The 358th Rifle Division formed in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Buguruslan. It first saw action in January 1942, taking part in the offensive northwest of Moscow which carved out the salient around Toropets deep in the rear of Army Group Center. The division remained on this general sector of the front, nearly the whole time in 4th Shock Army, until March 1944, when it was withdrawn for rebuilding. It was then assigned to 21st Army north of Leningrad where it participated in the offensive that drove Finland out of the war from June into August, and remained on this front until December. It was then reassigned to the 39th Army, under which it fought in East Prussia until April 1945. During that month the entire 39th Army began moving to the Far East, where it took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, where the 358th won its second battle honor, capping a distinguished record of service.
Formation
The division began forming in August 1941 in the Volga Military District at Buguruslan. Its order of battle was as follows: 1187th Rifle Regiment 1189th Rifle Regiment 1191st Rifle Regiment 919th Artillery Regiment 484th Sapper Battalion 422nd Reconnaissance Company 377th Signal Company The 219th Antitank Battalion would be added in early 1942. Col. Zakhar Nikitovich Usachyov was assigned to command of the division on 9 September, and he continued in command until 8 June 1942, being promoted to major general on 21 May. After a couple of months in the Volga District the division was moved north to the Moscow area, where it was assigned to the 60th (Reserve) Army which was forming there. In late December the 358th, in common with two other rifle divisions of this Army, was transferred to the newly formed 4th Shock Army (re-designated from 27th Army), while the headquarters became the basis of the 3rd Shock Army, both in Northwestern Front. At the start of the offensive on Toropets in January 1942, the division had 10,000 men on strength, making it nearly full-strength for this period of the war.
Toropets-Kholm Offensive
On 18 December the STAVKA of the Supreme High Command issued its Order No. 005868 to the command of Northwestern Front, spelling out the goals and objectives of this operation: In the event the operation would not begin until 9 January 1942, due to the poor road and rail network. 4th Shock, commanded by Col. Gen. Andrey Yeryomenko, deployed on a front 50 km wide, facing most of the 253rd Infantry Division; with just 10,000 men the German "line" was in fact a string of outposts, although well-fortified since the Germans had occupied this sector since October. The Army also had 790 guns of 76mm caliber or greater for support. At the outset the 358th was in second echelon with the 332nd and 334th Rifle Divisions and 21st Rifle Brigade.
4th Shock was to initially advance towards Andreapol. Following a 90-minute artillery preparation the leading divisions broke through the thin German defenses and advanced as much as 15 km. During the coming week the first echelon divisions surrounded and destroyed a reinforced battalion of the newly arrived 189th Regiment of 81st Infantry Division and liberated Andreapol, seizing needed supplies. While they continued to advance on Toropets, the second echelon was directed southwestward to maintain contact with 22nd Army of Kalinin Front. Toropets was taken on 21 January with an even larger hoard of much-needed supplies, while the 358th and other second echelon units pushed on towards Velizh, cutting the rail line from Rzhev to Velikiye Luki the same day. On 22, 4 January and 3 Shock Armies were transferred to Kalinin Front.
During the rest of January and into February the division took part in several attempts to break into and liberate Velizh, but these were stymied on its outskirts. Finally, 4th Shock Army took up defensive lines, where it remained into the summer of 1943. General Usachyov was moved to command of the 262nd Rifle Division, and was replaced by Lt. Col. Semyon Aleksandrovich Vrublevsky on 9 June. He held the post until 9 February 1943, when he was replaced by Col. Nikifor Yegorovich Lubyagin.