The 96th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 258th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It would become one of the more highly decorated rifle divisions of the Red Army.
The 96th Guards was formed in 5th Shock Army of Southern Front and remained in that Front until April 1944. It that month it was transferred with its 3rd Guards Rifle Corps to 28th Army and it would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. After battling across the Mius River in August it won a battle honor in the Donbas and then advanced across southern Ukraine through the winter and spring, reaching well to the west of the Dniepr. As part of 1st Belorussian Front it took part in the summer campaign that destroyed Army Group Center and was soon awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its role in the fighting around Babruysk and shortly after the Order of Lenin for its part in the liberation of Minsk. After this campaign it was transferred with 28th Army to 3rd Belorussian Front and in early 1945 took part in the Vistula-Oder Offensive, winning further honors in East Prussia. It was moved again with its Army to join 1st Ukrainian Front in April and played an important role in the battles south of Berlin. Following the German surrender the 96th Guards was assigned to occupation duty as part of the Central Group of Forces but was moved back to Belarus in 1946 and disbanded in early 1947.
Formation The 258th had fought in the defensive phase of the Battle of Stalingrad as part of 1st Guards and 24th Armies before being transferred to 65th Army for Operation Uranus.David M. Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book One, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, p. 75 During the pursuit of the defeated Axis forces it was moved to 5th Shock Army and distinguished itself sufficiently to merit Guards status. As of the beginning of May the 258th was serving as a separate rifle division in 5th Shock Army in Southern Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 114 On May 4 the division was redesignated as the 96th Guards; it would receive its Guards banner on June 10. Once the division completed its reorganization its order of battle was as follows: 291st Guards Rifle Regiment (from 405th Rifle Regiment) 293rd Guards Rifle Regiment (from 991st Rifle Regiment) 295th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 999th Rifle Regiment) 234th Guards Artillery Regiment (from 782nd Artillery Regiment)Charles 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. 83 102nd Guards Antitank Battalion (later 102nd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion) 96th Guards Reconnaissance Company 111th Guards Sapper Battalion 92nd Guards Signal Battalion (later 24th Guards Signal Company) 100th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 99th Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 101st Guards Motor Transport Company 97th Guards Field Bakery 98th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1601st Field Postal Station 1687th Field Office of the State Bank The division remained under the command of Col. Semyon Samuilovich Levin, who had commanded the 258th since January 12. At the time of its redesignation it was noted that the division's personnel were roughly 50 percent Russian nationality and 50 percent Turkmens.Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 596 At the beginning of July it remained a separate division in the Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 166
Into Ukraine In February the 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Hollidt (later renamed 6th Army) had fallen back to the Mius-Front, which had been constructed the year previous. Southern Front launched its first effort to break this line on July 17 as the Battle of Kursk was winding down, but after a great deal of costly back-and-forth fighting finally suspended the effort on July 27, although German counterattacks would continue until August 2.Earl F. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, Center of Military History United States Army, Washington, DC, 1968, p. 88
A renewed offensive began on August 13 and although Southwestern Front to the north was initially unable to penetrate the front of 1st Panzer Army south of Izium, Southern Front broke through 6th Army beginning on August 18. 5th Shock Army, with an overwhelming concentration, especially of artillery, on a narrow front, penetrated 7 km behind the front through a 3 km-wide gap. Under the light of a full moon the Army spread out north and south behind the 6th Army's front. The 96th Guards distinguished itself in the fighting for Savur-Mohyla. This hill was a lynchpin of the Mius-Front at a height of 277.9m. The 295th Guards Rifle Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. Andrei Maksimovich Voloshin, led his soldiers along the west edge of the hill and captured Hill 183.0 which unhinged the German defense.https://warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=13227. In Russian, English translation available. Retrieved August 12, 2021
German efforts to close the gap on August 20 made some initial progress but failed due to a strong Soviet reaction. By August 23 1st Panzer Army was also in trouble with its army corps south of Izium reduced to a combat strength of just 5,800 men and unable to hold a continuous line. On the 31st Field Marshal E. von Manstein was finally authorized to withdraw both armies to the Kalmius River, effectively beginning the race to the Dniepr.Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, pp. 138, 155, 160-62
As of the start of September the 96th Guards had been assigned to the 31st Guards Rifle Corps, still in 5th Shock Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 226 As the advance into the Donbas continued the division liberated an important city on September 4 and the men and women of the division were soon awarded a unique honorific:By this date the division had been transferred to the 3rd Guards Rifle Corps, where it would remain for the rest of the war. At about this time it was recorded that close to 50 percent of the division's personnel were of the 1925 year group, making this a very young cadre for any rifle division.Glantz, Colossus Reborn, p. 596
