The division was formed in August–September 1941 as the 343rd Rifle Division near the city of Stavropol. Over the next twelve months it was assigned to the 56th, 6th, 9th, 21st, and 24th Armies.
The division took part in the defensive operations at Rostov, then in the Rostov and Barvenko-Lozovaia offensive operations. Later, it fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov, then fled eastward to take part in defensive operations near Stalingrad. On July 17, 1942, when the 21st Army joined the Stalingrad Front, the division had 2,795 men and fewer than 20 artillery pieces.[5] After October, 1942, it was assigned to the 66th Army, which later became the 5th Guards Army.
On May 4, 1943, the division was re-designated as the 97th Guards Rifle Division.[6] Its order of battle was as follows:
289th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1151st Rifle Regiment
292nd Guards Rifle Regiment from 1153rd Rifle Regiment
294th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1155th Rifle Regiment
232nd Guards Artillery Regiment from 903rd Artillery Regiment
104th Guards Antitank Battalion from 567th Antitank Battalion
110th Guards Sapper Battalion from 620th Sapper Battalion
141st Guards Signal Battalion from 791st Signal Battalion
100th Guards Reconnaissance Company from 402nd Reconnaissance Company
The day before its re-designation the division was assigned to the newly-formed 33rd Guards Rifle Corps.[7] On May 2, the commander of the division, Matvei Usenko, was promoted to the rank of Major General. Just ten days later he was killed after being blown up by a land mine while crossing a road in a vehicle.[8]
After World War II, the division was stationed in Austria, with the Central Group of Forces, where it remained until 1946. During that time, the division belonged to the 5th Guards Army. After its relocation to Slavuta, it became part of the 13th Army.[10] After it moved to Slavuta, the division was downsized into the 28th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade, but became a division again on 16 September 1949.[11] In 1957, it was reorganized from a Rifle into a Motor Rifle division.[12] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the division was reorganized into a Brigade, which continued to exist until November 2004, when it was disbanded.[13]
Bonn, Keith E., ed. (2005). Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front. Bedford, PA: Aberjona Press. ISBN097176509X.
Sharp, Charles C. (1995). "Red Guards", Soviet Guards Rifle and Airborne Units, 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. IV. George F. Nafziger.
Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN9785895035306.
Kalashnikov, K. A.; Dodonov, I. Yu. (2019). Высший командный состав Вооруженных сил СССР в послевоенный период: Справочные материалы (1945-1975) (in Russian). Vol. 4, Part 1. Ust-Kamenogorsk: Media-Alyans. ISBN9786017887315.
Further reading
I.A. Samchuk, “Guards from Poltava" (Moscow, Voenizdat, 1965) (Russian)
"World War II, Soviet Encyclopaedia, 1985, p. 573 [М. М. Козлов. Великая Отечественная война 1941-1945: Энциклопедия. — М: «Советская энциклопедия», 1985. — С. 573. — 832 с. — 105 000 экз.]
Феськов В. И., Калашников К. А., Голиков В. И. Глава 2. Стрелковые и воздушно-десантные войска, укрепленные районы Красной Армии в годы Великой Отечественной войны // Красная Армия в победах и поражениях 1941-1945 гг.. — Томск: Издательство Томского университета, 2003. — 619 с. — ISBN5-7511-1624-0.
Чуйков В. И. Сражение века. — М.: Советская Россия, 1975. — 317 с.
Жадов А. С. Четыре года войны. — М.: Воениздат, 1978. — 334 с.
Военный энциклопедический словарь. — под. ред. Н. В. Огаркова. — Военное издательство, 1983. — С. 573. — 863 с. — ISBN ББК 68я2 В63.
Родимцев А. И., Гвардейцы стояли насмерть, 2 изд., М., 1973