The 30th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 238th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It would soon after help provide the headquarters cadre for the 7th Guards Rifle Corps along with its "sister" 29th Guards Rifle Division. However, it was not assigned as a unit to the Corps until August when it joined 33rd Army of Western Front and saw extensive fighting, while also suffering extensive casualties, in the summer campaign against the German 3rd Panzer Army in the southern sector of the Rzhev salient. After leaving 7th Guards Corps the division was reassigned to several other armies in the Front until April, 1943 when it joined the 15th Guards Rifle Corps in 30th Army, which became 10th Guards Army the next month; it would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. The division took part in Operation Suvorov, Western Front's summer offensive towards Smolensk, and after the liberation of that city was involved in several unsuccessful drives on the Belarusian city of Orsha. By December the 30th Guards had been redeployed to 2nd Baltic Front and during the summer and fall of 1944 it took part in the offensives through the Baltic states, winning a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Riga. For the rest of the war the division remained in Latvia helping to contain the German forces trapped in the Courland Peninsula, eventually coming under command of Leningrad Front. In mid-1946 it was converted to the 30th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade.
Formation The 238th had been originally formed on March 14, 1941 at Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan in the Central Asia Military District, based on the 499th Reserve Rifle Regiment, and so began with personnel mostly of Kazakh nationality.Charles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 101 On May 3, 1942 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in recognition of its leading role in taking the town of Aleksin from German 4th Army during the counteroffensive in front of Moscow and later the liberation of Kaluga. On May 24 it was further distinguished by being raised to Guards status. After the subunits received their redesignations on June 20 the division's order of battle was as follows: 94th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 830th Rifle Regiment) 96th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 837th Rifle Regiment) 98th Guards Rifle Regiment (from 843rd Rifle Regiment) 63rd Guards Artillery Regiment (from 137th Artillery Regiment)Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 55 35th Guards Antitank Battalion (from 144th Antitank Battalion) 34th Guards Antiaircraft Battery (until April 1, 1943) 33rd Guards Mortar Battalion (until October 20, 1942) 32nd Guards Reconnaissance Company 33rd Guards Sapper Battalion 42nd Guards Signal Battalion 29th Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion (from 499th Medical/Sanitation Battalion) 31st Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 28th Guards Motor Transport Company (from 579th Motor Transport Company) 38th Guards Field Bakery (from 623rd Field Bakery) 28th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital (from 611th Divisional Veterinary Hospital) 690th Field Postal Station 563rd Field Office of the State Bank Col. Andrei Danilovich Kuleshov remained in command of the division after redesignation; he would be promoted to the rank of major general on November 27. At this time the division was under command of the 49th Army in Western Front. It remained in this Army until August when it was reassigned to the 7th Guards Rifle Corps, along with 5th Guards and 17th Rifle Divisions, in 33rd Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 102, 123, 145, 168
Battles of Rzhev In the planning for Western Front's summer offensive against the eastern face of the Rzhev salient at least one map-solution was prepared in June for a prospective offensive by 49th, 33rd and 5th Armies to seize Vyasma, although this came to nothing. As the planning continued 33rd Army was also considered for advances in the direction of Gzhatsk and west of Medyn. In the end the Army was to be given a large role in the offensive. When the Army joined the offensive on August 13 it faced six German infantry regiments along the front line on its breakthrough sector but had only a 3.5:1 advantage in infantry and 1.6:1 in artillery, considerably less than the other Soviet armies involved, apart from 30th Army on the opposite end of the offensive front. Given this relative weakness in force correlation and the fact that the main offensive had begun more than a week earlier, eliminating any element of surprise, the attack of 7th Guards Corps and the rest of 33rd Army soon faltered.Svetlana Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, pp. 75-76, 78-79, 86
