Photos and historical info.
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The appeal of the Motherland found a warm response among the Tomichi – thousands of applications were submitted with a request to enroll in a volunteer division. The 150th Volunteer Siberian Rifle Division included three more units formed on Tomsk land – the Narym Volunteer Sniper Company, the Asinovskaya reconnaissance Company and the 328th Tomsk Artillery Regiment. At the beginning of 1943, the Siberians fought hard for the liberation of Velikiye Luki and Lokni. For the heroism and courage shown in these battles, the division was awarded the title of Guards, it became known as the 22nd Guards Rifle Division, and the Tomsk Artillery Regiment - the 48th Guards. In the summer and autumn of 1943, Siberian Guards took part in battles in the Smolensk direction: they fought in the area of Spas–Demensk, near Yelnya, Pavlinovo, Rzhev, Gzhatsky, Smolenskoye, Orsha. Then the 22nd Guards marched through the land of Belarus and Latvia, liberated cities and towns. For the capture of Riga, it received the name "Riga". The merit of the division in the defeat of the Courland group of Germans, consisting of selected troops of the 16th and 18th German armies, is high. The 22nd Guards Riga Division ended the war on the Baltic Sea coast on May 8, 1945. Moscow saluted five times in honor of the successful actions of the division, over 14 thousand soldiers and officers received military awards for their military valor. |