It was created on March 17, 1942, from the first formation of the 119th Rifle Division, in recognition of that division's stalwart defense against German Army Group Center in the Battle of Moscow, and in the subsequent strategic offensive that threw the German forces back from the capital.

In early 1943 it was transferred to 5th Guards Rifle Corps in 39th Army, and remained under those commands for the duration.

[2] In late 1943 the division, along with the rest of 39th Army, was transferred to Western Front, and took part in the campaign to liberate Smolensk.

The division was the first Soviet unit to enter the city of Dukhovshchina after it was abandoned by German XXVII Army Corps on the night of September 16/17[3] and received its name as an honorific.

In the following months the entire 39th Army was shipped east across Siberia, and in August 1945, participated in the invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria as part of Transbaikal Front.

When the war ended the division honorifics were – Russian: Духовщинско-Хинганская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия (English: Dukhovshchina, Khingan, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov), and five of its men had been named as Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Members of the division committed the notorious Gegenmiao massacre during the Manchuria Operation, torturing and killing thousands of Japanese civilians in August 1945.