The division was formed as the
1st Artillery Division of the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RGK) in October 1942 with the
Southwestern Front, under the command of Colonel
Vikenty Mazur. It was composed of the 274th, 275th, and 331st Howitzer, the 1162nd and 1166th Gun, and the 468th, 501st, and 1189th Tank Destroyer Artillery Regiments. In addition to its regiments, the division included the organic 816th Separate Reconnaissance Artillery Battalion and the 45th Separate Corrective Aviation Squadron. It was sent into combat on 9 November 1942 in the area of
Kletskaya and
Serafimovich, supporting the
21st Army of the Southwestern Front in the final stage of the Soviet defensive phase of the
Battle of Stalingrad. From the second half of November to January 1943, the units of the 1st Artillery, operationally subordinated to the
24th and
65th Armies of the
Don Front, provided artillery support in the
encirclement and
defeat of the German troops in the Stalingrad area. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the 1st Artillery was transferred to the
Central Front during February, where it was subordinated to the 65th Army and later the
70th Army. The division was reorganized on 20 February 1943, with its regiments combined into three brigades – one howitzer, one gun, and one
tank destroyer. In recognition of its "courage and heroism", the division was converted into the 1st Guards Artillery Division RGK on 1 March; Mazur received a simultaneous promotion to major general. The 1st Guards Artillery Division included the 1st Guards Gun, 2nd Guards Howitzer, and 1st Guards Light Artillery Brigades, which in turn included the 201st and 205th Guards Gun, 169th and 203rd Guards Howitzer, and 167th, 200th, and 206th Guards Light Artillery Regiments. In May 1943 Mazur was promoted to artillery corps command and replaced by Colonel
Grigory Godin, who would be promoted to major general on 7 August. During the defensive phase of the
Battle of Kursk, the division supported the
13th and 70th Armies with massed artillery fire, helping to repulse German tank and infantry attacks. It received the
Glukhov honorific title on 31 August. In October the division was assigned to the
First Ukrainian Front. In July 1944 the division was assigned to the 7th Artillery Corps. From 16 April to 20 May 1944 3rd Guards Light Artillery Brigade commander Colonel
Viktor Zhagala temporarily commanded the division after Arkady Volchek was wounded.
76th Rifle Corps Artillery commander Colonel
Viktor Khusid (promoted to major general on 18 November 1944) was appointed to lead the division on 21 May, while it was part of the
1st Ukrainian Front. The division then fought in the
Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive. The division was redesignated as the
1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division in November 1944, reflecting its role of providing artillery concentrations for offensives. In 1945 the division fought in the
Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive, the
Lower Silesian Offensive, the
Berlin Offensive, and the
Prague Offensive, and in fighting for the cities of
Szydłów,
Kielce,
Steinau,
Lüben,
Sprottau,
Cottbus, and
Dresden. Postwar, the division became part of the
Central Group of Forces and in April 1947 was withdrawn to the
Carpathian Military District. In August of that year, Khusid was transferred to the artillery reserve. Until its disbandment in 1960, the division was stationed in
Nestorov in the Carpathian Military District. Its lineage is inherited by the
39th Guards Rocket Division of the
33rd Guards Rocket Army, part of the Russian
Strategic Missile Troops. The 39th Guards Rocket Division was established on 18 July 1960 in
Pashino (Gvardeyskiy),
Novosibirsk Oblast, as the 212th Guards Svir Orders of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Rocket Brigade, from the 21st Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade. == Commanders ==