The 4th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division on September 18, 1941, from the 1st formation of the 161st Rifle Division as one of the original Guards formations of the Red Army, in recognition of that division's participation in the successful counter-offensive that drove German forces out of their positions at Yelnya. The division then moved northwards to serve in the defense of Leningrad, as well as the early attempts to break that city's siege, but later was redeployed to the southern sector of the front as the crisis around Stalingrad developed. The 4th Guards took part in Operation Uranus which surrounded the German 6th Army in and around that city and then in the pursuit operations that drove the remaining German forces from the Caucasus steppes and the city of Rostov. The division remained in this sector for the duration of the war, fighting through the south of Ukraine through the summer of 1943 and winning the Order of the Red Banner in the process; it was further distinguished with the award of a battle honor in February, 1944. During April and May its advance was halted during the battles along the Dniestr River, but resumed in the August offensive that carried it and its 31st Guards Rifle Corps into the Balkans. It served extensively in the fighting through Hungary and in the outer encirclement during the siege of Budapest in the winter of 1944/45 and in mid-April was awarded a second battle honor for its part in the capture of Vienna. Despite this distinguished service the division was disbanded in 1946.
Formation The 4th Guards was the last of four Guards rifle divisions created in the aftermath of the fighting for Yelnya.David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 181 Unlike most later Guards divisions, its regiments and battalions retained their previous numbers with "Guards" added, as, for example: "477th Guards Rifle Regiment". On February 9, 1942 these were all re-designated, and its order of battle became as follows: 3rd Guards Rifle Regiment from 477th Rifle Regiment 8th Guards Rifle Regiment from 542nd Rifle Regiment 11th Guards Rifle Regiment from 603rd Rifle Regiment 23rd Guards Artillery Regiment from 632nd Howitzer Regiment 9th Guards Antitank Battalion from 135th Antitank Battalion 14th Guards Sapper Battalion from 154th Sapper Battalion 7th Guards Reconnaissance Battalion from 245th Reconnaissance Battalion 17th Guards Antiaircraft Battery from 475th Antiaircraft Battalion 5th Guards Signal Battalion from 422nd Signal Battalion (later 5th Guards Signal Company) 1st Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 2nd Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 6th Guards Motor Transport Company 13th Guards Field Bakery 10th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 11961st Field Postal Station (later 827th) 173rd Field Office of the State Bank The division also had an anti-aircraft machine-gun company, a training battalion and a band platoon. At around the same date, it also received the 16th Guards Mortar Battalion (82mm and 120mm mortars).Charles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, 1995, p. 43 Col. Pyotr Fedorovich Moskvitin, who had commanded the 161st since August 22, remained in command until September 30 when he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Anatolii Yosifovich Andreev.
Battle of Leningrad After a short period for rebuilding the 4th Guards was railed, along with its "sister" 3rd Guards Rifle Division, northwards to join the recently formed 54th Army in October, holding positions to the east of Leningrad.Sharp, "Red Guards" p. 43 German forces had cut off and isolated that city on September 8. The 4th Guards was earmarked to take part in the First Sinyavino Offensive beginning on October 20, but this was preempted by the German offensive on Tikhvin. The division was quickly shifted to 4th Army; beginning on October 27 and again on November 4–6 it launched attacks which slowed but did not stop the German advance. By November 8 Tikhvin had fallen, but the German XXXIX Motorized Corps was vastly overextended with a tenuous line of supply. 4th Guards was made part of the Southern Operational Group of 4th Army, and commenced its counter-attack on the 19th. Progress was slow, but on December 8 the weakened German forces evacuated the town, and the division took part in the pursuit to the Volkhov River.Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad, 1941-1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, pp. 92, 97-109
4th Guards would spend the next eight months in fighting along the Volkhov. In late January, 1942, it was transferred to 59th Army and took a supporting role in the opening stages of the ambitious Lyuban Offensive Operation, attempting to expand the penetration of 2nd Shock Army across the river with an attack alongside 65th, 327th and 372nd Rifle Divisions on January 27, but made little progress. In late March, while still under 59th Army, the division joined 372nd and 24th Guards Rifle Divisions, plus two rifle and one tank brigades, to form an operational group under Maj. Gen. I. T. Korovnikov intended to attack northwards to link with 52nd Army and clear the supply routes to 2nd Shock; by March 30 a tenuous gap 3 – 5 km wide had been cleared. On April 1 the operational group's headquarters was used to form 6th Guards Rifle Corps, and 4th Guards was drawn into reserve in the village of Selishchenskii for replenishing and refitting.Glantz, Battle for Leningrad, pp. 164, 178-79
