109th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

109th Rifle Division (15 April 1939 - June 1939) 109th Rifle Division (29 January 1942 - 30 July 1942) 109th Rifle Division (6 August 1942 - 1946)
Prewar photo of Major General P.G. Novikov
Active	1939 - 1946
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Kiev Siege of Sevastopol Siege of Leningrad Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive Baltic Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner (3rd formation)
Battle honours	Leningrad (3rd formation)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Mjr. Gen. Pyotr Georgyevich Novikov Mjr. Gen. Nikolai Trushkin

The 109th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division that was formed three times, briefly in 1939, during 1942, and from 1942-45.

Its second formation served for six months in 1942 in the defense of the fortress of Sevastopol in the southern sector of the siege lines. After being destroyed there in July, a third division was formed near Leningrad in August, and it successfully held its positions for nearly a year and a half, in spite of shortages of food and supplies due to the German/Finnish siege. The 109th then participated in the offensive that drove the Germans away from the city in early 1944, helped drive Finland out of the war, and then joined the offensive along the Baltic coast towards Germany.

The first 109th Rifle Division began forming at Tatarsk in the Novosibirsk Oblast on Apr. 15, 1939, based on the 79th Rifle Regiment of the 73rd Rifle Division. In June the division moved to Kharanor to be reorganized as the 109th Mechanised Division. In July, 1940 it became part of the 5th Mechanized Corps. On June 18, 1941 it was located, with its Corps, in the vicinity of Berdichev, as part of 16th Army. That Army was transferred from Southwestern Front to Western Front on June 26, but within two days was reassigned to Southwestern. The division saw action on the approaches to Kiev until July 12 when it, along with several other motorized divisions that suffered from a shortage of motor vehicles, was withdrawn to be reformed as the 304th Rifle Division.

The division was reformed by the re-designation of the third formation of the 2nd Rifle Division in January, 1942 at Sevastopol. It consisted of: