During the rest of the year the division continued battling through the forests and swamps south of Lake Ilmen, occasionally under command of the 14th Guards Rifle Corps, until the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive began in late January, 1944.

The 23rd Guards would remain under these commands for the duration of the war, advancing across Poland and eastern Germany into Berlin in 1945 and winning a second honorific after the fighting ended.

The division was officially raised to Guards status on March 17, 1942, in recognition of its leading role in stopping the drive of the Finnish III Army Corps along the Kestenga-Loukhi road which had threatened to cut the Kirov Railway south from Murmansk.

The attack began during a heavy snowfall and while 26th Army had the advantage in manpower, artillery and mortars it had to contend with acute shortages of ammunition.

He was replaced in command of the division by Col. Sergei Nikolaievich Aleksandrov, who would himself be promoted to major general on September 12 prior to the move south to join Northwestern Front.

The intention of the new offensive, as in those during the summer and fall, would be to penetrate the corridor from the south and link up with 11th Army to its north, again encircling the German Demyansk grouping.

While this gave the Red Army forces a ratio of over three to one in infantry and an edge in armor strength it would be mostly negated by the thick and roadless terrain and unfavorable weather.

[6] 1st Shock's attack began with a preliminary operation by the 86th Brigade on the night of November 23/24, striking at the boundary between the 126th and 123rd Infantry Divisions but this stalled short of its initial objective due to heavy mud and German fire.

After taking only small toeholds in these defenses the relentless artillery fire and numerous company-to-battalion sized counterattacks forced the two divisions back to their start lines.

Although the STAVKA realized the offensive had failed, as with Operation Mars it insisted the armies continue their futile attacks, which were not suspended until December 11.

By now the attackers had fallen into stereotyped methods; when 1st Shock was observed massing for yet another assault on December 27 the German forces interdicted with an artillery counter-preparation, firing over 14,000 shells which rendered the Army temporarily combat ineffective.

By the time the STAVKA allowed the offensive to be suspended again in early January, 1943 most of the Front's best divisions, including the 23rd Guards, were battered wrecks.

The forces freed by this move strengthened the overall German position and Polyarnaya Zvezda was effectively stillborn, although Zhukov would continue to try to reinvigorate it for another month.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Dno, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 24 February, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.

The 14th Guards Corps and the 208th Rifle Division of 54th Army forced the Shelon River northwest of Dedovichi, crushed German resistance on the river's west bank and advanced up to 12 km, capturing the Logovino–Novyi Krivets sector of the road from Porkhov to Chikhachevo; the defending 30th Infantry and 21st Luftwaffe divisions were forced to pull back quickly to the west and Porkhov was liberated the same day.

[18] When the offensive began on July 8 the division was facing the defenses of the Panther line east of the Velikaya, roughly halfway between Pskov and Ostrov.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Riga, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 13 October, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.

As a result of these and other similar advances by the Front's forces the German defensive system was largely uncovered and partly disorganized, and the thickest zone of minefields was overcome.

The position consisted of two continuous trenches and individual buildings had been turned into permanent firing points connected to deep cellars for cover.

[28] The 66th Guards Regiment commander ordered his 2nd Battalion to take the Posedon position that day and then get astride the road junction to its southwest.

During the day the 2nd Battalion advanced 9 km and broke through the entire German main defensive zone, at a cost of four men killed and 13 wounded.

[31] In this situation General Shafarenko decided to attack the German force in the area of Buschof Creek off the march, in conjunction with units of the 33rd Division but without waiting for the lagging artillery.

The 125th Company forced a crossing by makeshift means and got a hold on the west bank but the 66th and 63rd Guards were unsuccessful in following them due to increasing fire from flanking machine guns.

Then, on Shafarenko's orders, tanks and self-propelled guns were brought right up to the canal's east bank and began firing on the German positions at point-blank range.

By 1400 hours both of Nikin's storm companies had concentrated in buildings opposite their objective as the engineers prepared direct fire positions for the antitank guns.

Taking advantage of smoke and dust raised by the artillery they reached the entrance without loss but found the grenade- and gun-fire had not inflicted serious damage on the barricade.

The platoon commander left two men at two stairwells to prevent anyone leaving the cellar where the defenders had hidden during the barrage, with the exception of observers and machine gunners in the building itself.

The battery of SU-76s was now able to advance under cover of the artillery barrage and began to fire on the building's lower floor windows and doors to create breaches for the attacking infantry.

The company commander reinforced the men covering the cellar exits; these used grenades and rifle and SMG fire to throw back the German soldiers attempting to break out.

The troops who participated in the capture of Berlin, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 2 May, 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.