The division was formed as the 1st Artillery Division of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RGK) in October 1942 with the Southwestern Front, under the command of Colonel Vikenty Mazur. It was composed of the 274th, 275th, and 331st Howitzer, the 1162nd and 1166th Gun, and the 468th, 501st, and 1189th Anti-Tank (Tank Destroyer) Artillery Regiments. In addition to its regiments, the division included the organic 816th Separate Reconnaissance Artillery Battalion and the 45th Separate Corrective Aviation Squadron. It was sent into combat on 9 November in the area of Kletskaya and Serafimovich, supporting the 21st Army of the Southwestern Front in the final stage of the Soviet defensive phase of the Battle of Stalingrad. From the second half of November to January 1943, the units of the 1st Artillery, operationally subordinated to the 24th and 65th Armies of the Don Front, provided artillery support in the encirclement and defeat of the German troops in the Stalingrad area.