The first formation was based on the pre-September 1939 shtat (table of organization and equipment) and the division was initially intended to serve in the fortifications along the border with Poland in western Ukraine.

At considerable cost it was able to retreat back to the Dniepr River south of Kiev during July and was still there as part of 26th Army when the Soviet forces in eastern Ukraine were largely surrounded and wiped out in September.

It then took part in the advance through Lithuania, winning the Order of the Red Banner at Vilnius, and then into East Prussia, remaining in 5th Army of 3rd Belorussian Front, mostly in the 65th Rifle Corps.

Once completed it had the following order of battle: The division was first commanded by Komdiv Yurii Vladimirovich Sablin, however this officer was arrested on September 25 and executed by firing squad in June of the following year.

In August 1937 Col. Aleksandr Vasilevich Katkov took command of the division after serving as an instructor at the Frunze Military Academy and was promoted to the rank of Kombrig on November 4.

6th Army deployed with the task of advancing on Ternopil, Ezerna and Kozova by way of the Zbruch River bridge at Volochysk en route to Lvov.

At 0430 hours the artillery of 17th Corps delivered an attack on the Polish firing points and within 30 minutes its troops began to cross without significant resistance.

Meanwhile, the 24th Tank Brigade of the 2nd Cavalry Corps made a joint advance with the 136th Rifle Regiment north of Ternopil, passing Dobrovody at noon and reaching the western outskirts of the city at 2200 where they began clearing it of Polish units.

[2] Over the following days the advance on Lvov continued; this included a forward detachment formed from elements of the two divisions which prepared for an assault on the city to begin at 0900 hours on September 21.

The German forces withdrew overnight on September 20/21 and the forward detachment, supported by 38th Tanks, began to move into Lvov from the east at the planned time along with other formations of 6th Army when negotiations with the Polish command resumed.

In the course of the fighting several soldiers of the 97th became Heroes of the Soviet Union, among them Sr. Lt. Spiridon Mikhailovich Egorov, a company commander of the 69th Rifle Regiment who distinguished himself in the capture of Vitsa-Saari island from February 25-28.

He went on to study at the Frunze Military Academy in 1942 and served through the Great Patriotic War, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel before moving to the reserve in 1947.

[5] Another soldier of the 97th who gained the Gold Star was Jr. Lt. Andrei Filippovich Zinin, a platoon commander of the 377th Tank Battalion, which was now part of the division's order of battle.

On February 26, during fighting for the village of Kusa (now Klimovo in the Vyborgsky District), Zinin destroyed a Finnish bunker with five shots, setting it on fire, and killed or wounded three snipers in the process.

The division continued to hold its defensive positions west of Lvov for the first week of the invasion but this gallant stand just made it more vulnerable to encirclement by 1st Panzer Group.

[12] The division survived the retreat in part because it was intermixed with elements of the 4th Mechanized Corps, and for a time Colonel Maltsev actually commanded the 8th and 202nd Motorized Rifle Regiments in addition to his own forces.

Colonel Podshivailov was assigned to study at the Voroshilov Academy on June 7 and he was replaced by Col. Yakov Stepanovich Vorobyov, who had previously commanded the 141st Rifle Division.

From February into April the 16th Army made a series of limited attacks similar to those in July of the previous year, including the forcing of the Zhizdra River line.

[25] The 108th started forming in the Moscow Military District in January 1942 but quickly came up to strength and by the end of May was assigned to the 9th Guards Rifle Corps in the reserves of Western Front.

[27] The 110th was considered a "sister" to the 108th, also started forming in the Moscow Military District in January 1942 and followed an almost identical combat path, joining the 9th Guards Rifle Corps by the end of May in the reserves of Western Front.

Over the following days the Army continued to develop the attack toward Bolkhov and by the end of July 17 the division had reached a line from Melshchino to the grove east of Morozovo.

[36] During the fighting for Dukhovshchina Jr. Lt. Mikhail Filippovich Maskaev led a squad of his platoon of the 66th Reconnaissance Company behind German lines and into their trenches on the night of September 16/17.

Although the divisions of the two Soviet armies were worn down to about half strength from earlier fighting, they still held a five-fold advantage in infantry, as well as superiority in armor and artillery.

The attack made very limited gains, and 5th Guards Corps was withdrawn and sent south of the Smolensk - Vyasma road on December 21, with the entire offensive shut down two days later.

It entered battle on December 25 north of Bolshaya Vydreia and the Army continued pressing its attacks on January 1, 1944 within a deep salient southeast of Vitebsk.

Early on March 24 the Front reinforced the Corps with the 251st Rifle Division which enabled it to capture a strongpoint at Diakovina and advance as much as 2km before again grinding to a halt.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Vitebsk, by the order of the Supreme High Command of June 26, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

[50] On the same day Colonel Shishov was reassigned to deputy command of the 159th Rifle Division; he would die of wounds sustained in a mine explosion near Kaunas on August 5.

[54] Logistical constraints following the lengthy advance of July forced a pause in operations in August and September but the 3rd Belorussian Front commander, Army Gen.

By now the German forces that had been thrown out of the Gumbinnen defensive line's main positions were conducting a fighting withdrawal to the west, throwing their last reserves into battle.