The 107th Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in August 1939, in the Siberian Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of the following month. Following the German invasion it was moved west and concentrated west of Moscow as part of 24th Army in early July. Late that month the Army was assigned to Reserve Front. By that time the 107th had already been in combat with leading elements of 2nd Panzer Group in the Yelnya area. In mid-August it formed part of the Army's northern strike group in the first attempt to encircle and destroy the German forces in the salient that they held around that place, and also in the second attempt that began on August 30. On September 6 Yelnya was retaken after the XX Army Corps was forced out of the salient. The 107th was pulled back to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and on September 26 was redesignated as the 5th Guards Rifle Division.
A new 107th was formed on the basis of a rifle brigade In the Moscow Military District on April 17, 1942. It was soon assigned to 3rd Reserve Army, which became 60th Army on July 10, as the division moved south to the vicinity of Voronezh and joined the Voronezh Front. It took part in fighting near that place during the rest of the month, then remained on the defense as the main battles moved toward Stalingrad. Following the November counteroffensive there the division, now part of 40th Army, took part in the offensive toward Ostrogozhsk and Rossosh in mid-January, 1943. Immediately after it also participated in the offensive that drove the German and Hungarian forces away from Voronezh. As this victory was exploited the division advanced toward Belgorod and just missed being swept up in Army Group South's counteroffensive before the front stabilized. Prior to the Battle of Kursk the 107th was transferred to 69th Army and fought under that command, mostly in second echelon. It also played a secondary role in the offensive that retook Belgorod and later Kharkiv, after which it briefly transferred to 53rd Army of Steppe Front before moving into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for a substantial rebuilding, returning to the fighting front south of Kyiv in mid-November as part of 1st Ukrainian Front's 1st Guards Army. During the spring offensives into western Ukraine the division was transferred to 38th Army, but was under direct command of the Front when it won a battle honor in March 1944. After brief service in 13th Army it returned to 60th Army where it remained for the duration of the war. During the Lvov-Sandomierz offensive it played a leading role in the elimination of the German forces encircled near Brody, then advanced toward the Polish frontier. In January 1945 the 107th participated in the capture of Kraków before moving into Silesia. During the campaign in upper Silesia the division took part in the storming of Ratibor and the elimination of the encircled German forces in that area; it would later be awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd Degree. Following this it transferred with its Army to 4th Ukrainian Front in Czechoslovakia, and ended the war advancing on Prague. After the shooting stopped it returned to Poland where it was disbanded in July.
1st Formation The original 107th was formed on August 19 at Barnaul in the Siberian Military District, based on the 131st Rifle Regiment of the 78th Rifle Division. As it was formed in the Altai Krai it carried the familiar name "Altaisk" for the duration of its existence. Col. Pavel Vasilevich Mironov was appointed to command on the day it began forming; he had most recently served as deputy commander of the 28th Mountain Rifle Division. Once completed its order of battle was as follows: 586th Rifle Regiment (stationed at Biysk) 630th Rifle Regiment (stationed at Barnaul) 765th Rifle Regiment (stationed at Rubtsovsk) 347th Artillery RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 55 508th Howitzer Artillery Regiment 203rd Antitank Battalion 288th Antiaircraft Battalion 160th Reconnaissance Battalion 188th Sapper Battalion 167th Signal Battalion 136th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 144th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 147th Motor Transport Battalion 155th Motorized Field Bakery 163rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 486th Field Postal Station 243rd Field Office of the State Bank Mironov was sent to the Frunze Military Academy for commander's refresher courses in November 1940 and was still there at the outbreak of war with Germany. The 107th was now part of 53rd Rifle Corps, along with the 178th and 133rd Rifle Divisions. This Corps was assigned to 24th Army in the Reserve of the STAVKA High Command.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 10 The 107th began moving west from Siberia by rail in late June, and by the start of July was concentrating west of Moscow,Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 55 in the area of Dorogobuzh, Gzhatsk, and Mozhaysk.
