The 70th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February, 1943, based on the 1st formation of the 138th Rifle Division in recognition of that division's actions during the battle, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War.
The 70th Guards took part in heavy combat as part of 13th Army on the north flank of the Kursk salient in July 1943, helping to fight the German 9th Army to a standstill before going over to the counteroffensive. It earned a battle honor in the campaign to liberate the Oryol salient before advancing west toward the Dniepr, winning a second Order of the Red Banner in the process. After crossing that river it took part in the campaigns to liberate Kiev and then to hold the city during November. It was briefly assigned to 38th Army, then back to the 13th, before rejoining 38th Army for the duration of the war. It continued to see service through the northwest of Ukraine into the autumn of 1944 as it and its regiments received further battle honors and decorations, particularly as a result of the liberation of Lvov. In November it was reassigned with its Army to the 4th Ukrainian Front and spent the rest of the war battling through the Carpathian mountains, eventually participating in the advance on Prague in May, 1945. In the process the division became one of the most decorated formations of the Red Army.
The 70th Guards later became part of the Soviet Army as a motor rifle division and took part in the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The division was finally disbanded in 1991.
Formation The 70th Guards was one of several Guards rifle divisions created in the aftermath of the fighting for Stalingrad, on February 7, 1943. It was formed from the remnants of the 138th Rifle Division, in recognition of that division's stalwart defense against the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad, in particular the Barrikady Ordnance Factory. When formed, its order of battle was as follows: 203rd Guards Rifle Regiment from 344th Rifle Regiment 205th Guards Rifle Regiment from 650th Rifle Regiment 207th Guards Rifle Regiment from 768th Rifle Regiment 137th Guards Artillery Regiment from 295th Artillery Regiment 74th Guards Antitank Battalion from 230th Antitank BattalionCharles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 73 77th Guards Antiaircraft Battery (until April 20, 1943) 69th Guards Reconnaissance Company 77th Guards Sapper Battalion 99th Guards Signal Battalion 76th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 72nd Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 73rd Guards Motor Transport Company 68th Guards Field Bakery 66th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 464th (later 1102nd) Field Postal Station 1785th Field Office of the State Bank The division inherited the Order of the Red Banner that the 138th had earned during the Winter War with Finland in March, 1940. In addition, on February 22, while it was still officially the 344th Rifle Regiment, the 203rd Guards was awarded the same Order for its service at Stalingrad. Ivan Ilich Lyudnikov, who had been promoted to the rank of major general on January 27, remained in command. In the reallocation of the Soviet forces around Stalingrad the division was soon moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding.David M. Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, p. 577 It was first assigned to Western Front but under STAVKA Order No. 46077 of March 19 it came under orders of Col. Gen. K. K. Rokossovskii's Central Front in the Kursk area.Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, p. 433 As of the start of April it was still directly under Front command and later in the month it joined the newly formed 17th Guards Rifle Corps with the 6th and 75th Guards Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 86, 111
Battle of Kursk The division was officially presented its Guards banner by the Corps commander, Lt. Gen. A. L. Bondarev, on April 21. By the beginning of June the Corps was moved into 13th ArmyCombat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 136 which held most of the north shoulder of the Kursk salient. On June 19 General Lyudnikov left the division to take command of the 15th Rifle Corps; he would be named a Hero of the Soviet Union on October 16, eventually command the 39th Army, and be promoted to the rank of colonel general. He was replaced by Col. Ivan Andreevich Gusev, who would be promoted to the rank of major general on September 1.
