It was then withdrawn to second echelon, now in 52nd Army of Volkhov Front, where it remained until February 1943. when it was thrown into another abortive operation south of Leningrad, again suffering heavy casualties.

During February 1944 the division returned to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for another move to the south and west, ending up in the 47th Army near Kovel, which soon became part of 1st Belorussian Front.

In the second phase of the summer offensive against Army Group Center in July the 165th distinguished itself and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner as well as an honorific for its role in the capture of Siedlce.

As the campaign continued into East Pomerania in March the 165th played a large role in the capture of Gdynia and several of its subunits were given battle honors or decorations.

034/op of August 1 the commander of the Southwestern Direction, Marshal S. M. Budyonny, wrote:For a long time now, the 64th Rifle Corps has been demonstrating low combat effectiveness.

As German forces advanced on Boiarka 64th Corps was split apart, with the 165th pushed across the Dniepr and the 175th falling back by August 11 into the Kiev Fortified Region, defending the city's southwestern sector.

[9] As of September 15 the 165th had been effectively destroyed, but in common with most of the encircled divisions of Southwestern Front it officially remained on the books until December 27, when it was finally written off.

The division remained forming and training in the Ural District into April, when it began moving west by rail, joining the 6th Guards Rifle Corps in Leningrad Front by the beginning of May.

The Corps was then to widen the corridor, reinforce 2nd Shock, and join in a combined attack with 59th Army to encircle and eliminate the German forces in the Chudovo area.

On May 12 Khozin reported that German reinforcements were arriving at Spasskaya Polist and north of Lyubtsy, which seemed to indicate another effort would be made to cut 2nd Shock's communications.

At 1720 hours on May 21 the STAVKA sent orders for 2nd Shock to break out once and for all and to clear German forces from the east bank of the Volkhov River at Kirishi and Gruzino no later than June 1.

[16] In a desperate effort to reopen the gap the 165th was thrown into battle near Miasnoi Bor on June 1, without artillery support, and soon lost 50 percent of its combat strength without any success, and was replaced by the 374th Rifle Division.

Some of the troops escaped the trap on February 21 and the next day heavy fighting broke out throughout the division's zone which even involved Morozov's headquarters.

[24] Operation Iskra in January had restored land communications with Leningrad, but the corridor south of Lake Ladoga remained narrow and dominated by German artillery observers on the heights near the village of Sinyavino.

The latter was due east of Mga and was to make its main thrust on a 13.6km sector in the Voronovo area, penetrate the defenses, and link up with the Leningrad Front armies driving down from the north while detaching two rifle divisions and a tank brigade to strike at Sinyavino from the south.

Starikov made several efforts to renew the drive, including committing the 165th and 379th Rifle Divisions from second echelon in late July, but with little effect.

On August 9 reconnaissance elements of Starikov's shock groups found what they took as a weak point in the defenses around a small bridgehead on the east bank of the Naziia River held by 5th Mountain.

He ordered in additional forces to support the 165th and two other divisions already fighting in the area, and although the defenders were nearly encircled and the Pogoste heights were taken, the effort subsequently stalled.

The attack made almost no headway against the fortified German lines, but by late on December 27 Hitler was convinced the salient was a "useless appendage" and its evacuation was finished by January 8, 1944.

Forward detachments of battalion or regimental size attacked and soon determined that the German first and part of the second trench lines had been abandoned, so a further 110-minute preparation was cancelled.

[35] On July 20 the leading Armies reached the final defense line along the Western Bug River and began taking crossing points off the march with their mobile units.

The main forces of the Front's left wing were directed against Lublin on July 21, while 47th Army, along with a mobile group of 2nd Guards Cavalry and 11th Tank Corps, was tasked with reaching Siedlce.

The troops that participated in the battles for the liberation of Siedlce and other towns, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of 31 July 1944 and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes by 224 guns.

Meanwhile, on July 28 the 2nd Tank Army was approaching the Praga suburb of Warsaw, which the STAVKA soon gave orders to be seized, along with bridgeheads over the Vistula River.

The Army's task was to attack on a 3km-wide front in the direction of Nasielsk on the first day, outflank Modlin from the north and then drive west to help prevent the German Warsaw grouping from retreating behind the Vistula.

[44] During the last week of January the Army seized a bridgehead over the lower Vistula between Fordon and Chełmno and was fighting to widen it while also blockading the German garrison of Toruń.

During the following week nearly all the forces of 70th Army were involved in containing and eventually eliminating this breakout which was completed on February 8; only small groups succeeded in escaping to the west.

During April 18-19 the Front launched intensive reconnaissance efforts in preparation for the crossings, including the elimination of German advance parties in the lowlands between the East and West Oder.

On the following day 70th Army beat off eight German attacks, captured Penkun, and advanced 15km, completing the breakthrough of the Oder defensive line, while 96th Corps reached the northern outskirts of Blumberg and Kasekow.

[54] 70th Army resumed its offensive on the morning of April 26 and forced a crossing of the Randow River, the German second defensive zone, along its entire front.