15th Guards Rifle Division

15th Guards Rifle Division
Active	1942–1965
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Mius-Front Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Ring Battle of Kursk Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation Battle of the Dniepr Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive First Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive Vistula-Oder Offensive Lower Silesian Offensive Upper Silesian Offensive Battle of Berlin Battle of the Oder–Neisse Spremberg–Torgau Offensive Operation Prague Offensive
Decorations	Order of Lenin  Order of the Red Banner (2)  Order of Suvorov  Order of Kutuzov
Battle honours	Kharkov Prague
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lt. Col. Pyotr Dmitrievich Kondratev Maj. Gen. Emelyan Ivanovich Vasilenko Maj. Gen. Pyotr Mikhailovich Chirkov

The 15th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 136th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The division had already distinguished itself during the Winter War with Finland in 1940 and had been decorated with the Order of Lenin; soon after its redesignation it also received its first Order of the Red Banner. It was in Southern Front as this time but was soon moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command where it was assigned to 7th Reserve Army in May, then to 28th Army in Southwestern Front in June, then to 57th Army in Stalingrad Front in July. It remained in that Army for the rest of the year, with one brief exception, until it was transferred to Don Front's 64th Army in January, 1943 during the closing stages of the battle of Stalingrad. In March this Army became 7th Guards Army and was railed to the northwest, joining Voronezh Front south of the Kursk salient. In the battle that followed the 15th Guards assisted in the defeat of Army Detachment Kempf, then took part in the summer offensive into Ukraine, winning one of the first battle honors at Kharkov. It remained in either 7th Guards or 37th Army into the spring of 1944. It saw action in the Nikopol-Krivoi Rog Offensive and was awarded the Order of Suvorov before being involved in the frustrating battles along the Dniestr River on the Romanian border. In June the division became part of 34th Guards Rifle Corps in 5th Guards Army and was redeployed north becoming part of 1st Ukrainian Front and taking part in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive into Poland. The 15th Guards made a spectacular advance across Poland during the Vistula-Oder Offensive and was further decorated with the Order of Kutuzov for forcing a crossing of the Oder River. It then saw action in the drive on Berlin in April and the Prague Offensive in May, winning a further battle honor and an unusual second Order of the Red Banner in the process. After the war the division did garrison duty in Austria, then in Ukraine, followed by a move in late 1947 to Crimea and the Kuban where its personnel assisted in rebuilding the local economy and infrastructure for nearly 20 years. It September 1965 it was renumbered as the "51st" and became the 2nd formation of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division.