First Formation The 264th began forming on 10 July 1941 at
Poltava in the
Kharkov Military District. Its basic order of battle included the 1056th, 1058th, and the 1060th Rifle Regiments. The division was barely formed and lacked much of its equipment when it was sent to the front on nine trains at the end of July. By 30 July, it was taking positions defending the line of the
Dnieper near
Kaniv, south of
Kiev. By 5 August, the 264th was part of the
Southwestern Front's
26th Army. It was trapped in the Kiev pocket in early September and destroyed almost immediately in the pocket. The 264th was officially disbanded on 19 September.
Second Formation The second formation of the 264th began forming in February 1942 in the
Ural Military District, including the basic order of battle as the first formation. By the time its commander was assigned on 1 May, the division had been relocated to the
Moscow Military District. In May, it was assigned to the
Moscow Defence Zone for training, and in August the 264th joined the
3rd Tank Army, part of the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command behind the
Western Front near Moscow. The division was part of the army's mobile group for several front-level offensives in 1942, which occasionally stretched the German defenses but never broke through. Thus, these actions were mostly ignored by Soviet accounts. The division fought in heavy fighting through the fall of 1942 around
Rzhev,
Sychyovka, and
Zhizdra. On 20 October 1942, it was converted into the
48th Guards Rifle Division for its actions.
Third Formation The division was formed for a third time on 20 July 1943 with the
35th Army in the
Far Eastern Front. It included the same rifle regiments as the previous formations, and spent the entire war with the 35th Army. On 8 August 1945, the army was with the
1st Far East Front for the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria, which began the next day. While other units of the army engaged in a speedy advance through the Japanese line, the 264th spent the entire campaign systematically reducing Japanese fortifications in and around
Hutou in conjunction with the
109th Fortified Region. By the end of the invasion, the 264th was so far behind the rest of the army that it was assigned to the
87th Rifle Corps in the front reserves. For its actions, the division was awarded the honorific "Ussuri." Postwar, the 264th became part of the
15th Army at
Dolinsk, where it was renumbered as the
41st Rifle Division in 1955. == References ==