The 376th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August 1941 in the Siberian Military District. It followed a very similar combat path to that of the 374th Rifle Division. It joined the fighting front in December with the new 59th Army along the Volkhov River and it continued to serve in the battles near Leningrad until early 1944. The division took horrendous casualties in the combat to create and hold open a passage to the 2nd Shock Army during the Lyuban Offensive and was itself partly or fully encircled at several times during this dismal fighting. The division finally left this region as it advanced during the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive in January 1944 and in July won a battle honor in the liberation of Pskov, while its 1250th Rifle Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In October the 376th as a whole would also receive the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Riga. The division ended the war in Latvia, helping to contain and reduce the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket, and was reorganized as a rifle brigade shortly thereafter.
Formation
Like the 372nd and 374th Rifle Divisions, the 376th began forming on 10 August 1941 in the Siberian Military District based on an RKO order of that date at Kemerovo, Stalinsk, Prokopyevsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky in the Kuzbass, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions. Many of its personnel were Kuzbass coal miners, and it was given the name of the region as an honorific when it was formed. Its order of battle was as follows: 1248th Rifle Regiment 1250th Rifle Regiment 1252nd Rifle Regiment 943rd Artillery Regiment 383rd Antitank Battalion 442nd Reconnaissance Company 660th Sapper Battalion 762nd (later 831st) Signal Battalion (later 524th Signal Company) 465th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 458th Chemical Protection (Anti-gas) Company 495th Motor Transport Company 234th Field Bakery 803rd Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1428th (later 1442nd) Field Postal Station 751st Field Office of the State Bank
Lt. Col. Dmitry Ivanovich Ugorich was assigned to command of the division on 1 September, and he would remain in command until 9 April 1942. In November the division was assigned to the 59th Reserve Army, and remained in there when it became the 59th Army. It moved by rail that month as far as Vologda from where it faced a march of about 700 km to reach the fighting front. The division and its Army joined Volkhov Front in December. The division contained a large number of experienced riflemen because when it first went into action it had 375 snipers on strength, five in each rifle platoon on average.
Lyuban Offensive Operation
Volkhov Front launched its main offensive on 6 January 1942. By the end of the day 59th Army's initial assault had expired due to heavy German resistance. Army Gen. K. A. Meretskov reported to the STAVKA the next morning, in part: "After repelling repeated enemy attacks, the 376th and 288th Rifle Divisions are along the Meneksha River line..." Following further bloody failure that day and later, on 10 January the STAVKA called a three-day halt in the attacks at Meretskov's request. After regrouping and forming new shock groups he resumed the offensive on 13 January, this time preceded by heavier and more effective artillery preparations. On 17 January the 2nd Shock Army resumed its attack, supported by more than 1,500 aircraft sorties, and finally penetrated the Germans' first defensive positions on the west bank of the Volkhov, advanced 5 – 10 km and created conditions that Meretskov considered favorable for developing success. Early on 22 January he proposed: This plan was approved later that day. The 376th would remain in 4th Army until March.