The 48th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in October 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 264th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in the 3rd Tank Army when it formed but this force was badly damaged in Army Group South's counteroffensive south of Kharkov in March 1943 and the division had to be withdrawn for a substantial rebuilding in 57th Army of Southwestern Front during the spring. It remained in the south of Ukraine into early 1944, mostly in either that or the 37th Army, and won a battle honor in the process. It was then removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for another rebuilding before returning to the front in May 1944 and joining the 28th Army, where it remained for the duration of the war. Taking part in the summer offensive in Belarus the 48th Guards was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and several of its subunits also received decorations or distinctions. In January 1945 the division fought into East Prussia and assisted in the fighting southwest of the city/fortress of Königsberg before 28th Army was redeployed westward to take part in the Berlin operation. By now it was part of 1st Ukrainian Front and spent the last days of the war advancing on Prague. During the summer it was reassigned to the Belorussian Military District. The division was converted to the 38th Guards Rifle Brigade in 1946, but reformed as a new 48th Guards Rifle Division in 1949.
Formation The 48th Guards officially received its Guards title on October 20. It would receive its banner on December 17 from the commander of 3rd Tank Army, Major General Pavel Rybalko, and its subunits would be redesignated on December 26; at this point the division's order of battle was as follows: 138th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 1056th Rifle Regiment) 143rd Guards Rifle Regiment (from 1058th Rifle Regiment) 146th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 1060th Rifle Regiment) 98th Guards Artillery RegimentCharles 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. 63 53rd Guards Antitank Battalion (53rd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion as of May 9, 1944) 67th Guards Antiaircraft Battery (until April 25, 1943) 58th Guards Machine Gun Battalion (until July 1, 1943) Separate rifle training company (as of May 28, 1944) 47th Guards Reconnaissance Company 53rd Guards Sapper Battalion 74th Guards Signal Battalion 54th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 50th Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 52nd Guards Motor Transport Company 49th Guards Field Bakery 46th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1630th Field Postal Station 1620th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Nikolai Matveevich Makovchuk remained in command of the division after redesignation; he had commanded the 264th throughout its 2nd formation and would be promoted to the rank of major general on November 10. The redesignation took place when 3rd Tank Army was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command after having been removed from the south flank of Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 168, 202 On October 25 the division boarded trains at Sukhinichi and began moving to the Tula area where it remained until December 20 undergoing rebuilding and training of its personnel. By the beginning of January 1943 the 48th Guards rejoined 3rd Tank Army in Voronezh Front just prior to the start of the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive. 3rd Tank still had the early mixed tank army composition with two rifle divisions, the other being the 184th.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 15
Third Battle of Kharkov The Army was concentrated just north of Kantemirovka when the offensive began on January 13. It was facing elements of the Italian 8th Army, which had already been shattered during Operation Little Saturn, and the XXIV Panzer Corps. The advance made good progress and the Front commander, Col. Gen. N. F. Vatutin, reported that 3rd Tank had captured the Valuyki and Urazovo regions in Belgorod Oblast by January 19. On February 8 the Front's 60th Army liberated Kursk and the German 2nd Army appeared to be in full retreat. 3rd Tank, currently south of Kharkov, was ordered on February 16 to exploit towards Poltava. However, on February 19 Field Marshal E. von Manstein launched his counteroffensive towards the former city and had soon thrown the forces of Voronezh Front into confusion.David M. Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, pp. 18-19, 115, 170, 278 On the last day of the month the Army was transferred to Southwestern Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 65 and was ordered to swing 90 degrees from the Poltava axis to counterattack the SS Panzer Corps. After more than a month of near constant fighting 3rd Tank was woefully under-strength, suffering from shortages of equipment, fuel and ammunition and had a total of fewer than 80 operational tanks. On March 1 the Army advanced south into the Kegichevka region and soon encountered three converging panzer divisions, with predictable results. Between March 3–5 the SS Corps and the arriving XXXXVIII Panzer Corps "completely demolished" the two tank corps and the supporting rifle divisions of 3rd Tank, forced the survivors back towards Kharkov and advanced to within 32 km of the city, which fell by March 16.Glantz, After Stalingrad, pp. 186-87, 192
