138th Rifle Division

138th Rifle Division (September 1939 - March 14, 1941) 138th Mountain Rifle Division (March 14, 1941 - April 8, 1942) 138th Rifle Division (April 8, 1942 - February 7, 1943) 138th Rifle Division (May 1943 - July 1945)
Active	1939–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	Winter War Battle of the Kerch Peninsula Operation Blue Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Ring Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation Battle of the Dniepr Kirovograd Offensive Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive Western Carpathian Offensive Moravia–Ostrava Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner (1st and 2nd Formations)  Order of Suvorov (2nd Formation)  Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (2nd Formation)
Battle honours	Carpathian (2nd Formation)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Kombrig Aleksandr Ivanovich Pastrevich Kombrig Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Khadeev Maj. Gen. Yakov Andreevich Ishchenko Col. Pavel Maksimovich Yagunov Col. Mikhail Yakovlevich Pimenov Maj. Gen. Ivan Ilich Lyudnikov Col. Ivan Stepanovich Prutkov Col. Viktor Ivanovich Rutko Col. Vasilii Efimovich Vasilev

The 138th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the buildup of forces immediately after the start of World War II in Europe. The first formation was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939 and under this organization it took part in the Winter War against Finland, arriving at the front north of Leningrad in December and performing so capably in the battles in early 1940 that it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Following this it was converted to serve for two years as a mountain rifle division in the Caucasus region. Following Operation Barbarossa and the German invasion of the Crimea elements of the division were committed to amphibious landings behind enemy lines in early 1942 but these proved abortive. Soon after the 138th was converted back to a standard rifle division. Arriving on the southern approaches to Stalingrad in late July the division fought on the approaches to the city through August and into September before it was assigned to 62nd Army and shipped into the factory district in mid-October. Well into November it played a leading role in defending the Barricades (Barrikady) ordnance factory, eventually becoming isolated in a thin strip of land between the factory and the Volga which became known as "Lyudnikov's Island" after its commanding officer. Following the Soviet counteroffensive that encircled the German 6th Army and other Axis forces in and near Stalingrad the division restored contact with the rest of its Army and then helped eliminate its trapped foes, for which it was raised to Guards status as the 70th Guards Rifle Division.

A new 138th was raised in May 1943 under the "shtat" of December 10, 1942, based on two rifle brigades, one of which was naval infantry from the Leningrad area and one of which was from central Asia. It first saw action in the advance through eastern Ukraine following the Battle of Kursk, and took part in the battle for the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket. Later in 1944 it drove into the western Ukraine, eventually into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and from the autumn of that year until the spring of 1945 advanced through the difficult terrain of Slovakia, winning its own Order of the Red Banner in the process and ending the war in eastern Moravia. This formation of the division was disbanded shortly after the fighting ended.