The 345th Rifle Division began forming in September, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea. Its first formation served exclusively in the southernmost parts of the Soviet-German front, specifically in the Caucasus and Crimea. It arrived at Sevastopol in December, and fought stubbornly in defense of the fortress-port until mid-July, 1942, when the city capitulated and the division was destroyed. In March, 1945, a new 345th was formed in the Far East, and a few months later took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, but as it was in a reserve formation it saw little, if any, actual combat. 1st Formation The division formed for the first time on September 9, 1941, at Makhachkala in the North Caucasus Military District. Just before it was sent to the front, its personnel were noted as being 38 percent Russian, with the remaining 62 percent Central Asian and Caucasian; most of the Caucasian troops were Ossetians and Chechens. Its order of battle was as follows: 1163rd Rifle Regiment 1165th Rifle Regiment 1167th Rifle Regiment 905th Artillery Regiment 629th Antiaircraft Battalion 622nd Sapper Battalion 793rd Signal Battalion 404th Reconnaissance Company The absence of an antitank battalion is notable. Even when it shipped out to Sevastopol it only had six such guns on hand. Col. Nikolai Olimpievich Guz took command of the division on the day it was formed and he remained in command until the first formation was dissolved. The unit had about three months to form up far from the front before going into action. In late December it moved to the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti. As of December 20, the division had the following strengths (actual on hand/Official Shtat): Officers, NCOs, men - 11,279/11,434 Rifles (inc. semi-auto.) - 7,131/8,666 Submachine guns - 0/622 Machine guns (all types) - 165/180 76mm artillery - 21/28 45mm antitank guns - 6/18 122mm howitzers - 13/8 Mortars of all calibres - 93/162 Radios - 25/31 Horses - 2,295/2,510 Motor transport - 139/216 The division was not badly off for manpower, and was over-strength in howitzers, but was lacking in weapons in general and especially modern weapons. It had less than a tenth of the semi-automatic rifles it should have, and no submachine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, or 37mm anti-aircraft guns at all, just six antitank guns, and 107mm mountain mortars were substituted for 120mm