By the beginning of May, 2nd Shock was once more effectively cut off, and Lt. Gen. M.S. Khozin of Leningrad Front was proposing that 6th Guards Corps be refitted and break through to the encircled army to make it possible to complete the advance on Lyuban. Yet another narrow corridor was forced through the German cordon, but on May 16 the 4th Guards, along with the 24th Guards and most of the rest of their corps were obliged to withdraw eastwards again.Glantz, Battle for Leningrad, pp. 194-95, 202 Two days earlier General Andreev had been reassigned to a staff position in 59th Army and was replaced in command by Col. Sergei Timofeevich Biyakov, who was in turn succeeded by Maj. Gen. Georgii Pavlovich Lilenkov from the 378th Rifle Division on June 30. The division was moved, with its Corps, to Volkhov Front in July, then left the Corps and was dispatched south to join the newly formed 1st Guards Army.Sharp, "Red Guards", p. 43
Stalingrad and aftermath 1st Guards Army was in Stalingrad Front and by August 9, as German Army Group B was about to seize Kalach-na-Donu, the Front was preparing the defense of Stalingrad between the Don and Volga rivers. The 1st Guards was ordered to deploy forward from Ilovlinskaia Station and by the end of August 14 was to have reached positions 15–20 km behind 4th Tank Army. On August 15 the German 6th Army began attacking into the northeast corner of the great bend of the Don and while this inflicted heavy casualties on both Soviet armies the 4th Guards escaped as it was still detraining at Ilovlia. 6th Army began its advance on Stalingrad on August 21 at which time the 4th Guards, with the 321st and 23rd Rifle Divisions had taken up a defense on a 20 km sector from Starodonskoi to the mouth of the Ilovlia River. This was part of a narrow bridgehead south of the Don from Kremenskaya to Sirotinskaya that was being screened by the German XI Army Corps. Beginning on August 22 and continuing over the next five days five divisions of 1st Guards Army, including the 4th Guards, forced XI Corps' troops to withdraw 8–10 km south of their original positions. While the German command downplayed this, the bridgehead would later cause the German Army much grief. On the night of August 31 the division left the bridgehead along with the Army headquarters and three other divisions into the Kotluban area east of the Don and north of the German corridor to Stalingrad.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 304, 316, 321, 328, 390-93
Operation Uranus As of September 3 the 4th Guards had been transferred to the 21st Army, still in Stalingrad Front. This formation of Stalingrad Front was renamed Don Front on September 30. On October 21 the 4th Tank Army was redesignated as the 65th Army and came under command of Lt. Gen. P. I. Batov; the division was transferred to it, still in Don Front.Glantz, Armageddon in Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 34, 441 In the planning for Operation Uranus, 21st Army was to have a leading role in breaking out of the Kletskaya bridgehead, but the 65th was to provide support on its left. The offensive began on November 19 and in the first days the Army's units played a largely sacrificial role, attacking the defenses of XI Corps frontally to cover the rapid advance of 21st Army while Batov held his 4th and 40th Guards and 23rd Rifle Divisions in reserve. On November 23 the two Guards divisions were committed against the well-developed defenses of four reinforced battalions the 44th and 384th Infantry Divisions in the Sirotinskaya area. During the day the 4th Guards captured Hills 180.9 and 146.6 and advanced up to 5 km, reaching the eastern outskirts of Khmelevskii and beginning to envelop the position which prompted General Batov to commit the 321st Division to complete the envelopment the next day. The division's advance to the southeast continued and helped to force XI Corps to conduct a fighting withdrawal to new positions; by this time Batov and the commander of the neighboring 24th Army were exchanging recriminations for their mutual inability to encircle the German divisions by capturing Vertiachii east of the Don. On the night of November 25 Batov received orders to transfer the 4th and 40th Guards plus the 258th and 321st Rifle Divisions to the 5th Tank Army of Southwestern Front.Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book One, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 75-76, 284, 353-55, 399-400, 440
This transfer was due to the completion of the encirclement of 6th Army on November 23 and the fact that 5th Tank was having difficulty overcoming Axis-held strongpoints along the Chir and Don Rivers, in particular Oblivskaya, Surovikino and Rychkovskii. By now, after a week of fighting, the rifle divisions were down to about 6,500 men each. Overnight on November 29–30 the commander of 5th Tank was informed that 4th Guards was marching southwards to join his shock group attacking Verkhne-Chirskii, Rychkovskii and the adjacent German bridgeheads across the Don.Glantz, Endgame, Book One, pp. 473-474, 480 Given 5th Tank's difficulties the new 5th Shock Army was formed on December 8 and the division was subordinated to it along with four other rifle divisions, one mechanized and two tank corps and the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps. The Army became fully operational overnight on December 11/12. At this time the German relief of 6th Army was being planned and the STAVKA considered the Don bridgeheads the most likely staging base for it since they were less than half the distance to the pocket as the alternative axis from Kotelnikovo.Glantz, Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2014, pp. 26, 40-41