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The 23rd Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in March, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 88th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was one of just two Guards divisions to be formed in the far north, the 10th Guards being the other. It continued to serve in Karelian Front, where it was formed, until October when it was railed south to join the 1st Shock Army of Northwestern Front; it would remain in that Army until nearly the end of 1944. Over the next several months it took part in the dismal fighting around the Demyansk salient until it was evacuated by the German II Army Corps in March, 1943. During the rest of the year the division continued battling through the forests and swamps south of Lake Ilmen, occasionally under command of the 14th Guards Rifle Corps, until the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive began in late January, 1944. The 23rd Guards took part in the liberation of Staraya Russa in mid-February and went on to win a battle honor about a week later at Dno. 1st Shock Army closed up to the German Panther Line south of Lake Peipus during the spring and then helped break through it at the start of the Baltic Campaign in July. For its part in the liberation of Ostrov the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner before gradually advancing through Latvia towards Riga, which it helped to liberate in October. By now it was in the 12th Guards Rifle Corps which was transferred in late November to the 3rd Shock Army in 1st Belorussian Front. The 23rd Guards would remain under these commands for the duration of the war, advancing across Poland and eastern Germany into Berlin in 1945 and winning a second honorific after the fighting ended. Despite a fine record of service it was disbanded in 1947.
The 43rd Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in October, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 201st Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The 201st was the only division made up of Latvian nationals in the Red Army until 1944, and the 43rd was immediately nicknamed the "Latvian Guards" division, which stuck through its existence. Formed in Northwestern Front, its initial service was in the dismal fighting around the Demyansk salient until that was evacuated by German Army Group North in February, 1943. Through the rest of the year it fought in that Front, mostly facing the several German strongpoints in the area of Velikiye Luki. Beginning in January, 1944 the division took part in the offensive that finally drove the German forces away from Leningrad and before the summer offensive, now in 22nd Army of 2nd Baltic Front it provided a cadre to form the 130th Latvian Rifle Corps, and it served in that Corps for the duration of the war. Through 1943 and into 1944 the division was able to remain closer to full strength than many other Soviet units because it drew on a relatively large pool of Latvian refugee Communist Party members and Komsomol who had escaped ahead of the Germans in 1941. It crossed the border back into Latvia in July and entered Riga on October 16, winning a battle honor in the process. For the duration of the war the 43rd Guards served mostly in Leningrad Front, containing and reducing the German forces trapped in the Courland Pocket, and also engaging in restoration work in its war-battered homeland. It continued to serve in this manner until it was converted to a rifle brigade in April, 1947.
References
- 1 2 3 "68-я АРМИЯ" [68th Army]. bdsa.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-07-12.
- ↑ Forczyk 2012, p. 88.
- ↑ Erickson 1999, pp. 61-62.
- ↑ Dunn 1997, p. 81.
- ↑ Glantz 1989, pp. 187, 190.
- Dunn, Walter Scott (1997). Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943. Westport: Greenwood. ISBN 9780275957339.
- Erickson, John (1999) [1983]. Stalin's War with Germany: The road to Berlin. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300078138.
- Forczyk, Robert (2012). Demyansk 1942–43: The frozen fortress. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 9781849085533.
- Glantz, David M. (1989). Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 9780714633626.
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