67th Guards Rifle Division


The 67th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 1st formation of the 304th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was officially redesignated in the 65th Army of Don Front, in recognition of that division's leading role in reducing the German 6th Army during Operation Ring, the destruction of the encircled German and Romanian forces at Stalingrad. During the following months it was substantially rebuilt while moving north during the spring of the year. The division put up a very strong defense in the Battle of Kursk, facing some of the main elements of Army Group South, and then attacked through the western Ukraine after the German defeat. Along with the rest of 6th Guards Army it moved further north to join 2nd Baltic and later 1st Baltic Front in the buildup to the summer offensive against Army Group Center, winning a battle honor and shortly after the Order of the Red Banner in the process. During the rest of 1944 it advanced through the Baltic states and ended the war near the Baltic Sea, helping to besiege Army Group Courland in 1945. The 67th Guards was disbanded in 1946.

Formation

The 67th Guards was one of two Guards rifle divisions created prior to the German surrender during the Battle of Stalingrad. When formed, its order of battle was as follows:
Col. Serafim Pavlovich Merkulov, who had commanded the 304th prior to its redesignation, remained in command and was promoted to the rank of major general on January 27.

Operation Ring

The final stage of Operation Ring was scheduled to begin on January 22, but in the event began in earnest the day before with a strong reconnaissance-in-force by elements of the 24th, 65th and 21st Armies against the entire northwestern corner of 6th Army's defenses beginning just before 1000 hours. During the day this attack shattered the defenses of the VIII Army Corps' 113th, 76th and 44th Infantry Divisions in the 10km-wide sector from just south of Novaya Nadezhda State Farm southward to Hill 134.4. The 76th was seriously damaged and Army Group Don reported in the evening that "the 44th ID seems to be crushed." Furthermore a gap 6km wide had been carved into 6th Army's western front with no hope of being closed and Gumrak airfield was now within range of Soviet medium artillery. These successes were enough to secure Guards status for the 293rd and 304th Rifle Divisions by the end of the day.
During January 25 the 65th Army pressed forward with the 27th and 67th Guards, 23rd and 233rd Rifle Divisions, converging on Aleksandrova and the western half of Gorodishche, capturing both towns as well as Razgulaevka Station. As they advanced these divisions pushed the 76th and 113rd Infantry back toward the Vishnevaia Balka and the western end of the Barrikady workers' settlement. The 67th Guards, 233rd and 24th Rifle Divisions then oriented their assault to the western edge of the Krasny Oktyabr village with the goal of linking up with the left wing of 62nd Army, specifically the 13th Guards and 284th Rifle Divisions. This was intended to chop 6th Army's pocket in two and succeeded just after dawn on January 26, catching the German defenders disorganized and demoralized by the previous day's combat. During the day the 67th Guards, with the 24th and 233rd, faced tough fighting against the remnants of the 76th Infantry, advancing 3-5km. The division made the best progress, reaching and capturing Marker 73.6, less than 1000m from the western edge of the two factory villages.
The southern German pocket, including Field Marshal F. Paulus, surrendered on January 31. The next day Don Front concentrated its artillery and airpower, along with the 62nd, 65th and 66th Armies against the roughly 50,000 men remaining in the northern pocket. The attack began at 0830 hours with a 90-minute artillery preparation with about 1,000 guns directly supporting 65th Army. The division gave support to the main attack by the 23rd and 24th Divisions across the Vishnevaia Balka which soon gained anywhere from 600-1,200m and resulted in the capture of up to 20,000 German soldiers and the through demoralization of the remainder. All but a few holdouts surrendered on February 2, and the 67th Guards and 214th Rifle Divisions drew the duty of clearing these from the factory district:Within days the division was transferred to 21st Army along with the 23rd Division, which became the 71st Guards Rifle Division on March 1.
By the beginning of March, Don Front had become Central Front and at about the same time the 21st Army was re-designated as 6th Guards Army, joining Voronezh Front later that month. Along with nearly all of the Stalingrad divisions, the 67th Guards required extensive rebuilding during these months. During April it was assigned to 22nd Guards Rifle Corps and 6th Guards Army moved inside the Kursk salient, helping to fortify the south face of the bulge. On June 23 General Merkulov handed his command over to Col. Aleksei Ivanovich Baksov, who would be promoted to major general on June 3, 1944.

