The 14th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 96th Rifle Division, which was officially a mountain unit at the time, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was on Southern Front when it was redesignated and was soon assigned to the 57th Army. It was encircled during the May German counterattack in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Its first commander was made a prisoner of war, later dying in German captivity. A cadre of the division managed to escape and was sent to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. In July it joined the 63rd Army and took part in the attacks against the Italian 8th Army that created the bridgehead south of the Don River near Serafimovich during August. In October, now in the 21st Army of Don Front, it was active in two probing attacks against the Romanian forces now containing the bridgehead which inflicted severe casualties in advance of the Soviet winter counteroffensive. At the start of that offensive the division was in 5th Tank Army, but was soon transferred to 1st Guards Army and then to the 3rd Guards Army when that was formed. It was under this Army as it advanced into the Donbas in late winter before returning to 57th Army during most of 1943, fighting through east Ukraine and across the lower Dniepr by the end of the year. After being briefly assigned to 53rd Army in December it was moved to 5th Guards Army in February, 1944 where it remained for the duration, mostly in the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. It saw action in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive and won its first decoration, the Order of the Red Banner, as it advanced, before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border. In late spring, 1944 the division was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 14th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was awarded the Order of Lenin for its part in the liberation of Sandomierz. On January 22, 1945, its commander suffered mortal wounds in the fighting for a bridgehead over the Oder River. In the drive on Berlin in April the division and its regiments won further honors and decorations but despite these distinctions it was disbanded in August, 1946.
Formation The division was officially raised to Guards status on January 24, 1942, in recognition of its role in the first liberation of Rostov-on-Don on December 2, 1941. Its sub-units would not receive their Guards redesignations until February. The 96th had been originally formed as the 24th Rifle "Vinnitsa" Division in November, 1923 in recognition of where it was formed before being renumbered in May, 1924. In September, 1929 it added the honorific "in the name of Jan Fabricius".Fabricius, a Latvian national, was a senior commander of the Red Army in the Civil War. He was eventually awarded the Order of the Red Banner four times and died during a plane crash near Sochi on August 24, 1929. See: https://en.broadwayblogspot.com/4318-jan-fabricius-red-banner-punisher.html. When it became the 14th Guards it continued to carry these titles as parts of its official designation. In April, 1940 it had been converted to a mountain rifle division and although it is sometimes referred to as a regular rifle division from about October 1 onward in Soviet records it never officially had its designation changed prior to becoming a Guards unit.Charles C. Sharp, "Red Death", Soviet Mountain, Naval, NKVD, and Allied Divisions and Brigades 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VII, Nafziger, 1995, p. 14 Its order of battle, based on the first wartime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions, while maintaining some of its mountain equipment (for example, 107mm mortars in place of 120mm mortars), was eventually as follows: 36th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 43rd Mountain Rifle Regiment) 38th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 209th Mountain Rifle Regiment) 41st Guards Rifle Regiment (from 651st Mountain Rifle Regiment) 33rd Guards Artillery Regiment (from 146th Mountain Artillery Regiment) 6th Guards Antitank Battalion (from 63rd Antitank Battalion)Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 48. Mountain rifle divisions had four mountain rifle regiments each; in the course of conversion the 155th Mountain Rifle Regiment was disbanded. 11th Guards Reconnaissance Company 13th Guards Sapper Battalion 16th Guards Signal Battalion 17th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 8th Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 9th Guards Motor Transport Company 15th Guards Field Bakery 1st Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1455th Field Postal Station 362nd Field Office of the State Bank
Maj. Gen. Ivan Shepetov, who had led the 96th (Mountain) Rifle Division since 1940, remained in command.Glantz states that the division's (unnamed) prewar commander was killed in the Battle of Uman; David M. Glantz, Kharkov 1942, Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, UK, 2010, p. 138. Commanders of Corps and Divisions (see Bibliography) lists Shepetov as the only wartime commander of the division's first formation. At the time it was redesignated the division was in 37th Army of Southern Front. During February it was transferred to 57th Army in the same Front which was well inside the salient created during the Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive which had recently ended.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 29, 48