Lower Dniepr Offensive During the rest of September Southern Front, with 5th Shock on its right (north) flank, forced the German 6th Army back through the Donbas towards the southernmost part of the Panther–Wotan line from Zaporozhe to Melitopol. On October 9 the Front (renamed 4th Ukrainian on October 20) renewed its offensive on both sides of the latter city. The 51st Army's battle for Melitopol lasted until October 23 after which 6th Army was in a near rout across the Nogay Steppe. The larger part of its forces fell back to form a bridgehead east of the Dniepr south of Nikopol with the 5th Shock and 2nd Guards Armies in pursuit. During November substantial German reserves were moved into the bridgehead in anticipation of an offensive to restore communications with Crimea, which had been cut off by the remainder of 4th Ukrainian Front. This came to nothing in the face of Soviet threats elsewhere, but the bridgehead remained strongly held.Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, pp. 176-79, 184, 186
Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive A cold wave in the first week of January 1944 firmed up the ground enough for the 4th and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts to begin moving against the remaining German positions in the Dniepr bend. 3rd Ukrainian began its assault on January 10, but this had largely failed by the 13th. On the same day the 4th Ukrainian attacked the bridgehead but made minimal gains before both Fronts called a halt on January 16. The offensive was renewed on January 30 against a bridgehead weakened by transfers and 4th Ukrainian drove a deep wedge into its south end. On February 4 the German 6th Army ordered the bridgehead to be evacuated.Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, pp. 240-42 During February, 5th Shock Army was transferred to 3rd Ukrainian Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 78
On February 17 Colonel Levin left the division to further his military education; he would go on to command the 62nd and 99th Rifle Divisions and became a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was replaced the next day by Maj. Gen. Sergei Nikolaevich Kuznetsov, who would remain in command into the postwar. The battle for Krivoi Rog continued until the end of that month. On March 4 all four of the Ukrainian fronts began a new offensive into western Ukraine. By March 20 the 3rd Ukrainian had reached the Southern Bug River and 5th Shock Army was on the approaches to Nikolayev, which Hitler had designated as a "fortress" on March 8.Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, pp. 240-42, 273-75, 277, 282-83 Nikolayev was finally liberated on March 28; immediately following this victory the 3rd Guards Corps was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and assigned to the 28th Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 118 While in the Reserve the 102nd Guards Antitank Battalion gave up its 45mm antitank guns and was reequipped with 12 SU-76 self-propelled guns.Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 83
Operation Bagration At the beginning of June the 3rd Guards Corps consisted of the 96th, 50th and 54th Guards Rifle Divisions. When the Army returned to the front it joined the center of 1st Belorussian Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1944, p. 163 at the corner northwest of Mozyr, linking with the left-flank armies which stretched along the southern margins of the Pripyat Marshes. While those armies would mostly remain inactive in the first weeks the Front commander, Army Gen. K. K. Rokossovskii, assigned the 28th an active role in the initial phase of the summer offensive in support of 65th Army's drive on Babruysk. The Army deployed all three of its corps in the first echelon with 3rd Guards Corps on a 5 km-wide sector on the right. During the first two days of the battle the Corps drove back the southern flank of the German 35th Infantry Division and together with elements of 65th Army advanced up to 10 km on June 24, forcing the German division back towards the railroad south of Babruysk.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, pp. 207-08, 210 On July 2 the 96th Guards would be decorated with the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the battle for Babryusk.
On June 25 the 28th Army broke into the lines of the 35th and 129th Infantry Divisions in five places. The 129th Infantry, by now reduced to the size of a regiment, was forced to rotate to the west, leaving a gap on its corps' north flank. Meanwhile, the 18th Rifle Corps of 65th Army was scattering the remnants of 35th Infantry and widening the gap, which was entered by Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliev. By the evening of June 28 Pliev's 30th Cavalry Division reached the outskirts of Slutsk, as the rifle divisions of 28th Army were making their best speed to keep up with the advance of the mobile group. By June 30 German reinforcements were arriving, including elements of the 4th Panzer Division at Baranavichy which were sent to block the road to Slutsk. From June 22 to July 3 the 28th Army and the Pliev Group had forced a German retreat of 250 km to the vicinity of Stowbtsy, but the advance now paused to bring up supplies to overcome the increasing resistance.Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, pp. 213-14, 217, 219 On July 23 the 96th Guards as a whole would receive the Order of Lenin while, unusually, its 295th Guards Rifle Regiment would be given the Order of the Red Banner in the same decree, both for their parts in the liberation of the Minsk region.