In the course of the battle the 70th Guards would defend part of the Olkhovatka sector. 13th Army, along with reinforcements, occupied the most important sector of Rokossovskii's front, about 32 km in width, bordered on the right by 48th Army and by 70th Army on the left. The Army had four of its rifle divisions (8th, 15th, 81st and 148th) in its first echelon, two in second echelon, and the 17th and 18th Guards Rifle Corps in reserve. Central Front staff anticipated two probable German attack axes, the first against 48th Army and the second against 13th Army, the latter in the direction of Ponyri, Zolotukhino and Kursk.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016, Kindle ed., Book One, Part One, ch. 1Robin Cross, The Battle of Kursk, Penguin Books, London, UK, 1993, p. 128
When the German offensive, Operation Zitadelle, began on July 5 it soon became apparent that the main attack would be against 13th Army, although somewhat farther to the west of Ponyri than anticipated, and during the morning Rokossovskii sent an order to his army commanders: "At dawn on 6 July begin operations according to variation no. 2." This variant called for the launching of the main counterattack by the two reserve Guards corps and the 2nd Tank Army along the front from MamoshinoOrlankaPrilepyBityugKashara in the general direction of Ladyrevo and Koshelevo, with supporting attacks by elements of 48th and 70th Armies. The 17th Guards Corps was somewhat delayed in its movement and by the end of July 6 was concentrating in the area BityugKasharaOlkhovatka, too late to carry out a planned attack with 16th Tank Corps to restore the situation on the Army's left flank.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book One, Part Two, ch. 2 16th Tanks had attacked alone, suffered heavy losses against German panzers, and was then ordered by Rokossovskii to dig in. Meanwhile, the commander of 13th Army, Lt. Gen. N. I. Pukhov had allocated substantial reinforcements to 17th Guards Corps, including the 1st Guards Artillery Division, the 378th Antitank Artillery Regiment and the 237th Tank Regiment; this substantial firepower ensured Bondarev would be able to hold the line even without mobile tank support.Valeriy Zamulin, The Battle of Kursk - Controversial & Neglected Aspects, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, p. 70
By July 8 the 70th Guards was facing elements of the 47th Panzer Corps of Col. Gen. W. Model's 9th Army. Model attempted three major thrusts with his panzers that day, towards Ponyri, Olkhovatka and Teploye. 20th Panzer Division had cleared the way towards the latter after a fierce action for the village of Samodurovka and was followed by the 4th Panzer Division from Model's reserve.Cross, The Battle of Kursk, p. 185 In its positions at Olkhovatka and the adjacent Hill 274 to the northeast the division was gradually reinforced with about 20 self-propelled guns (SU-122s of the 1441st SU Regiment,Sharp, "Red Hammers", Soviet Self-Propelled Artillery and Lend Lease Armor 1941 – 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. XII, Nafziger, 1998, p. 66) 30 tanks of the 231st Tank Regiment, 72 antitank guns of the 3rd Antitank Brigade, the 477th Army Mortar Regiment, two battalions of the 16th Guards Mortar Brigade and the 19th Army Cannon Artillery Regiment; the artillery reinforcements totalled 80 guns, mortars and rocket launchers of 120mm or larger size.Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 73 During the day the 4th Panzer broke through at the junction of the 70th Guards with the 75th Guards but was repulsed after heavy fighting. The 6th Infantry Division fought its way to the lower slope of Hill 274 where it was halted by a hail of fire from above.Cross, The Battle of Kursk, p. 187 With its massive firepower and commanding position on the hill the reinforced division stopped the German attacks literally in their tracks, with German losses of up to 50 tanks a day.Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 73 On July 21 the division became one of the first rifle divisions to be awarded the Order of Lenin. Five gunners or battery commanders of the 137th Guards Artillery Regiment, who fought off German tanks over open sights at point-blank range, became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and the regiment as a whole was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on August 7.Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 73
Operation Kutuzov Following the German defeat, the 70th Guards joined in the advance out of the Kursk salient. General Rokossovskii adopted his decision for the offensive on July 12, following the completion of the defensive battle. 13th Army was to attack on the morning of July 15 in the general direction of Gremyachevo and to subsequently develop the attack toward Nestorovo after July 17.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Kursk, Kindle ed., Book Two, Part One, ch. 1 These objectives proved over-ambitious and in the reorganization of Central Front that followed the 17th Guards Corps was transferred to 70th Army; as the operation continued it was again shifted, now to 60th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 191, 220
On August 30 the division, backed by the 23rd and 95th Tank Brigades and the 1454th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment,Vasiliy Krysov, Panzer Destroyer – Memoirs of a Red Army Tank Commander, Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, UK, 2010, p. 63 was credited with the liberation of the Ukrainian town of Glukhov and got the town's name as an honorific: On September 9 the division was awarded its second Order of the Red Banner.
Later that month the it was transferred with the rest of 17th Guards Corps back to 13th Army as it advanced through western Ukraine toward the Dniepr River.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 249 General Gusev directed the division in crossings of the Seym, Desna and Dniepr rivers, taking and holding bridgeheads in the area of the villages of Teremtsy and Domantovo in the Chernobyl district north of Kiev. In the process the 70th Guards inflicted up to 8,000 casualties, killed and wounded, and took 350 prisoners. In recognition of these accomplishments Gusev was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on October 16.http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1846. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved October 2, 2020. At midnight on October 5 the 13th Army was reassigned to Voronezh Front, which would soon be renamed the 1st Ukrainian Front. At this time both the 13th and 60th Armies were fighting along the right (west) bank of the Dniepr.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of the Dnepr, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2018, p. 57
Battle of the Dniepr