59th Guards Rifle Division - Combat History

Combat History

• Until July 1942 the division was part of the 7th Reserve Army of the North Caucasus Military District
• From July 1942 it joined the 5th Reserve Army
• On the 10 July 1942 the 5th Army of the STAVKA Reserve was redesignated as the 63rd Army of the Stalingrad Front
• From 28 September 1942 assigned to the Don Front
• From 22 October 1942 the division served with the Southwestern Front during the Battle of Stalingrad

The division was assigned initially to the 63rd Army (since November 1942 the 1st Guards Army, and since December 1942 3rd Guard Army), 6th Army, and eventually the 46th Army within which it ended the war.

The division saw combat for the first time during the Battle of Stalingrad from July to December 1942 as part of the 63rd Army (which became the 1st Guards Army on 1 November 1942). During fierce fighting in the Veshenskaya area, parts of the division along with other Soviet units repelled the approach of the German forces. Having forced the Don river in the El'yanskoye area, the division seized a bridgehead which was subsequently used to stage a Soviet counter-attack. In these engagements the division destroyed up to 2,000 enemy troops, and much military equipment and weapons. The division participated in Operation Little Saturn between 16 and 30 December 1942).

The division, in conjunction with other formations of the 1st Guards Army (which was renamed the 3rd Guards Army on 5 December 1942) traversed over 200 kilometers, liberated 170 settlements, including the city of Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk) on 14 February 1943, and captured around 8,000 pieces of enemy equipment. For its courage, tenacity, and heroism the division was honored and renamed the 59th Guards Rifle Division on 3 January. The division’s next combat participation was in the Donbass Offensive and the Barvenkov–Pavlograd Offensive operation (13.08 - 22.09.1943) in the Don basin and liberating the Donbass region. For it’s efforts in capturing the city of Kramatorsk on the 6 September 1943 it was awarded the honorific name ‘Kramator’ on 8 September 1943 by the Order of High Command No.9 on the same day During the liberation of Kramatorsk the division was supported by the 5th Guards Independent Motor-Rifle Brigade and the 243rd Independent Tank Regiment

The division also supported clearing the city of Zaporozhye of the enemy on 14 October 1943, in conjunction with other units. For its exemplary battle skills and valour the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 14 October 1943.

During the 1944 Nikopolsk–Krivorozhsk Offensive (Russian: Никопольско-Криворожская наступательная) operation (30.01 - 29.02) the division fought first as part of 3rd Guards Army, and then as part of 6th Army together with the 61st Guards Rifle Division, 203rd Rifle, and the 320th Rifle Division divisions of the 34th Guards Rifle Corps. For the skilful performance of combat tasks and courage of the division's troops it was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree, on 13 February 1944.

In the following months, the division was part of the attack toward Odessa, and was the first formation to enter the city on 10 April 1944 despite the bad road conditions, crossing the river lines of the Ingulets, Ingul, and Southern Bug rivers in the process. The division was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd degree on 20 April 1944 for its courage and heroism in clearing the city of Odessa. In the summer of the same year the division, as part of the 46th Army (with which it remained to the end of the war), 3rd Ukrainian Front, the division participated in the Yassy-Kishinev Offensive operation. As part of the offensive the division broke through the Wehrmacht defense to the east of Bendery, fighting on the left shore of lake Kitai, and cut off the withdrawal route to parts of German III Army Corps. Pursuing the retreating German troops, the division crossed the Soviet-Romanian border on August, 28th near the city of Reni, 25 kilometres to the East of Galați. On 8 September, the Bulgarian border was also crossed as the division was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front for the Belgorod Offensive (28.09 - 20.10). From October 1944 to February 1945 the division took part in the Battle of Debrecen and the initial phase of the Budapest Offensive, the Kechkemet-Budapest Offensive operation. During this operation the commander of the 179th Rifle Regiment, T.N. Artem’yev was awarded Hero of Soviet Union for heroic performance in combat.