ORDER

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

To Army General Rokossovsky

The troops of the Central Front, continuing their offensive, successfully forced the River Desna and today, September 16, captured in fighting the large strongpoint of the German defences on the line of that river — the city of Novgorod-Seversky.

Thus the defences previously prepared by the Germans along the western bank of the River Desna were broken as a result of the skilful and resolute actions of the troops of the Central Front.

In the fighting during the forcing of the River Desna and for the liberation of the city of Novgorod-Seversky, the troops of Lieutenant-General Romanenko, Lieutenant-General Batov, and Lieutenant-General Pukhov distinguished themselves.

In the fighting for Novgorod-Seversky, the following particularly distinguished themselves:

the 102nd Far Eastern Rifle Division of Major-General Andreyev, the 140th Siberian Rifle Division of Major-General Kiselev, the 162nd Rifle Division of Major-General Senchillo, the 478th Mortar Regiment of Lieutenant-Colonel Ostapenko, the 120th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment of Lieutenant-Colonel Dmitriev, the 94th Guards Mortar Regiment of Lieutenant-Colonel Kovalenko, the 235th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment of Major Popov, the 14th Engineer-Sapper Brigade of Lieutenant-Colonel Gaber, the 321st Engineer Battalion of Major Popov.

In honour of the victory achieved, the formations and units named above shall be awarded the designation "Novgorod-Seversky" and shall henceforth be named:

102nd Far Eastern Novgorod-Seversky Rifle Division,

140th Siberian Novgorod-Seversky Rifle Division,

162nd Novgorod-Seversky Rifle Division,

478th Novgorod-Seversky Mortar Regiment,

120th Novgorod-Seversky Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment,

94th Guards Novgorod-Seversky Mortar Regiment,

235th Novgorod-Seversky Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment,

14th Novgorod-Seversky Engineer-Sapper Brigade,

321st Novgorod-Seversky Engineer Battalion.

In addition, in the fighting during the forcing of the River Desna, the following also distinguished themselves:

the 69th Red Banner Sevsk Rifle Division of Major-General Kuzovkov,

the 37th Guards Rifle Division of Colonel Ushakov,

the 307th Rifle Division of Major-General Yenshin,

the 73rd Rifle Division of Major-General Smirnov,

the 137th Rifle Division of Major-General Alferov,

the 8th Rifle Division of Colonel Gudzy,

the 74th Rifle Division of Major-General Kazaryan,

the 6th Independent Artillery Regiment of Major Chichkan,

the 1168th Heavy Artillery Regiment of Major Agarkov,

the 6th Independent Engineer-Sapper Brigade of Colonel Ostanov,

the 7th Assault Engineer-Sapper Brigade of Lieutenant-Colonel Barash,

the 9th Independent Pontoon-Bridge Battalion of Lieutenant-Colonel Sklyar,

the 49th Independent Pontoon-Bridge Battalion of Major Pavlov,

the 50th Independent Pontoon-Bridge Battalion of Major Fedorov.

For the successful forcing of the River Desna, the army commanders, as well as the commanders of distinguished formations and units, shall be proposed for the award of the Order of Suvorov.

Today, September 16, at 22:00, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, salutes our valiant troops who successfully forced the River Desna and liberated the city of Novgorod-Seversky with twelve artillery salvoes from one hundred and twenty-four guns.

For the excellent combat operations, I declare my gratitude to all the troops under your command who participated in the fighting during the forcing of the River Desna and the liberation of the city of Novgorod-Seversky.

Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the struggle for the freedom and independence of our Motherland!

Death to the German invaders!

Supreme Commander-in-Chief

Marshal of the Soviet Union I. STALIN

September 16, 1943 [No. 14]