Formed in October 1918 by the merger of the 3rd and 4th infantry divisions of the Ural as the 4th Ural Infantry Division, in November 1918 the division was renamed the 30th Rifle Division. Two senior Soviet military leaders served with the division in its early years;
Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher, later famous for his commands in the Far East, commanded the division from 22 September 1918 to 15 January 1919, and Konstantin Rokossovsky, later Marshal of the Soviet Union, commanded one of the division's regiments in 1919–1920. In 1939, based on 30th Rifle Division units, the 132nd Rifle Division and 176th Rifle Division were created. Subsequently, the division was reformed as the 30th Mountain Rifle Division and began World War II under this name. The division was renamed the 30th Rifle Division on 25 August 1941.
The division was part of the 'operational army' from 22 June 1941 to 18 December 1942.
On 22 June 1941, the division was stationed at the Soviet-Romanian border on the river PrutatSculeni (Calarasi, Frontier District Number 5). The division was part of the 35th Rifle Corps of the 9th Army. On 24 June 1941 the division had entered the battle and was forced to retreat on 30 June 1941. The division held the line of Vnishora, German, and Petreshtipri. During the disorganized retreat the division lost much equipment and personnel. On 5 July the division held positions at the front from Popovka to Lipovanka. On 7 July 1941 the division was in reserve. Up to 11 July, the division numbered no more than one regiment.
On 6 August 1941, the division was transferred to the Separate Coastal Army, which was entrusted with the defense of Odessa, but before managing to link up with the Separate Coastal Army, the division was cut off, without linking up with the main forces of the army, and was forced to withdraw to the Southern Bug River. Then the division was involved in defensive and offensive battles on the Rostov axis, holding the line on the river Mius. In January 1942 the division crossed the Mius and in March 1942 participated in the attack on Taganrog. From the second half of July 1942 the division conducted a fighting retreat in the Caucasus. On 25 July, after covering the crossing of the Don in the Azov area for three days, the division defended positions in the area of Krasnodar. On 12 August the division was forced to retreat from Krasnodar. In August, the division defended near Goryachy Klyuch.
The division fought in the Tuapse Defensive Operation. By 20 August 1942 the division covered the road through the Pyatigorsk and Khrebtovy passes, After a lull in the fighting, which lasted until 23 September 1942, the division was again involved in heavy fighting. By the end of October the 30th Rifle Division held the line in the Kaverze River valley, covering the Khrebtovy Pass. On 12 December 1942 the division was transformed into the 55th Guards Rifle Division as a reward for its actions.
Senior Sergeant Gerasimos Evseyevich Kucheryavyi, Hero of the Soviet Union — Gunner 256th Rifle Regiment. Posthumously awarded the title 31 March 1943, for fighting in Goryachy Kluch on 11 November 1942. He was left alone to defend a high location and was surrounded by German soldiers. They offered to let him surrender. He allowed them to come close to him and detonated a grenade, killing four German soldiers.
Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN9785895035306.
Кудрявцев, Ф. А. Иркутская гвардейская. Kudryavtsev, FA Irkutsk Guards. – 2 ed. — Иркутск: 1944. – Irkutsk: 1944. — 39 с. – 39.
Богданов, Л. Г. В пламени и славе . Bogdanov, LG in flames and glory . — 2 ed., Corr. and add. — Иркутск: Восточно-Сибирское книжное издательство, 1988. – Irkutsk: East Siberian Publishing House, 1988. — 381 pages
Soviet Union
Red Army
Order of Lenin (1st formation)
Order of Suvorov (3rd formation)
Divisions of the Soviet Union 1945–1957
