Following this, it was nearly caught up in the debacle near Kharkov in May, 1942, but managed to evade the German spearheads during Operation Blue to join the forces defending the Stalingrad region during the summer and fall.

Over a year later, a new 343rd Rifle Division was formed, based on the personnel and equipment of a Fortified Region, just after the start of Operation Bagration, the destruction of German Army Group Center.

This new division went on to distinguish itself by helping to liberate the Polish city of Białystok, and ended the war in East Prussia, near Königsberg.

During the Barvenkovo-Lozovaia Operation, which created the so-called Izium Salient, the division was committed late in the battle, when it seized the village of Nizhne Bishkin, the furthest point of 6th Army's advance into the bridgehead.

As the Red Army prepared a new offensive to liberate the city of Kharkov in May, in part from the Izium Salient, the 343rd was in the reserves of the Southwestern Direction, along with the 277th Rifle Division, 2nd Cavalry Corps, and three separate tank battalions.

While it made some impressive gains in the early days, the Soviet forces were, at the same time, leaving themselves more and more vulnerable to counterattack as they pressed westward.

The commander of the Southwestern Direction, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, ordered the 343rd, along with the 92nd Separate Tank Battalion and an antitank battalion, to concentrate south in the Izium region, cross to the right bank of the Northern Donets River and take up defensive positions on the southern approaches to Izium to backstop 9th Army.

During the encirclement battle over the next week there was little the 343rd could contribute apart from providing fire support to the small groups attempting to escape through the German lines.

[7] While the Kharkov battle had left the 343rd relatively unscathed, it was about to face its sternest test, as the German summer offensive began on its sector on June 28.

[8] When the German storm broke, during the month of July, the 343rd and its Army could do little except stage a costly fighting withdrawal across the steppes.

By August 12 the defense had been withdrawn east of the Don, and 21st Army was assigned a 140-kilometre-wide sector from the mouth of the Khoper River to Melo-Kletskii.

While the situation of the bridgehead deteriorated, Stalingrad Front ordered a counterstroke to begin at dawn on August 17, using the 343rd, 321st, and two other rifle divisions, plus arriving elements of the fresh 1st Guards Army.

This counterstroke was unsuccessful; by the end of the day the bridgehead had been encircled, and the 343rd's strength had eroded to just 230 "bayonets" (front-line infantry) and six guns.

[9] On August 23, the XXXX Panzer Corps of Sixth Army crossed the Don and staged its one-day dash across the steppe to the Volga, just north of Stalingrad.

In a report filed on October 21, the "343rd RD, encountering strong enemy fire, fought in the region 4 kilometres northeast of Kuzmichi."

The Army did not have an active role in the offensive, but was expected to tie down enemy forces through local attacks and raids to prevent them shifting westward to where the penetration was to take place.

He had been convicted for "unskillful command of forces" while leading the 2nd Cavalry Corps in December, 1941; he was sentenced to 10 years to be served after the war, and was reduced in rank to Colonel.

[15] When the final stage of Operation Ring began on January 26, 1943, German XI Army Corps fell back towards the factory district of Stalingrad.

[16] During the course of Operation Ring the division was officially credited with capturing 6,647 enemy officers and men, and seizing 67 artillery pieces, 297 machine guns, 30 tanks, 521 other vehicles, and 5,253 rifles.

[19] General Usenko continued in command of the 97th Guards until May 12, when he died near Voronezh after being blown up by a mine while his vehicle was crossing a road.

On August 25 at 2030 hrs., during fighting along the Narew River in northern Poland, the vehicle in which we was traveling was blown up by an enemy antitank mine 800 metres south of the villages of Pensy and Lipno.

On March 8, 81st Rifle Corps was ordered to concentrate in the Botenen area, in preparation for the eventual assault on Königsberg.

On April 5, the day before the final battle for the city began, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the capture of Biała Piska and other nearby towns, and its general record of service.