Battles for Yelnya On July 16 the 10th Panzer Division of XXXXVI Motorized Corps began advancing on Yelnya from Mstsislaw in order to start an outer encirclement ring around the Soviet armies that were nearly pocketed at Smolensk. It reached the outskirts of Yelnya in the evening of July 18 and took the town two days later after heavy fighting. Meanwhile its corps-mate, 2nd SS Reich Division was attempting to reach the Dniepr River and take Dorogobuzh before linking up with 17th Panzer Division at Yartsevo. This led to three days of fighting with the 107th and 50th Rifle Divisions; Reich failed to take either objective and was forced to fall back to positions northwest of Yelnya.David M. Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2010, Kindle ed., ch. 4
Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov took command of Reserve Front on July 30, to which 24th Army had been assigned several days earlier. On August 5, in a housecleaning operation, his chief of staff, Maj. Gen. P. I. Lyapin, sent detailed instructions to the Army's commander, Maj. Gen. K. I. Rakutin, on the correct employment of artillery. These included:At 0216 hours on August 6 ordered Zhukov and Rakutin to put these considerations into practice by attacking and destroying the German forces in the Yelnya salient.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 7
Colonel Mironov was reinforced with what remained of the 102nd Tank Division and two artillery regiments. His force was to attack from the area of Dubovezhe and Ivanovskie Farm, 13km north-northwest of Yelnya and push south toward Viazovka, Gurevo, Lysovka, and Leonidovo, 7km west of Yelnya. The division launched its attack on the morning of August 8 against part of German XX Army Corps. It was able to advance 7-9km in the face of German artillery, armor, and infantry, including elements of the Der Führer Regiment of the Reich Division, but made no further progress.https://web.archive.org/web/20140715044225/http://www.smolgazeta.ru/history/7514-sentyabr-41-go-elnya-pervaya-pobeda.html. In Russian. Retrieved August 15, 2026. Rakutin critiqued Mironov and the commanders of the 100th, 102nd, and 19th Rifle Divisions:Rakutin's military commissar also communicated with the 107th's commissar and the 106th Motorized Division describing "numerous disciplinary problems". Zhukov added his weight the next day, berating Mironov and his other division commanders for "gross neglect if not outright incompetence."Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., ch. 9
Rakutin and Zhukov pressed relentlessly for results, and during August 12-14 the combined 107th, 100th, and 102nd Tanks, striking at the boundary between Reich and the 15th Infantry Division, gained up to 4km, taking the villages of Gorovitsy, Luginovo, and Novoe Brykino, albeit at the cost of heavy casualties. However, 24th Army's remaining divisions made no progress at all. German casualties were also high, and the commander of XX Corps, Gen. F. Materna, appealed for help from Army Group Center, stating "[h]e had only one battalion in reserve" and "El'nia could not be held in the long term." 15th Infantry had suffered 2,351 losses in just the previous week's fighting. A report from August 16 states that the 107th was attacking toward Bezzabot Sovkhoz, 12km northwest of Yelnya, on that date. Two days later the STAVKA directed Zhukov to replace the 100th with the 103rd, and add the 19th Division for a supporting attack directly north of Yelnya. Zhukov in turn directed Rakutin to make his main attack with the 107th, the "rested and refitted" 102nd, and the remnants of 105th Tank Division, again toward Leonidovo. Three further days of heavy fighting brought no further progress, and at 0445 hours on August 21, Zhukov finally informed Stalin that continuing the offensive would be futile without pausing for further rest, refitting, and training. Stalin approved later that day.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 1, Kindle ed., chs. 9, 11 On August 30 the 107th was reinforced with a regiment of the 127th Rifle Division and part of the 102nd Tanks. Second offensive
On the same day Reserve Front began its new offensive against the salient, which would involve 24th and 43rd Armies. The 107th was positioned north of Spas-Nezhoda, northwest of Yelnya, now facing the right flank of the 137th Infantry Division of IX Army Corps. 24th Army had over 103,000 personnel on strength, greatly outnumbering the 40,000 of XX Corps and the 137th, but had only 35 tanks. Rakutin's first shock group was made up of the 107th, the 102nd Tanks, and the 100th Division. Mironov's mission was to:Rakutin also ordered the newly arrived 309th Rifle Division to be prepared to back up the shock group.Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2012, pp. 322-23, 325-26, 329. Throughout Ch. 7 this author conflates the 107th Rifle with the 107th Motorized Division. The latter was a different unit, formed from the 107th Tank Division, and redesignated as 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division on January 12, 1942. See Perechen No. 5 in Bibliography, p. 203.
The offensive started promptly at 0700 hours in heavy fog, after a well-planned artillery preparation using some 640 guns, mortars, and Katyushas. A holding attack against the nose of the salient was made by the 19th and 309th Divisions, and supporting attacks were made by the 120th and 303rd Rifle Divisions. The initial attack by the 107th and 102nd struck the 137th Infantry from the Ustrom River north of a divisional strongpoint at Bataevo, eastward to a point north of Sadki, and thence to the west bank of the Uzha River at Gurevo. The 102nd was stalled on the slopes of Hill 247.6, but the 107th advanced from north of Sadki to Gurevo with the 586th Rifle Regiment, led by Col. Ivan Mikhailovich Nekrasov on the left and the 765th Regiment, under command of Lt. Col. Matvei Stepanovich Batrakov, on the right. The 630th Regiment was in second echelon. The 765th broke through the forward German defenses and reached Sadki by noon. Following six hours of intense combat, in which it changed hands several times, the village was taken. The 586th advanced about 1,000m and took Hill 238.7 at 1500 hours, but was then halted by heavy fire, as was the 630th on the approaches to Dashino Farm. The 100th Division faltered against heavy defenses at Mitino after gaining just 500m. Over the day Mironov lost 40 killed and 75 wounded, which included four battalion commanders and several battalion commissars. Rakutin complained subsequently that "The 102nd TD and 107th RD attacked worst of all, and, despite their high density of weapons, they almost failed to advance at all. This is explained, first and foremost, by disorganization in the division's command, for which the commanders and commissars... received severe reprimands and warnings from me."Glantz, Barbarossa Derailed, Vol. 2, pp. 332-34