maj. Gen. Vitalii Nikolaevich Nesmelov was appointed to command on the day the division began forming. He had been serving as assistant commanding officer of the Special Rifle Corps. On June 22, as the German invasion began, the Kiev District became Southwestern Front; the 195th was in 31st Rifle Corps with the 193rd and 200th Rifle Divisions in the Front reserves. The division itself was near Snovidovichi. By the morning of June 26 it was concentrated at Stepany, but was not committed to action since the division was still barely formed and was still trying to fill up with mobilized reservists.