The 56th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in June 1943, based on the 2nd formations of the 74th and 91st Rifle Brigades, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Along with its "sister", the 65th Guards Rifle Division, the 56th was formed "out of sequence", that is, many Guards rifle divisions were higher numbered and formed earlier than the 56th. The division was immediately assigned to the 19th Guards Rifle Corps of the 10th Guards Army and remained under those headquarters for the duration of the war. It first saw action in Western Front's summer offensive, Operation Suvorov. On September 8 the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was given the honorific title "in the name of Aleksandr Matrosov" and on September 25 the division as a whole was awarded the honorific "Smolensk" for its role in the liberation of that city. During the winter of 1943-44 it took part in the stubborn fighting north and east of Vitebsk, first in Western and later in 2nd Baltic Front. During the following summer offensives it helped break through the defenses of the German Panther Line and advanced into the Baltic states, eventually being decorated with the Order of the Red Banner after the liberation of Riga. For the rest of the war it was part of the forces blockading the remnants of German Army Group North in the Courland Pocket in Latvia, eventually in Leningrad Front. After the war the 56th Guards was moved to the town of Elva in Estonia where it was disbanded in 1947, although the successor formations of the 254th Guards Regiment exist into the present day.
Preceding Formations The 56th Guards was formed on the basis of two rifle brigades which had been part of the 6th "Stalin Siberian Volunteer" Rifle Corps (later redesignated as the 19th Guards Rifle Corps).Charles C. Sharp, "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p. 67 74th Rifle Brigade The 2nd formation of this brigade took place at Barnaul in July 1942 by redesignating the 1st Special Siberian-Altaian Volunteer Brigade in the Siberian Military District.Sharp, "Red Volunteers", Soviet Militia Units, Rifle and Ski Brigades 1941 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. XI, Nafziger, 1996, p. 38Dunn states that this formation took place in April 1942 and that the brigade was assigned to 11th Army in Northwestern Front; Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 104 Its order of battle consisted of: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Rifle Battalions, each with: 3 rifle companies (180-200 men each) 1 submachine gun platoon (30 men) 1 antitank rifle platoon (30 men) 1 machine gun platoon (4 HMGs) Artillery Battalion (12 76mm cannon) Antitank Battalion (18 57mm guns) 120mm Mortar Battalion Submachine Gun Battalion 82mm Mortar Battery When formed from Siberian militia volunteers it had, on August 31, 5,804 personnel, of whom 31.4 percent were Communist Party members or Komsomols. It was soon assigned to the 6th Rifle Corps and sent under that command to the Kalinin area of the Moscow Military District. By November 1 the Corps had been assigned to the 22nd Army of Kalinin Front facing the western side of the German-held Rzhev salient.Sharp, "Red Volunteers", p. 38 91st Rifle Brigade This brigade formed for the second time in late August 1942 by redesignating the 4th Siberian Volunteer Brigade in the Siberian Military District.Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p. 118 Once formed its order of battle was identical to that of the 74th Brigade. Like the latter it was assigned to the 6th Rifle Corps, along with two other Siberian volunteer brigades and the 150th Rifle Division, and was moved to the 41st Army prior to the start of Operation Mars.Sharp, "Red Volunteers", p. 42 Operation Mars In the plan for this offensive the 6th Rifle Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. S. I. Povetkin, was to penetrate the German front south of Bely to provide a passage into the German rear for the 1st Mechanized Corps. The 150th Division and the 75th and 74th Rifle Brigades were in the first echelon, with the 78th and 91st Brigades in the second. The offensive began on November 25 and the 74th Brigade, commanded by Col. I. P. Repin and supported by companies of the 65th Tank Brigade, soon routed elements of the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division from two strongpoints and continued to advance. The next day these rifle and tank brigades continued to push forward towards Bykovo. However, by November 27 German reserves were arriving and the 91st Brigade was alerted for commitment. By December 1 it was deep within 41st Army's salient, southeast of Bely, while 74th Brigade was holding its positions in the face of counterattacks by the 20th Panzer Division. Early on December 4 the 41st Army went over to the defense and the 74th Brigade was ordered to help cover the gap between the 1st Mechanized Corps and the 17th Guards Rifle Division. During December 5-6 the German forces encircled most of 41st Army south of Bely, including by December 7 the 91st and 74th Brigades.David M. Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, pp. 57, 59, 110, 114, 119, 126, 203, 205, 231, 236
The encircled force was authorized to break out on the night of December 15/16. The 74th Brigade formed part of the first echelon while the 91st was left to help hold the perimeter before withdrawing through the corridor to the positions of 41st Army. In a German after-action report both brigades were said to have been destroyed.Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, pp. 247, 249-52 However, in a report at the time of the breakout the 91st Brigade recorded an infantry strength of about 2,800 men.Sharp, "Red Volunteers", p. 43 During February 1943 the 6th Rifle Corps returned to the 22nd Army. On February 27 the 2nd Battalion of the 91st Brigade was tasked with attacking a German stronghold near the village of Pleten. Two machine gun bunkers were knocked out, but a third continued to hold up the assault. Krasnoarmeets Aleksandr Matveyevich Matrosov, a 19-year-old volunteer, crept forward to the flank of the bunker and threw two grenades through its embrasure, which appeared to silence it. But when Matrosov's comrades resumed their attack the German gun began firing again. Matrosov then blocked the embrasure with his body and was killed, allowing the attack to continue. While similar feats had occurred previously and would continue, Matrosov's sacrifice was written up by an attached journalist and soon became news across the USSR. He was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union on June 19 and the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, which was mostly made up of men of the 91st Brigade, was soon given his name as an honorific.
