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.

The division was officially raised to Guards status on February 16, 1942 in recognition of its role in the first liberation of Rostov-on-Don on December 2, 1941 and its subsequent attacks across the Mius River.

Its order of battle, based on the last peacetime shtat (table of organization and equipment) for rifle divisions, was eventually as follows: The 136th had been under command of Col. Nikolai Porfirevich Raevsky but he was replaced on the day of redesignation by Lt. Col. Pyotr Dmitrievich Kondratev.

It constituted the Front's reserve and was located in Stalingrad itself but on August 1 as 4th Panzer Army advanced from the southwest towards the city it was ordered to new defensive positions to the south with the division watching a line from Lake Sarpa to Raygorod on the Volga.

[9] As the battle raged within Stalingrad during late September and early October the STAVKA planned attacks to its north and south to divert German strength and possibly relieve the siege.

The attack achieved almost immediate success, penetrating the Romanian defenses, advancing roughly 5 km, and liberating the villages of Tsatsa and Semkin by 1400 hours on October 1.

It began its attack from the Shalimovo region south of Lake Sarpa promptly at 0830 hours on November 20 with tank support and easily penetrated the defenses of Romanian 18th Infantry Division's two defending battalions, sending the survivors scurrying westward and northwestward.

Wheeling in the latter direction the guardsmen and tanks advanced up to 11 km by 1800 hours against virtually no opposition and linked up with 57th Army's 143rd Rifle Brigade near the village of Kamensky.

The division spent the morning of November 21 mopping up the encirclement area then reassembled about 12 km southwest of Lake Sarpa before wheeling westward along the route of the 4th Mechanized Corps.

A battalion of the Corps' 59th Mechanized Brigade became involved in heavy fighting on the outskirts of Karpovka which was resolved with the arrival of the division in the evening, as recorded in its history:At first light on 23 November, 15th Guards Rifle Division received the mission -- to cut the Stalingrad-Sovetskii railroad line, capture Karpovskaia Station and the villages of Karpovka and Novyi Rogachik, occupy a defense along the line of these points, and prevent an enemy penetration toward the south and southwest.

15th Guards entered the battle by attacking the sector between Marinovka and Voroshilov but in two days of fighting the Soviet forces were unable to pry their opponents out of their positions.

On November 25 the division was transferred back to 57th Army and continued to conduct probing attacks against the German battlegroups defending the rail line and the road between the two strongpoints, with no success.

The attack continued on January 14 and the division, which was already over the Chervlenaia, advanced eastward, captured Peschanyi Karer and reached the railroad 2 km west-northwest of Basargino.

By the end of the day the three Soviet divisions had trapped the 376th in the region southwest of Basargino which prompted Army Group Don to note late that evening that "376th ID seems to have been broken up."

The STAVKA was confident enough of the outcome that it released the 57th's headquarters and attached forces to the Reserve to be redeployed to the northwest, while 15th Guards and the remaining units were reassigned to 64th Army.

As a result General Shumilov decided to hedge his bets and leave 15th Guards in its reserve positions in case the German force might still strike the boundary between the two Fronts after creating a diversion.

On the morning of July 7 the reconnaissance battalion of 7th Panzer reported to its headquarters that a strong defensive line along the Koren was being held by fresh troops, which forced that division to change its plans.

Rather than commit 15th Guards piecemeal in response, Shumilov ordered General Vasilenko to complete a handover to the 270th Rifle Division from the rear, which was not fully accomplished until the evening of July 8.

By the next day Gen. W. Kempf was in a hard spot; he was being prodded by Field Marshal E. von Manstein for the slow pace of his advance and was tasked with, among many other objectives, to break through at the boundary of 15th and 94th Guards Rifle Divisions and finally reach the woods east of Miasoedovo.

At 1855 hours five launchers fired a salvo of 78 M-13 (4.9 kg of high explosive each) at a concentration of German infantry and armor in the area of the woods 1,000m west of "Batratskaia Dacha" Farm which "blanketed" the target.

[32] While this was happening, between 1820 and 2100 hours the 47th Guards Regiment repulsed three armored attacks launched by 7th Panzer but after the fourth, under pressure of superior enemy strength, the battalion commanders began to withdraw their companies to reserve positions to the east.

[35] During July 12 General Shumilov sought to distract Kempf's forces from their mission by launching counterattacks towards his forward supply base at Krutoi Log.

By noon the 44th Guards managed to renew its assault and took the "Solovev" collective farm by 1235 hours; this was especially noted at the headquarters of Army Detachment Kempf where von Manstein was located.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Kharkov, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 23 August 1943, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

Overnight on April 18/19 the Army was to make a second effort to cross the river and seize German positions near Bender that included the division committed from reserve.

During this battle he had led a party of four across the river without being observed, set up a good position near the front line, and personally accounted for two German officers and three machine gun crewmen, supporting the crossing of the rest of the regiment.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Chestochowa and several other towns, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 17 January 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

Maj. Mikhail Efimovich Kolosov, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 50th Guards Regiment, ordered an assault team to cross the frozen river which it did almost without a fight, afterwards digging in at a dam.

Beginning on February 8 the 5th Guards Army took part in the Front's Lower Silesian Offensive with its main objective of encircling the German garrison of Breslau.

The advance continued overnight and into the next day, gaining just 3 km but also providing flank cover for the mobile forces of 21st and 4th Tank Army which were attacking in the direction of the Neisse River.