Battle of Kursk

As of July 1 the 22nd Guards Corps had the 67th and 71st Guards deployed in the first echelon and the 90th Guards Rifle Division in second echelon. The boundary between the 67th and 71st was secured with assets of the latter including a battery of its 151st Guards Artillery Regiment, a battery of regimental guns, two batteries of 82mm mortars, 11 antitank guns, 14 antitank rifles, three heavy and nine light machine guns. The 67th Guards disposed of somewhat fewer weapons. These were located southwest and south of the village of Cherkasskoe which was roughly the boundary between the divisions although held by the 67th. A minefield and an antitank ditch barred the approaches to its forward edge. As a further part of the plan of defense Voronezh Front was committed to a counter-artillery preparation at such time it became clear that the German attack was imminent. The 67th Guards was to employ its 138th Guards Artillery Regiment, its regimental guns, and its 82mm and 120mm mortars on the approaches to Cherkasskoe. In the event this plan was preempted by forward detachments of 4th Panzer Army which attacked at 1610 hours on July 4, following bombing attacks and a 10-minute artillery preparation, with the goals of destroying the division's security outposts and seizing high ground for observation, but made only limited progress.
Both divisions were struck at 0600 hours on the opening day of the German offensive by XXXXVIII Panzer Corps. This powerful formation included the 11th Panzer Division, Großdeutschland Panzer-Grenadier Division and the 10th Panzer Brigade, which was equipped with the first Panther tanks to enter service. The main German thrust came from the Gertsovka to Butovo area toward Korovino and Cherkasskoe with the 67th Guards facing an infantry regiment reinforced by 70 tanks and supported by 70 aircraft; this first effort was beaten off. Even before the attack began the German forces encountered serious problems due to minefields and other Soviet fixed defenses, as well as overcrowding on a very narrow attack sector. The Panthers became stuck in the minefields, blocking the tanks of Großdeutschland and forcing the infantry to go in without direct armor support. A marshy gully in front of the 196th Guards Rifle Regiment, which had been skilfully strengthened with a system of anti-tank obstacles, proved to be a difficult and time-consuming barrier. A second attack followed at 0710, this time with two infantry regiments and up to 100 tanks. Thanks to artillery fire from an antitank strongpoint which had been prepared near Cherkasskoe, as well as divisional and army artillery, this attack was also beaten back to its start line. Further attacks followed at 0800 and 1030 with no better results. Soviet observers recorded 25 tanks and up to 300 infantrymen blown up on the minefields in front of the village. By late in the morning the 27th Antitank Brigade arrived from 6th Guards Army reserve to help secure the boundary between the two Guards divisions.
As the day wore on elements of the 3rd Panzer Division and Großdeutschland struck at the boundary between the two divisions, attempting to overrun the village strongpoints and also to outflank Cherkasskoe from the east. Successive bombing attacks cleared a path for their tanks and the infantry following; the armor advanced at low speed with frequent stops while waiting for the infantry to come up. At noon an infantry regiment supported by 30 tanks attacked from Butovo toward heights 244.5 and 237.8, finally penetrating into the 67th Guards' defense. Despite this partial success the panzers became stuck between the two villages for the rest of the day, in heavy fighting, only establishing a tenuous hold on part of Cherkasskoe by midnight, a very poor showing for what was planned to be a major breakthrough of the Soviet defenses. The Soviet engineering technical service had played an important role in assisting the defense, accounting for up to 200 German infantry and five tanks using delayed-action mines and booby traps near height 244.5 and on the approaches to Cherkasskoe.
During this fighting a battalion of the 196th Guards Regiment defending an antitank strongpoint was ordered by Colonel Baksov to fall back to an alternate defensive line to the north. A platoon under command of Jr. Lt. Alekov was tasked with covering the battalion's withdrawal; Alekov reportedly motivated his 15 men with the shout, "The Guard may die, but does not retreat!" Covered by the fire of this platoon the battalion was able to fall back in an organized fashion and halt any further German advance, although Alekov and all members of his platoon were killed. By day's end the day the two divisions occupied a line from Bubny to Nova-Ivanovka to Yarki to Trirechnoe.
On July 6 the 67th Guards Rifle continued in savage combat with the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps. The German attack began at 1000 hours with an artillery and air preparation; the plan was to launch two concentric attacks along the Oboyan axis with one, involving the 11th Panzer, Großdeutschland, and the 332nd Infantry Division, to encircle Cherkasskoe before pressing on toward Pokrovka. Masses of heavy armor, including Tiger tanks, pushed against the division's positions without making a breakthrough. For its part, the division employed tank-hunting dogs very successfully:When German armor arrived at Dmitrievka the combat became very intense as individual antitank men, armed with Molotov cocktails and grenades, were sent forth to repulse the attack. The chief of the 199th Guards Regiment's chemical service, Cpt. Batanov, led his group of tank destroyers until the panzers advanced within 15-20m, at which point their projectiles halted or destroyed up to 12 tanks. In spite of these successes, the division's line was overrun by Großdeutschland and the 11th Panzer Division, and 6th Guards Army ordered the division to fall back to a further line in the Syrtsevo to Dubrova area. The situation was made worse by lack of cooperation and communications between 22nd Guards Corps and the 1st Tank Army, which was intended to be a backstop to 6th Guards. By nightfall the division was partly encircled and had to slip out through German lines, with substantial losses. On the morning of July 7 it was moved into the Army reserve along with the 51st and 52nd Guards Rifle Divisions of the neighboring 23rd Guards Rifle Corps where it began putting itself in order in the Berezovka area. Overnight the division occupied defensive positions along the line of the southern outskirts of Verkhopene to Shchenyachii woods to Stanovaya woods. The following day the 67th and 51st Guards cooperated with elements of the 3rd Mechanized and 6th Tank Corps in blocking any German advance along the direct paved road to Oboyan. In order to create more favorable conditions for a renewed attack on July 9 a German infantry regiment supported by 60 tanks attacked the division at 0200 hours along the southern outskirts of the strongpoint of Verkhopene and pushed them back to the north. The main assault unfolded at 0900 following a massive airstrike. On the Verkhopene to Stanovaya woods sector up to 200 panzers struck units of the 3rd Mechanized and 67th Guards defending the southern slopes of height 242, 3.5km east of the village. The first attack was beaten off by the fire of antitank artillery and dug-in tanks with significant losses and a further attempt at 1130 hours fared similarly. The German forces now undertook to outflank Verkhopene to the east, heading for Kalinovka; at the same time German infantry renewed the attack from the village's southern outskirts and, following fierce street fighting, reached the northeastern outskirts. By 1300 the division had fallen back to a line from the southern outskirts of Kalinovka to height 251.4 and by day's end had suffered considerable casualties and had retreated farther north to the Kalinovka to Vladimirovka area to regroup. The German breakthrough attempt in the area had been stymied by the combined Soviet forces, including the 309th Rifle Division which was now covering the 67th Guards and 3rd Mechanized.
Throughout July 10 the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps continued to attack the division and the 10th Tank and 3rd Mechanized Corps, attempting to advance west of the Oboyan road with up to 100 tanks, but by the onset of darkness the defenders continued to hold their positions. Overnight these were reinforced by elements of the 40th Army. At about this time the division was reassigned to the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps, which also contained the 309th and 204th Rifle Divisions. The 67th Guards Rifle played little role in the rest of the battle, and once again had to be substantially rebuilt.
Following this rebuild, the division took part in the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation, as Voronezh Front broke out of the Kursk region towards the Dniepr River.

