Taking part in the summer offensive in Belarus the 48th Guards was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and several of its subunits also received decorations or distinctions.

In January 1945 the division fought into East Prussia and assisted in the fighting southwest of the city/fortress of Königsberg before 28th Army was redeployed westward to take part in the Berlin operation.

The advance made good progress and the Front commander, Col. Gen. N. F. Vatutin, reported that 3rd Tank had captured the Valuyki and Urazovo regions in Belgorod Oblast by January 19.

[4] On the last day of the month the Army was transferred to Southwestern Front,[5] and was ordered to swing 90 degrees from the Poltava axis to counterattack the SS Panzer Corps.

[6] Shortly after taking Belgorod on the 17th the German offensive ground to a halt in part due to the spring rasputitsa, giving the Red Army survivors a respite to regroup and rebuild.

Vagin would go on to command the 79th Guards Rifle Division, be promoted to the rank of major general, and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union in April 1945.

This began on August 13, following the German defeat at Kursk, and the 48th Guards took part in forcing the Donets and assisting Steppe Front in the final liberation of Kharkov.

Pyotr Akimovich Kravets was the commander of a gun crew of the 98th Guards Artillery Regiment that made an assault crossing into the bridgehead north of Dnepropetrovsk on October 3.

He then contacted the divisional artillery by radio and called in accurate fire that destroyed 12 guns, seven mortars, two armored vehicles and a large number of personnel.

On October 24 von Manstein transferred the XXXX Panzer Corps to 8th Army on the northern flank of the Soviet thrust but this was still deploying when 2nd Ukrainian's lead elements reached the outskirts of Krivoi Rog the next day.

[21] The Front's first effort to renew the drive on Krivoi Rog began on January 10, led mainly by 46th Army, but made only modest gains at considerable cost and was halted on the 16th.

The offensive was renewed on January 30 after a powerful artillery preparation against the positions of the German XXX Army Corps on the same sector of the line, but this was met with a counter-barrage that disrupted the attack.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Krivoi Rog, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 22 February 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

"[24] Shortly after this victory, following eight months of continuous offensive across the Donbass, Ukraine, and the Dniepr River the division was withdrawn to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command to recover.

From June 22 to July 3 the 28th Army and Group Pliev had forced a German retreat of 250 km to the vicinity of Stolbtsy, but the advance now paused to bring up supplies to overcome the increasing resistance.

By the end of the second day the town was partially encircled but the Soviet advance was slowed by German reinforcements and continuing difficulties in bringing the Front's forces up to the attack sectors.

Overnight the 65th Army, assisted by the 28th, stormed Baranovichi in an unexpected night attack which cleared it by 0400 hours on July 8 as the German forces withdrew to the west.

During July 25–26 the Army forced the Lesnaya River north of Czernawczyci and General Rokossovskii handed over his reserve 46th Rifle Corps to help complete the encirclement.

[33] By the end of the day the division was recognized for its part in the liberation of Brest, while its 53rd Guards Sapper Battalion (Maj. Kandalin, Ivan Vasilevich) was awarded its name as an honorific.

In September the 28th Army returned to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rest and rebuilding and in October was reassigned to the 3rd Belorussian Front on the East Prussian border.

The 28th Army had its main forces on its right flank and was to launch a vigorous attack north of the Stallupönen - Gumbinnen paved highway in the general direction of Insterburg.

Its breakthrough frontage was 7 km wide and its immediate objective was to destroy the Gumbinnen group of German forces in conjunction with 5th Army before assisting 11th Guards in its deployment along the Inster River.

The Army, mainly facing the 549th Volksgrenadier Division, broke through the defense along the Kischen - Grunhaus sector and penetrated as much as 7 km by the day's end while fighting off 14 counterattacks by infantry and tanks.

General Luchinskii concentrated the maximum amount of artillery fire in support of the 3rd Guards and 128th Rifle Corps allowing a breakthrough on a narrow sector towards the northeastern outskirts of Gumbinnen.

During a two-day battle on January 20–21 the 20th and 128th Corps finally captured Gumbinnen, but a large remnant of the German forces managed to retreat to the Angerapp River, which the 28th Army reached by the end of the second day.

[38] By February 8 the 20th Corps, in cooperation with forces of 5th Army, outflanked the town of Preußisch Eylau from the north and began fighting along its outskirts, a battle that continued for some days.

[41] After six weeks of almost continuous fighting by the beginning of March the divisions of 3rd Belorussian Front were seriously understrength; the 48th Guards at this time contained roughly 2,500 personnel.

Immediately after the operation ended on March 29 the 28th was reassigned to the Reserve of the Supreme High command and began moving across eastern Germany towards the Oder River.

By this time the Front commander, Marshal Ivan Konev, could foresee fierce fighting for Berlin and decided to reinforce 3rd Guards Tank Army to the maximum.

Under intense direct and indirect artillery fire the 22nd Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade forced the canal on wooden rafts and the foundations of destroyed bridges and seized small bridgeheads.