121st Guards Rifle Division

The 121st Guards Rifle Division was formed on September 23, 1943, based on the first formation of the 342nd Rifle Division, in the 80th Rifle Corps of 3rd Army. During 1943 it shared a similar combat path to that of the 120th Guards Rifle Division, which was formed in the same Army about a week later. On November 26 it was given credit for its role in the liberation of Gomel and won that city's name as an honorific. It was soon reassigned to 13th Army and would serve under that command for the rest of the war. In 1944 the division helped form the bridgehead over the Vistula at Sandomir, and in January, 1945, joined in the breakout from this bridgehead and the subsequent advance through Poland and into Germany, earning its final honor for the capture of Wittenberg. The 121st Guards ended the war in western Czechoslovakia with a very impressive combat record.

Formation

The 342nd Rifle Division was raised to Guards status as the 121st Guards on September 23, 1943, based on its successful actions and mass heroism during Operation Kutuzov, the offensive that eliminated the German-held salient around Oryol. Its order of battle was as follows:
* 337th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1146th Rifle Regiment
* 340th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1148th Rifle Regiment
* 342nd Guards Rifle Regiment from 1150th Rifle Regiment
* 313rd Guards Artillery Regiment from 912th Artillery Regiment
* 120th Guards Antitank Battalion
* 127th Guards Sapper Battalion
* 161st Guards Signal Battalion
* 117th Guards Reconnaissance Company
The division was under the command of Maj. Gen. Logvin Davidovich Chervonii, and he would remain in command for the duration of the war.

Advance

As of October 1, the 121st Guards was in 80th Rifle Corps of 3rd Army, which had recently been reassigned to Central Front from Bryansk Front. During the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive, which began on September 30, the division was tasked, along with 120th Guards and 269th Rifle Divisions, with seizing a bridgehead over the Sozh River to divert German attention and reserves from the fighting in the Gomel region. The attack began at dawn on October 12 and succeeded in capturing small bridgeheads 12 km deep at Kostiukovka, Salabuty and Studenets, all south of the city of Propoisk. Although German counterattacks over the next few days prevented the attackers from enlarging their bridgeheads, the attack also prevented German 9th Army from sending reinforcements to 2nd Army to the south.

The responsibility for the final liberation of Gomel was assigned to 11th and 48th Armies. The 11th struck on November 12 but encountered extremely stiff resistance. The fight for the city was long and bloody, but Soviet advances on the flanks made the German position untenable. Meanwhile, 121st Guards was ''en route'' from 3rd to 13th Army and was drawn in to the fighting for the city. Gomel was finally liberated on November 26, and the 121st Guards was one of several units recognized with the city's name as an honorific:

In December the division would part ways from its "sister" 120th Guards by being transferred to 13th Army, which was now in 1st Ukrainian Front. It would remain under those commands for the duration, to begin with in 76th Rifle Corps. In mid-1944 the division took part in the Lvov-Sandomir Operation, and in January, 1945, it helped make the breakthrough that unleashed the 3rd Guards and 4th Tank Armies to race across Poland and into Germany from the Sandomir bridgehead. Before the Berlin Operation began the 121st was moved to the 24th Rifle Corps. At this time the strength of 13th Army's rifle divisions varied from 4,700 to 5,700 men each. The Army was deployed on the east bank of the Neisse River

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