73rd Guards Rifle Division

The 73rd Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in March 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 38th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War.

As the 38th it had fought in the Battle of Stalingrad and distinguished itself during Operation Ring in the 64th Army. It remained assigned to that Army when it was redesignated as the 7th Guards Army. Unusually, the division, as well as its four regiments, were all granted honorific titles following the battle. It moved north to the Kursk area joining Voronezh Front and played an important role in the defense of the Northern Donets River south of the salient as part of the 25th Guards Rifle Corps during Operation Zitadelle. Following this victory it fought in the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive in August and continued advancing toward the Dniepr River into the early autumn. Over the winter it took part in the complex battles in the great bend of the Dniepr, now as part of the 57th Army's 64th Rifle Corps in 2nd Ukrainian Front; it would remain under these Army (with one brief reassignment) and Corps commands for the duration of the war. The 73rd Guards advanced east to the Dniestr River in the spring of 1944 and then in July took part in the offensive that drove Romania out of the Axis. Entering Bulgaria and then Yugoslavia it assisted partisan brigades in the liberation of Belgrade, for which it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In November the division made an assault crossing of the Danube for which it was further rewarded with its second honorific. The 73rd Guards ended the war in Austria and was disbanded in June 1946.