In late October the division helped establish a bridgehead near Kalinin, which it did so while under heavy Soviet fire.

[1] In July 1943, during the Battle of Kursk, the division was part of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps, a reserve unit for the 9th Army just south of Oryol.

With Soviet forces slowing down Walter Model's advance, the division was put on active duty on 6 July.

On the 12th, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge ordered the division to retreat from Oryol to rejoin the 9th Army as the Soviets began to storm into the city outskirts.

The addition of a third regimental-sized battlegroup made up of remnants of other units did not help to build morale.

With the army pulling back to the Franco-German border, by November the division had worn itself out in the two months of fighting.