The History of the 45th Guards I

The 45th Guards Rifle Division started life as the 70th Rifle Division, being  formed in 1934 at Kuibyshev in the Volga Military District. In 1940 the Division was sent to Leningrad to re-enforce the units that had been severely mauled by the Finns in the Winter War.

In it’s first action the Division broke through the Finnish fortified positions known as the ‘Mannerheim Line’ an action for which the unit was awarded the ‘Order of Lenin’.

The Order of Lenin (top) and The Order of the Red Banner.

 

Both of these medals were awarded to the 45th Guards Rifle Division for bravery in the field of battle.

When Operation Barbarossa started in June 1941, the 70th were still stationed on the border with Finland. This allowed them to escape the devastating losses suffered by other divisions in the border battles and also full mobilisation so that the unit went into action at full strength (14,000), fully equipped and with a high proportion of battle hardened troops.

 

Rushed south to help shore up the crumbling Soviet defenses, the 70th went into the line between Luga and Novgorod. In desperate fighting that reduced the unit to 2,000 effectives, it, with other units halted the German advance for a week and inflicted heavy losses on a number of units including SS Totenkopf. Encircled and cut off, the 70th broke out and came into the Leningrad defensive line outside the southern suburb of Pushkin, where it held on for over a year as part of the 55th Army.

 

On the 6th October 1942, the 70th attacked across the Neva and with three other divisions retook and held the 5 kopek Bridgehead in the face of strong opposition from the SS Polizei Division.  For this feet of arms, the 70th was re-designated as the 45th Guards Rifle Division which consisted of:

 

129th Guards Rifle Regiment

131st Guards Rifle Regiment

134th Guards Rifle Regiment

96th Guards Artillery Regiment

 

On the 13th January 1943 the 45th Guards attacked out of the 5 kopek bridgehead as part of Operation Spark, the offensive to try and break the siege. Little ground was taken, however, German units were tied down allowing units to the north to break through to the city.