1st NKVD Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

The 1st NKVD Rifle Division was a Division sized of the NKVD and eventually Red Army of the Soviet Union that existed pre-war and during the war.

History
The 1st NKVD Rifle division was formed sometime before World War II where it remained on the Finnish/Soviet border around the area of Mga until the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The actual division was formed in August of 1941 from the former 3rd and 102nd Border Guard Regiment and the 7th and 33rd NKVD Rifle Regiments. In December of 1941 the division was then assigned to the 8th Army where it remained until February of 1942 when it moved back to the "Neva Operations Group" as part of the Leningrad Front. Later that year in August the division was reformed as the new "46ya (Dzerzhinsky) Strelkovaya Diviziya" in the soviet army.

Organization at beginning
Organization of the "division" before it was actually considered a division sized unit.:


 * Headquarters
 * 3rd NKVD Rifle Regiment (Former 3 Border Guards)
 * 7th NKVD Rifle Regiment (Former 7 NKVD Regiment)
 * 33rd NKVD Rifle Regiment (Former 33 NKVD Regiment)
 * 102nd NKVD Rifle Regiment (Former 102 Border Guards)
 * 93rd Light Artillery Regiment (Attached during Winter War)

Organization during War
When the war started the division was de-organized and re-organized as a rifle division within the army. It was then known (in the army) as the "46th (Dzerzhinsky) Rifle Division): see for further information. The structure when it entered the army:


 * Headquarters
 * 176th Rifle Regiment
 * 314th Rifle Regiment
 * 340th Rifle Regiment
 * 393rd Light Artillery Regiment
 * 60th Separate Anti-Tank Company
 * 49th Reconnaissance Company
 * 40th Engineer Battalion
 * 353rd Signal Battalion
 * 36th Medical Battalion
 * 63rd Separate Chemical Defense Company
 * 138th Motor Transport Company
 * 299th Field Bakery
 * 68th Divisional Veterinary Hospital
 * 937th Field Post Station
 * 1134th Field Tick Office of the State Bank