When it went to the front, the 322nd was initially assigned to
10th Army, east of
Tula, in the
Ryazan-Kalino-Shilovo area. The Army commander was ordered to finish concentration by the evening of December 2 and on December 4 (according to the instruction No.0044/OP) to strike the main blow in the Mihailov/
Stalinogorsk direction as the Soviet winter counteroffensive began. By December 6 it had reached the line Klemovo - Okunkovo - Rybkino. On December 9, the division was transferred to reinforce the
1st Guards Cavalry Corps and over the coming days assisted in breaking the resistance of elements of
2nd Panzer Army along the line of the
Shat River, west and southwest of Stalinogorsk. It took part in the liberation of
Sukhinichi on January 29, 1942; immediately following, the 322nd was reassigned to
16th Army in the
Western Front, where it remained for the following year along a relatively quiet sector. In January, 1943, the division was once more reassigned, now to the
60th Army, where it would remain for the duration, apart from a few months later that year. General Terentev was replaced temporarily in command on February 5 by a colonel who was himself replaced three weeks later by Col. Nikolai Ivanovoch Ivanov. Advancing on
Voronezh Front's left wing, 60th Army drove
4th Panzer Division out of
Kursk on February 8, helping to form a 60 km gap in the German front. On February 16 the Army's headquarters issued the following order (in part): In March, 60th Army made a bewildering set of reassignments before ending up in
Central Front, deep in what became known as the Kursk Salient. The 322nd was assigned at this time to
30th Rifle Corps. The division fought during the
Battle of Kursk, although it saw limited action due to its position in the western sector of the salient. On August 22, Colonel Ivanov made way for Col. Pyotr Nikolaievich Lashchenko, who would be promoted to Major General on June 3, 1944. On August 26, 60th Army joined the main offensive and quickly broke through at
Sevsk, exploiting towards the
Dniepr River. In September, the 322nd was transferred to
17th Guards Rifle Corps in
13th Army. The division moved back to 60th Army in November. That army was soon assigned to
1st Ukrainian Front. Following the liberation of
Kiev, that Front pushed westward during November, liberating the city of
Zhitomir, but then losing it to a German counteroffensive. In December, the
Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive was launched, and Zhitomir was liberated for a second time on December 31. The 322nd was recognized for its contribution to this victory by receiving the city's name as an honorific: The division was further honored on February 17 for its role in the liberation of
Shepetivka with the
Order of the Red Banner. On July 18 the division saw its final change of command with the arrival of Guards Maj. Gen. Pyotr Ivanovich Zubov. After the breakout from the Baranow bridgehead during the
Vistula-Oder Offensive in January, 1945, 60th Army began a deep exploitation to the west, through southern Poland. In the course of this, the 322nd was the first Soviet unit to reach the
Auschwitz concentration camp. The camp was liberated and nearby German rearguards overcome on January 26 and 27. The men and women of the division found 7,500 prisoners and over 600 corpses left behind. On February 19 the 322nd was awarded the
Order of Suvorov, 2nd Class, for its role in the liberation of
Kraków. In the last weeks of the war 60th Army was transferred to
4th Ukrainian Front, advancing through Czechoslovakia. At this point, the 322nd was serving in the
3rd Mountain Rifle Corps. By the end of the war the division had earned the full title
322nd Rifle, Zhitomir, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division: (Russian: 322-я стрелковая Житомирская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия). On June 29, in recognition of his "skillful leadership of the troops and for displaying courage and heroism", General Zubov was awarded the Gold Star of a
Hero of the Soviet Union. The division was disbanded "in place" with the
Northern Group of Forces in the summer of 1945. ==Notes==