Formed in mid-1941, the division fought in the Continuation War against Finland in Karelia until the beginning of 1943, when it transferred to the Southwestern Front in Ukraine.

After fighting in the Crimean Offensive in the spring of 1944, the division was transferred to the Baltics and advanced westward into East Prussia at the end of the war.

In January 1943, the division was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), and relocated south to the Southwestern Front.

On 11 June, Colonel Pavel Volosatykh took command of the division,[1] which fought in the Donbass Strategic Offensive during the summer of 1943 as part of the front's 6th Army, and on 23 September it was transferred to the RVGK.

It fought with the army in the Crimean Offensive in the spring of 1944,[2] breaking through the German defensive lines on the southern coast of the Sivash and capturing Dzhankoy.

The division moved north with the 2nd Guards Army and joined the 1st Baltic Front in July 1944 during the advance into southern Lithuania, the Siauliai Offensive.