page_title: 16th Guards Rifle Division
section_title: Operation Bagration
hierarchical_section_title: 16th Guards Rifle Division / Operation Bagration
caption_attribution_description: Operation Bagration: Battle of Witebsk, Development 22nd - 26th June 1944, 2200
context_page_description: The 16th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 249th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in Kalinin Front when it was redesignated and remained in the northern half of the front throughout the war. In the summer it was assigned to Western Front's 30th Army to the north of the Rzhev salient and took part in the stubborn and costly struggle for the village of Polunino just east of that town in August. It returned to the fighting in March 1943 in the followup to the German evacuation of the salient, then was reassigned to the new 11th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration of the war. During the summer offensive against the German-held salient around Oryol it assisted in the liberation of Karachev and received its name as an honorific. By December, after fighting through western Russia north of Smolensk the division was in 1st Baltic Front, attacking south towards Gorodok and winning the Order of the Red Banner in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to seize Vitebsk.
context_section_description: In the buildup to the summer offensive against Army Group Center the 11th Guards Army trained intensively in the forests in the Nevel region and received over 20,000 replacements, bringing the 16th Guards and the rest of its rifle divisions to an average of 7,200 personnel each. Beginning on May 25, the Army moved up well behind the front of 3rd Belorussian, followed by a secret move of 300 kilometers (186 mi) on June 12–13 to a sector north of the Dniepr River 30 kilometers (19 mi) northeast of Orsha, replacing elements of 31st Army. General Galitskiy screened most of his sector with the 16th Guards Corps while the 8th and 36th Corps concentrated on a narrow sector adjacent to 31st Army. On June 22, the 36th Corps was crammed into less than 10 kilometers (6 mi) with 8th Corps and had two heavy tank regiments and two assault gun regiments attached. It faced elements of the XXVII Army Corps of German 4th Army, primarily the 78th Assault Division.
  General Galitskiy decided to launch his main attack along the highway to Minsk on a sector from Ostrov Yurev to Kirieva. The immediate objective was to break through the German defense and pave the way for the 2nd Guards Tank Corps to seize the line of the Orshitsa River by the end of the first day. The 36th Guards Corps, on the Army's left flank, would attack the sector from Slepin to Kirieva towards Shalashino to reach just outside Makarovo.
  Along with the other first-echelon divisions of its Front, the 16th Guards prepared a forward battalion to take part in a reconnaissance in force which was conducted through the afternoon and evening of June 22, supported by a 25-minute artillery preparation. While the main purpose of this reconnaissance was to uncover the German fire system, seizing their forward defenses was a secondary goal. While the battalions of 5th Army to the north had considerable success in this regard in 11th Guards Army only the battalions of the division and the 31st Guards Rifle Division were able to consolidate the first German trench line. Following an intensive artillery and airstrike preparation the Front's main offensive began at 09:00 on June 23. The 8th and 36th Guards Corps encountered fierce resistance from the 78th Assault Division and other German units and through the day only advanced two kilometers (1.2 mi). As a result the 2nd Guards Tanks remained in its jumping-off positions. At 08:50 on June 24, following a 40-minute artillery preparation the 11th Guards Army resumed its offensive. While 8th and 16th Guards Corps advanced as much as 14 kilometers (9 mi) during the day, 36th Corps had still not cleared a path for the commitment of 2nd Guards Tanks. The next day the Army focused its efforts on the sector of 16th Corps which threw the German forces back another 7–12 kilometers (4.3–7.5 mi) and was by now deeply outflanking Orsha from the north. On June 26, as the leading Corps of 11th Guards attacked towards Borisov to prevent 4th Army from withdrawing across the Berezina River, the 36th Corps prepared to capture Orsha in conjunction with 31st Army. The Corps began fighting in the northern and western outskirts in the late evening and after stubborn fighting the city was completely cleared by 07:00 on June 27. The 16th Guards Division was among the units given special recognition for the liberation of Orsha.
caption: Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive, June 23–28, 1944
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