The Army resumed its offensive on August 24 and made some penetrations on 3rd Panzer's front, but these were soon contained. Another effort began on September 4 in conjunction with 5th Army, but was halted three days later. During this period 20th Army was also attempting to reach Gzhatsk but went over to the defense on September 8. For the rest of the month the southern armies of the Front were officially engaged in "battles of local significance". From August 10 to September 15 the personnel losses of 33rd Army are listed as 42,327 killed, wounded and missing while gaining from 20–25 km to the west and northwest. The heavy losses were attributed to "densely-packed formations... [while] there was almost no coordination between fire and maneuver..." among other factors.Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, pp. 91-92, 94, 98-100 Later in September the 30th Guards left 7th Guards Corps to become a separate division, still in 33rd Army, but in November it was moved to the adjacent 5th Army, joining its "sister" 29th Guards in preparation for a new offensive against the salient.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 191, 235
Operation Mars In planning for this offensive Army Gen. G. K. Zhukov conceived a two-phase operation beginning against the northern part of the salient to be known as Operation Mars, with a subsequent phase to the south likely under the name of Operation Jupiter. During October and November the German 9th Army noted a Soviet buildup in the sector east of Vyasma, including the 3rd Tank Army, two tank corps, and reinforcements for 5th Army, including 30th Guards. 33rd Army would also take part.David M. Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, pp. 48-49, 383-84 Due to postponements Mars did not begin until November 25, at which time the start date for the second phase was tentatively set for December 1.Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, p. 106 By then Mars was badly bogged down and although Zhukov continued to hope Jupiter could be implemented as late as December 9, on the 16th Stalin ordered the 3rd Tank Army to move south. Earlier in the month the division was moved to 20th Army as Zhukov tried desperately to revive Mars. On the morning of December 11 it attacked with the 415th and 243rd Rifle Divisions on the Bolshoi Kropotovo - Podosinovka sector of the Vazuza bridgehead; this force advanced from 500 - 1,000m but was unable to take any of the fortified villages. The offensive was finally halted on the 14th.Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, pp. 257-58, 260-66 Up to December 18 the 30th Guards suffered 652 killed, 1,768 wounded and 170 missing-in-action for this negligible gain.Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, pp. 89-90
Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive The division remained in 20th Army until February when it was transferred north to 31st Army.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 36, 62 It was under this command when 9th Army began its evacuation of the salient at 0300 hours on March 2. 31st Army was the first to go on the pursuit and soon seized the first line of German trenches but then ran into serious resistance. The next morning it was ordered to alter its direction of advance to the south and southwest. On March 8 elements of the Army liberated Sychyovka. The rate of pursuit was generally slow due to strong rearguards, deteriorating weather and the German scorched-earth policy.Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, pp. 137, 139, 142 The official history of the Army states:This history further recounts the difficulties encountered due to the spring rasputitsa, German demolitions, and other obstacles. On March 22 three divisions of the Army attacked the prepared positions of the 337th Infantry Division at the base of the former salient but were soon brought to a standstill.Glantz, After Stalingrad, p. 332
Into Western Russia In April the division was reassigned to 30th Army, where it joined the 85th Guards Rifle Division to comprise the 15th Guards Rifle Corps. In May, 30th Army was redesignated as 10th Guards Army;Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 108, 133 the 30th Guards would remain under the command of that Corps and Army for the duration of the war. The 10th Guards Army, still in Western Front, did not see much action until the start of Operation Suvorov, the summer offensive towards Smolensk. This offensive would be conducted primarily against the German 4th Army. On August 6 the 5th, 33rd and 10th Guards armies began a reconnaissance-in-force. As a first echelon division the 30th Guards committed a battalion, reinforced with a few tanks and backed by artillery, to advance into the German security zone, which was 2–3 km deep and held by platoon-sized outposts. German resistance proved stiff and gave up little ground; much of the German fire plan was uncovered but at the cost of any remaining tactical surprise. The main attack began the next morning at 0440 hours with an artillery preparation lasting just under two hours. 10th Guards and 33rd armies made the main effort between Yelnya and Spas-Demensk. 10th Guards was on the right, closer to Yelnya, with the 15th and 19th Guards Rifle Corps on a 10 km-wide sector between Mazovo and Sluzna. The 5th Mechanized Corps was behind the Army, ready to exploit the expected breakthrough. The German defense rested on the positions that had been built at the base of the Rzhev salient, and were occupied by the XII Army Corps.Robert Forczyk, Smolensk 1943: The Red Army's Relentless Advance, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2019, Kindle ed.
Operation Suvorov