Shortly after taking Belgorod on the 17th the German offensive ground to a halt in part due to the spring rasputitsa, giving the Red Army survivors a respite to regroup and rebuild. As of the beginning of April the 48th Guards was still in 3rd Tank Army in Southwestern Front, east of the Donets, but later that month it was reassigned to the new 27th Guards Rifle Corps of 57th Army, still in the same Front. It would remain under these commands into July.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 88, 113, 139, 165 On May 27 General Makovchuk took command of the 34th Guards Rifle Corps and three days later he handed command of the division to Col. Leonid Ivanovich Vagin. As it replenished its forces the division was noted in June as having 80 percent of its personnel of various Asian nationalities, but a month later the breakdown was reported as 40 percent Russian, 30 percent Ukrainian, and 30 percent Turkmen.Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 595
Into Ukraine On July 2 Colonel Vagin gave over his command to Col. Gelb Nikolaevich Korchikov. Vagin would go on to command the 79th Guards Rifle Division, be promoted to the rank of major general, and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union in April 1945. Korchikov was also promoted to major general on March 19, 1944, and led the division into the postwar period when it was reorganized as the 38th Guards Rifle Brigade. Later in July the 27th Guards Corps was transferred to the 6th Army, still in Southwestern Front, at the start of the second Donbass Strategic Offensive. This began on August 13, following the German defeat at Kursk, and the 48th Guards took part in forcing the Donets and assisting Steppe Front in the final liberation of Kharkov. Later that month the division was reassigned to the 76th Rifle Corps, which was in the Steppe Front's reserves.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 196, 224 Meanwhile, on August 7 the 98th Guards Artillery Regiment had been recognized for its service with the award of the Order of the Red Banner.
At the beginning of September the 48th Guards was again marching towards Poltava, but on the 6th the STAVKA redirected Steppe Front's main thrust in the direction of Kremenchug on the Dniepr.John Erickson, The Road to Berlin, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, UK, 1983, p. 126 During the summer offensive Sen. Sgt. Vasilii Yakovlevich Petrov, commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 146th Guards Rifle Regiment, distinguished himself. Under his leadership the platoon staged a series of raids behind German lines which gained 20 prisoners for interrogation, killed or wounded as many as 100 German soldiers and officers and gained much valuable information. On December 20 Petrov would be made a Hero of the Soviet Union; he would later be killed in action at Gumbinnen on November 25, 1944.http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=17145. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved March 9, 2020. As the Front approached the Dniepr the division returned to 57th Army although it was not immediately assigned to a corps.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 252
Battle for the Dniepr On September 26 forces of Steppe Front made three assault crossings between Kermenchug and Dnepropetrovsk, which were merged over the next few days to form a single lodgement 50 km wide and up to 16 km deep.Earl F. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, Center of Military History United States Army, Washington, DC, 1968, p. 171 In the bridgehead fighting that followed three more non-commissioned officers of the 48th Guards would become Heroes of the Soviet Union on December 20. Sen. Sgt. Pyotr Akimovich Kravets was the commander of a gun crew of the 98th Guards Artillery Regiment that made an assault crossing into the bridgehead north of Dnepropetrovsk on October 3. Three days later he directed the fire of his gun during a heavy German counterattack and accounted for four tanks, two assault guns and two machine guns. In total he and his crew destroyed seven tanks, three assault guns and several more machine guns and artillery pieces in the bridgehead.http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=3644. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved March 9, 2020. Sen. Sgt. Nikolai Petrovich Pustyntsev was the director of intelligence of the 47th Guards Reconnaissance Company. During the summer offensive he had been responsible for the capture of four prisoners for interrogation. On October 17 he led a party into the German rear and discovered well-concealed artillery positions. He then contacted the divisional artillery by radio and called in accurate fire that destroyed 12 guns, seven mortars, two armored vehicles and a large number of personnel. Pustyntsev survived the war and went on to write his memoirs.http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=18638. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved March 9, 2020. Sen. Sgt. Nikolai Kulba had volunteered for the Red Army in August 1942 after being convicted for robbery in 1941. By the spring of 1943 he was in the 146th Guards Rifle Regiment and was recognized as one of the division's best snipers, with 29 kills. In the early fighting for the bridgehead he took command of his company after its commander was wounded and led it in a successful attack on the Rogan height, despite his own wound. On October 27, in a battle for the Zhovtnevo farm, he destroyed a German machine gun position with grenades despite being wounded again in the process. He had been in hospital until sometime before his award was approved, but disappeared before it could be awarded. Kulba was not finally tracked down until 1958, due to his use of a different patronymic, and the Soviet Army authorities found he had been convicted of two more crimes, including rape. On July 1, 1959 Kulba was deprived of all ranks and awards.http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=13510. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved March 9, 2020.