Second Battle of Kharkov At the beginning of May 57th Army was still located in the southwest sector of the salient with its positions centered on Star Bliznetsy to the east of Lozovaya. 14th Guards constituted the Army reserve and had its main forces in the former town and one regiment in the latter. Southwestern Front launched an offensive to liberate Kharkov on May 12; Southern Front had no direct role in this even though the southern pincer of the offensive was being launched from the northwest sector of the salient. In the early going the attacking Soviet forces, Army Group Bobkin and 6th Army, made good progress in the direction of Krasnograd, reaching its outskirts by May 15. However the German Army Group South was planning its own operation to end the threat by cutting off the salient entirely; to this end it began regrouping mobile forces to its south, aiming at the 9th Army to the east of 57th Army. On the morning of May 17 the regrouping was complete and the German forces, led by the 14th and 16th Panzer Divisions, went over to the attack.Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 190-91, 222, 231, 237-39
By 1700 hours the 14th Panzer had captured Barvenkovo. While 14th Guards covered the 57th Army's alternate command post at Star Bliznetsy, the main post was soon overrun. Due to the breakdown in communications the division received no orders to go into battle and remained in place all day, between 20 and 30 km from the front line. Overall the German advance had torn 9th Army's defenses apart and left 57th Army in a grave position. It wasn't until the next morning that a directive was received for the division to move east and attack the left flank of the German penetration along with the 2nd Cavalry Corps. Late that day the commander of the Army, Lt. Gen. K. P. Podlas, was killed while leading some of his encircled troops, further worsening the command situation. At the same time the 14th Guards and 2nd Cavalry were fighting to contain the German attack along a line from Novo-Prigozhaia to Prigozhaia to Margaritovka. By midday on May 19 Marshal S. K. Timoshenko, commander of Southwestern Front, acknowledged that his offensive had failed and began moving the mobile forces of 6th Army against the breakthrough sector.Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 240-41, 243-44, 254-58, 266
On May 20 the 14th Panzer continued its advance to the north against desperate resistance while the 16th Panzer and 60th Motorized Division struck east towards Lozovaya in an effort to encircle 57th Army. This forced 14th Guards back several kilometres but proved temporary as the German command decided to complete the encirclement of the entire salient instead. On the afternoon of May 22 14th Panzer linked up with the 44th Infantry Division of German 6th Army and this was achieved. The division began moving north in an effort to find an escape route, reaching the south end of the German corridor west of Marevka the next day. The Soviet front along the Donets was 40 km away. The encircled forces formed a shock group from the 317th, 393rd and 150th Rifle Divisions, backed by cavalry and tanks, to make a breakthrough while the 14th Guards and remnants of several other divisions were to defend firmly to protect the shock group from the south and southwest. This disorganized effort began at 1000 hours on May 25 and while it made initial progress it soon ran into the 1st Mountain Division within the corridor and was badly shot up. Over the following days the main forces of the division were forced to the west and it's unknown how many of its men managed to break free. General Shepetov was severely wounded and captured near Izium after someone betrayed his location. He survived in the German Flossenbürg concentration camp until May 21, 1943, when he was executed for anti-fascist agitation.Glantz, Kharkov 1942, pp. 275, 279, 282, 286-87, 291, 294, 297, 303
Operation Blue As of June 1 the remnants of 14th Guards were still in 57th Army,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 105 but required considerable rebuilding. Maj. Gen. Afanasy Gryaznov was appointed to command on the same day. By the beginning of July the division was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in 5th Reserve Army,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 134 being brought back to strength as the German summer offensive unfolded. On July 12 the STAVKA ordered Southwestern Front to be renamed as Stalingrad Front and to have four armies incorporated into its forces, including the former 5th Reserve as 63rd Army. The orders continued: "Defend the eastern bank of the Don River with the 63rd Army in the sector it occupies and prevent the enemy from forcing the Don River under any circumstances." The Army was to link its left flank to the 21st Army in the area of Serafimovich. It remained in this general situation at the start of August.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, pp. 186-87, 276
As the German 6th Army prepared to drive from the Don to Stalingrad the commander of Stalingrad Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, issued orders on August 18/19 for a series of coordinated counterattacks by his armies to tie down German forces. 63rd Army was directed to advance from a 15 km-wide sector west of the Khopyor River southwards across the Don towards Chebotarevskii, Klinovoi and Perelazovskii with 14th Guards and 197th Rifle Divisions with an immediate objective 15–20 km south of the river. The attack began at dawn on August 20 and faced the Italian 2nd Infantry Division of 8th Army's XXXV Corps, which had only moved into the sector four days earlier. It gained immediate success and soon held a bridgehead 2–3 km deep:Continuing their advance over the next two days the two attacking divisions were soon reinforced by 203rd Rifle Division and 21st Army's 304th Rifle Division. By then they had expanded their bridgehead to a depth of 2–10 km, with 14th Guards at the deepest point, the village of Kotovsky. By the time the attack wound down on August 28 the combined Soviet assault force had carved a bridgehead 50 km wide and up to 25 km deep on the south bank of the Don.Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, pp. 328-29, 383-89