Advance

By early 1944 the 6th Guards Army had been transferred to the 1st Baltic Front. During this period the 67th Guards Rifle, and its running-mate 71st Guards Rifle, joined 51st Guards Rifle Division in the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps. In the planning for Operation Bagration, this corps was given an assault role, compressed into a front of just 10km, working with the two assault corps of the adjacent 43rd Army. 6th Guards Army had been moved in secrecy into the line north of the German-held Vitebsk salient over three nights previous to the attack.
The Soviet assault on June 22 began at dawn with a very heavy artillery barrage against the positions of the German 252nd Infantry Division and Corps Detachment D. By noon the assault battalions of the division had broken through the second German defense line and reached the Obol River. The following armored group crossed the river and advanced a total of 7km by evening. On the second day an additional advance of 16km was made, and during the following night Corps Detachment D collapsed. By the evening of the 24th, the division crossed the Dvina River north of Beshenkovichi and held a 50km front along the river; the gap between 6th Guards Army attacking from the north and 39th Army from the south was narrowed to just 10km. On the 25th the other two divisions of 23rd Guards Rifle Corps used the 67th Guards Rifle's bridgehead to develop the offensive westward, and late that day, farther to the east, the pincers closed on the Vitebsk salient, trapping what remained of five German divisions. In recognition of its achievements in this offensive, the 67th Guards Rifle Division was awarded the honorific "Vitebsk":
The destruction of German LIII Corps at Vitebsk helped to open a large gap between their Army Groups Center and North. On June 30 23rd Guards Rifle Corps, led by 1st Tank Corps, was ordered into the gap, bypassing south of the remaining German positions at Polotsk. Over the following months the 1st Baltic Front pushed through to the Baltic coast, and what remained of Army Group North was confined to the Courland Pocket. The division remained in this region for the duration as part of the confining forces; in April, 1945, it was reassigned, along with the rest of its corps, to 67th Army.

Postwar

At the war's end the division's men and women shared the full title of 67th Guards Rifle, Vitebsk, Order of the Red Banner Division. After the war, the division was based at Liepāja in western Latvia. In September it came under command of Maj. Gen. Vladimir Arkadievich Rodionov who held this position for the remainder of the division's existence. It was disbanded at Liepāja in September, 1946.

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