By the beginning of March the 6th Rifle Corps had been withdrawn to the reserves of Kalinin Front. Later that month it returned to 22nd Army but did not remain with that Army when it was transferred to Northwestern Front in April.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 61, 83, 106 Instead the 74th and 91st Brigades were moved to the Gzhatsk area where under STAVKA order No. org/2/133681 April 19 they were merged to form the 56th Guards Rifle Division in the redesignated 19th Guards Rifle Corps.https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=452568309. In Russian. By June 1 the Corps had joined the former 30th Army of Western Front, now redesignated as the 10th Guards Army; the Corps also contained the 22nd and 65th Guards Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 133
Formation The 56th Guards officially received its Guards title on June 4. The division's order of battle was as follows: 254th Guards Rifle Regiment 256th Guards Rifle Regiment 258th Guards Rifle Regiment 187th Guards Artillery RegimentSharp, "Red Guards", p. 67 91st Guards Antitank Battalion 87th Guards Reconnaissance Company 97th Guards Sapper Battalion 117th Guards Signal Company 92nd Guards Medical/Sanitation Battalion 88th Guards Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 90th Guards Motor Transport Company 86th Guards Field Bakery 84th Guards Divisional Veterinary Hospital 2061st Field Postal Station 1221st Field Office of the State Bank Col. Anatolii Ivanovich Kolobutin was appointed to command on the same day; he had previously commanded the 29th Rifle Division. The division spent the next two months working up before the start of the Western Front's summer offensive on August 7.
Operation Suvorov The Front's main effort was made between Yelnya and Spas-Demensk by 10th Guards and 33rd Armies. The 10th Guards' 15th and 19th Guards Corps were deployed on a 10km-wide sector between Mazovo and Sluzna; the 56th and 65th Guards Divisions were in the first echelon with the 22nd Guards in the second. Each division had about 8,000 personnel on strength. The 5th Mechanized Corps was assembled behind the Army, ready to exploit the expected breakthrough. The operational objective for the first day of the offensive was the town of Pavlinovo situated on the Smolensk - Spas-Demensk railway, 10km to the south. The German defense in this sector was based on the Büffel-Stellung position, held by XII Army Corps. That Corps' 260th and 268th Infantry Divisions had both been reduced to just two infantry regiments and held very wide sectors, but the terrain was heavily wooded and dotted with numerous fortified villages. Furthermore, two key German positions at Gnezdilovo and nearby Hill 233.3 had not been identified by Soviet intelligence and so escaped the preparatory bombardment.
That bombardment began at 0440 hours and continued until 0630, consuming more than 50 percent of Western Front's available ammunition. Shortly after crossing the start line the 56th and 65th Guards ran into heavy resistance from the 499th Regiment of the 268th Infantry. That Division's artillery broke up the assault groups before they could make any progress while a pair of German assault guns picked off advancing T-34s of the supporting 119th Tank Regiment. However, here and there some small detachments found a way through. The 56th managed to carve out a 1km-deep penetration near Kamenka but it was soon evident that 19th Guards Corps had been stopped cold. The 15th Guards Corps made somewhat greater progress against the portion of the 499th Regiment that it faced. By the early afternoon the commander of Western Front, Col. Gen. V. D. Sokolovsky, was already making command changes and committing additional forces; these decisions were questionable, but did force a decision at Kamenka where a German battalion was overrun. During the rest of the afternoon the 10th Guards Army's infantry gradually outflanked the remaining strongpoints of the 499th Regiment and once night fell the 268th Infantry was authorized to pull back 2-3km to form a new line. Meanwhile, a battlegroup of the 2nd Panzer Division, de-training near Yelnya, was ordered to march to support that Division.
The offensive resumed at 0730 hours on August 8 after a 30-minute artillery preparation. The 65th Guards, now reinforced by the 22nd Guards, remained stymied in front of Hill 233.3, held by a single German battalion. However the two German divisions were being drained by steady losses. The Hill was not finally taken until the evening of August 10. A few hours earlier the 56th Guards, now supported by the 249th Tank Regiment, had captured the village of Delyagino, causing the German forces to retreat 2km to the south. These gains unhinged the Büffel-Stellung and allowed 10th Guards Army to finally reach the Smolensk - Spas-Demensk railway; the XII Corps was now forced to trade space for time until Sokolovsky's offensive outran its logistical support. Western Front's artillery had already shot off almost all of its available ammunition.