Active ? - 21 June 1943 Branch Cavalry | Country Soviet Union Size Division | |
Role Breakthrough and Exploitation in Deep Operations | ||
The 24th Cavalry Division was a prewar division assigned to the Transcaucasus Military District on 22 June 1941. The division was assigned there after participating the Winter War.
Contents
Invasion of Poland
The division participated in the Invasion of Poland. The division was assigned to the Lepelskaya of the Belorussian Front's 3rd Army.
World War II
Assigned as an independent division in the Transcaucasus Military District when the war began. The division lost the 24th Tank Regiment in August 1941. The division was called forward to the STAVKA Reserves in October 1941. The division first went into action with the Kalinin Front's 30th Army north and west of Moscow.
On 1 January 1942 the division was assigned to the 11th Cavalry Corps. Despite being at 30% strength the division went on the offensive. While most of the 11th Cavalry Corps was destroyed in the spring and summer of 1942 the 24th Cavalry managed to survive as a separate division in various armies of the Kalinin Front. The division did send most of the remainder of 1942 in army and front reserves.
On 1 January 1943 the division was finally assigned to STAVKA reserves. The division was there for two months. However, it is unclear if the division received any reinforcements during this period. The division was sent to the Western Front where it remained in front reserves, out of combat until June. On 21 June 1943 the division was disbanded and used to reinforce the divisions of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps.