[3] The division continued to attack and in early August captured Gutarovo, only 32 kilometers from Yartsevo.

[4]On 11 August, the 517th and 735th Rifle Regiments broke through German defences and provided a corridor for Ivan Boldin's group to escape from its encirclement.

On 2 October, the German troops began Operation Typhoon and the division was forced to take up positions at Kholm-Zhirkovsky.

On 4 October, Western Front decided to withdraw from the Gzhatsk defensive line, but the division could not retreat.

[6] Poirer and Connor, in their Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, 1985, write that it was established at Tomsk prior to June 1941.

[7] The 437th began forming in early December under the command of Major General Fyodor Shchekotsky.

[9] The division remained there in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command until 15 April, when it departed for the Ostashkov region, where it joined the 53rd Army of the Northwestern Front.

Reaching the eastern outskirts of the city, on 18 August the division was attacked by strong German tank forces, supported by aviation.

In the fighting, while repulsing the German tank attack, Poltorzhitsky was heavily wounded and evacuated to a hospital.

At the end of September the 166th was withdrawn to the Stavka reserve for rebuilding, where it became part of the 6th Guards Army, At the beginning of November the division was relocated to the Nevel region, where it fought in the Nevel Offensive against German troops south of the city, as part of the 60th Rifle Corps of the 4th Shock Army of the 1st Baltic Front.

In February 1944 the division and corps conducted a 120 kilometer march to the Idritsa region, where they became part of the 6th Guards Army.

In total, from 22 June to 8 August the division advanced 370 kilometers in battle and liberated 480 fortified points, including the cities of Braslav and Subate.

He was replaced by Colonel Vasily Gnedin, who led the division in the encirclement of the Courland Pocket.