It was raised in June 1941, within days of the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, based on the prewar rifle division Shtat 04/400, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role.

After helping to defeat an offensive by Third Panzer Group at Kalinin in October, and serving through the winter counteroffensive west of Moscow, the division was sent south where it participated in the Battle of Stalingrad.

It took part in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in August 1944, which drove Romania into the Allied camp, and continued campaigning into Hungary, participating in the Siege of Budapest.

[3] Its order of battle was: Colonel Aleksandr Alekseevich Zabaluev, an NKVD officer, was named divisional commander on 5 July, and was promoted to major general ten days later.

It was assigned to the 29th Army of Lieutenant General Ivan Maslennikov in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command by 13 July,[6] less than three weeks after beginning to form.

[2] On 3 August it was reported as "preparing to force the Western Dvina River and organize antitank regions" in several locales about 50 km (31 mi) south of Toropets,[11] and had orders to attack towards Demidov in the second week of the month.

[13] After a lull in the fighting, Western Front commander Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launched a new offensive, and the 252nd again attacked across the Dvina on 18 August, this time at Klinok.

[16] At the end of August the 252nd had to make a hasty retreat eastwards after the German XL Motorized Corps broke through the 22nd Army and advanced towards Toropets; the 932nd Regiment, with an artillery battalion and a sapper company, served as the rearguard.

The 252nd was transferred to the newly-arriving 31st Army, and on 19–20 October participated in the counterattacks that defeated the XXXXI Motorized Corps along the Torzhok road northwest of Kalinin.

[3] Between 2 and 5 July German forces cut off the 39th Army in Operation Seydlitz with converging attacks on Nesterovo from Bely and Karskaya,[19] fully encircling the division northwest of Vyazma.

On 22 October it captured the region of the Motor Tractor Station 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of Kuzmichi, and made a further advance of 700–800 m (770–870 yd) the next day, taking Hill 139.7.

Due to Anisimov's armored raid the German 376th Infantry was forced to withdraw eastwards, and Romanian 1st Cavalry abandoned the town of Orekhovskii.

The following day the 252nd continued to throw the German armor and supporting infantry back about 5 km (3.1 mi) to the southeast as they evacuated their tenuous salient west of the Don.

In the end the German line was mostly restored, but the 24th Division clung to Hill 124.5 (Chernyi Kurgan), which remained a thorn in the side of the 44th Infantry during the coming weeks.

The immediate mission was to liberate Karpovka, then push eastward to seize Pitomnik airfield, one of the main remaining depots for the Sixth Army airlift.

Two days later the advance forces of the Army reached to the fringes of Stalingrad proper, while the 252nd helped to seize Hill 122.5, from 2 to 4 km (1.2 to 2.5 mi) northeast of Lesoposadochnaia village.

While elements of the Army linked up with the 13th Guards and 284th Rifle Divisions, the remainder continued advancing against surprisingly strong resistance from the remnants of XIV Panzer Corps.

[41] During March and April the division received replacements and was reorganized along new tables of organization and equipment in the area of the Kolodeznaya railway station.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Kharkov, by the order of the Supreme High Command of August 23, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

During the Battle of the Dnieper, on the night of 1 October, the 252nd crossed the river in the area of Chkalova, Kremenchuk Raion, Poltava Oblast, and captured a bridgehead on the right bank.

[2] The division held positions north of Lake Balaton in mid-January, with the 1st Guards Fortified District to the south, as part of the 135th Rifle Corps.

The main attack of Operation Konrad III, a counterattack launched by the German IV SS Panzer Corps in an attempt to relieve the Siege of Budapest.

The brunt of the attack was borne by the 1st Guards Fortified District and the 928th Rifle Regiment, which held a front of 5 km (3.1 mi) on the left flank of the division.

[51] The German attack began at 06:30 on 18 January, and broke through the 1st Guards Fortified District, whose anti-tank capabilities proved too weak to stop Tiger II tanks.

As a result, the 1st Panzer Division bypassed the left flank of the 252nd and entered its rear, surrounding the 928th, whose men broke out in small groups.

[52] Elements of the 252nd, along with the 93rd Rifle Division, formed a defensive line on the Sárvíz Canal, where demolished bridges stopped the advance of the IV SS Panzer Corps' left flank.

[53] The lines of communication of the division were disrupted by Messerschmitt Bf 109 strafing and bombing attacks on 19 January due to temporary clear skies.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Bratislava, by the order of the Supreme High Command of April 4, 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

[2] After the end of the war, the division remained in Czechoslovakia in the town of Mýto, east of Plzeň, until 6 June, after which it relocated to southwestern Hungary, where it was stationed in camps and manorial estates at Gyöngyöspuszta and Szentmihály 8 km (5 mi) south of Kadarkút.

[62] In accordance with an order of the Central Group of Forces, the division was transported by rail to the Soviet Union via Kaposvár, Budapest, Sighet, Rostov, and Mineralnye Vody, with the rest of the 23rd Rifle Corps from 20 December,[61] and by 15 February 1946 the division had fully arrived in the Stavropol Military District (merged into the North Caucasus Military District shortly afterwards).