12th Guards Rifle Division

The 12th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 258th Rifle Division and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in 50th Army when it was redesignated but was soon assigned to the 49th Army, then to the 10th Army and finally to the 16th Army near the end of that month. In June it was assigned to the 9th Guards Rifle Corps of 61st Army where it remained almost continually for the duration of the war, serving under several Front commands but always on the central sector of the front. During the summer offensive in 1943 it fought through western Russia and into Belarus during the winter campaigns there. Along with the rest of 61st Army it took part in the second stage of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944, advancing into the Pripyat marshes region, winning a battle honor and shortly thereafter the Order of the Red Banner. After a short time in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command it was moved to the 3rd Baltic and later the 1st Baltic Front driving into Latvia and Lithuania, being decorated with the Order of Suvorov for its part in the occupation of Riga. In December it was returned to the 1st Belorussian Front and took part in the offensives that propelled the Red Army into Poland and eastern Germany. After the fall of Berlin the division advanced to the Elbe River where it linked up with the US 84th Infantry Division. Following the German surrender it was disbanded in July, 1946.

The division was officially raised to Guards status on January 5, 1942 in recognition of its role in the liberation of Kaluga on December 30. Its sub-units would not receive their Guards redesignations until February. The 258th had been one of the first divisions formed after the German invasion with a distinct "national" or ethnic identity; it was known as the Uzbek division. Its order of battle, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions, was eventually as follows:

Maj. Gen. Mikhail Aleksandrovich Siyazov, who had led the 258th Rifle Division since November 17, 1941 and had been promoted to that rank three days earlier, remained in command.

The division was in 50th Army of Western Front when it was redesignated. During January 7–8 the Army attacked along its entire front against German forces that were organized for all-round defense. The division was on its right flank and, in cooperation with the 290th Rifle Division, advanced successfully and reached a line from Verteby to Karavai to Dvortsy by January 12 before running into stiffer opposition. On January 14 the adjacent 49th Army began an attack along its entire front against stubborn resistance in an effort to reach, among other objectives, a fortified line from Kondrovo to Polotnyany Zavod. On the same date Front directive No. 412 assigned the 12th Guards to the 49th with the tasks of accelerating to offensive and simultaneously put pressure on the rear of German units operating against its former Army along the Yukhnov axis.

The division moved to concentrate in the area of Ozerna and Subbotino, 1 km north of Davydovo and joined the resumed offensive on January 16. During the next day it was fighting along the western bank of the Ugra River, attacking in the direction of Malaya Rudnya with its main forces, while a detachment was simultaneously blocking Sabelnikovo from the north and east. Meanwhile, the 133rd and 173rd Rifle Divisions were taking heavy casualties in frontal attacks against the fortified line. By January 18 the 173rd and 238th Rifle Divisions were attacking to outflank the line and cut off the defenders' retreat to the west and the 12th Guards completed its concentration before advancing in the direction of Pogorelovo. During the next day it was involved in heavy fighting for the villages of Matovo and Rudnya (3km west of Sabelnikovo) and captured them. Under intense pressure and in danger of encirclement the German forces began to withdraw from the Kondrovo area. On January 20 the division was transferred to the 10th Army and moved to the Sukhinichi region for operations against German forces attacking from the Zhizdra-Zikeevo area.

By the beginning of February the 12th Guards had been transferred yet again, now to the 16th Army, still in Western Front. The counteroffensive in front of Moscow had mostly run out of steam by this point. On March 26 General Siyazov was appointed as deputy commander of 5th Army and handed the division to Maj. Gen. Konstantin Maksimovich Erastov. In April it was moved to the 58th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for much-needed rebuilding before returning to 16th Army in May. In June it was finally assigned to 61st Army, still in Western Front, where it became the main formation of the new 9th Guards Rifle Corps, along with four rifle brigades: the 104th, 108th, 110th and 257th; the division also provided the supporting cadre to form the Corps' headquarters. Remarkably, the division would remain in this Army for the duration of the war, mostly in 9th Guards Corps but occasionally under direct Army command.

During the latter half of 1942 the 61st Army was involved in battles of local significance while the main fighting went on around Stalingrad and Rzhev. In November Col. Porfirii Martinovich Gudz, who had previously commanded the 31st Guards Rifle Division before being wounded, became deputy commander of 12th Guards and from January to March, 1943 served as acting commander until General Erastov returned. Following the German defeat at Stalingrad, in February 1943 the Army was transferred to Bryansk Front and on February 12 assaulted the defenses of the German 2nd Panzer Army's 112th Infantry Division in the Ulanova and Merkulavsky sector along with the 342nd and 356th Rifle Divisions, supported by the 68th Tank Brigade. Within hours the assault faltered in the face of heavy German fire.

The 16th Army launched a new attack against 2nd Panzer Army on February 22, supported by 61st and 3rd Armies north and east of Bolkhov. The main attack was mounted by six rifle divisions backed by three tank brigades attacking along the Zhizdra axis but only managed to gain 7km by February 25 due to rain and muddy roads and a skilful defense. Meanwhile the commander of 61st Army, Lt. Gen. P. A. Belov, planned to lead his attack with the 12th Guards supported by the 68th Tank Brigade once again against the defenses of 112th Infantry about 18km north of Bolkhov. If the attack succeeded it would be reinforced by the 342nd and 356th Divisions but in the event one regiment of the 112th repulsed the division with relative ease and at considerable cost in casualties. Bryansk Front acknowledged the failure on this sector and ordered Belov to transfer the three divisions to the 3rd Army to reinforce its bridgehead on the west bank of the Oka River. In the event the 12th Guards was the last of the three to arrive, one of its rifle regiments never actually left the 61st Army sector, and by March 1 German counterattacks had eliminated the bridgehead, so it is possible the division never actually left the Army's command.