At the end of January 1942, 324th was reassigned to
16th Army, still in Western Front. After the winter fighting ended, this sector, north of Bryansk, remained relatively inactive for the balance of the year. On March 9, General Kiryukin handed over his command to Major
Ivan Yakovlevich Kravchenko; Kiryukhin would go on to command the
24th Rifle Corps and become a
Hero of the Soviet Union. Major Kravchenko had been named a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1940 for his actions during the
Winter War with Finland. While leading the division he was mortally wounded near the village of Klintsy and died on April 8. Maj. Gen. Nikolai Timofeevich Shcherbakov held command from April 9 to July 10, when Maj. Gen. A. A. Boreiko took over for about six weeks before in turn handing over to Maj. Gen. Mikhail Yemilyanovich Yerokhin on August 29. Following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad in early 1943, the
STAVKA made every effort to make the local success more general, and 16th Army was ordered to attack the German defenses north of
Zhizdra on February 22, 1943, in conjunction with other attacks by
61st and
3rd Armies, attempting to capture the salient around
Oryol held by
2nd Panzer Army. The 324th, on the far left, was one of six rifle divisions of its Army that made up a shock group backed by three tank brigades, with
9th Tank Corps in reserve. In the event, rain, mud-clogged roads and skillful German resistance brought the advance to a halt after gains of 7km at most, and the tank corps was never committed. In April, 16th Army became the
11th Guards Army, and the 324th was moved to
50th Army on April 19, where it would remain for the duration; this army was also in Western Front. On April 27, General Yerokhin handed his command over to Col. Ernest Zhanovich Sedulin; Yerokhin would go on to command
81st Rifle Corps before returning to the division. In August, 50th Army was transferred to
Bryansk Front, and when that Front was dissolved in October, joined
Central Front, which was soon renamed
Belorussian Front. On November 25, Colonel Sedulin was replaced in command by Lt. Col. A. M. Osadchii and on the same day 50th Army launched an offensive from its positions along the Pronya River just north of
Propoysk which penetrated the German front as much as 30km over the next 15 days, finally approaching the Dniepr River near
Novyi Bykhov. The 324th was in the first echelon when the Army went over to the defense. Colonel Osadchii had handed the division over to Maj. Gen.
Aleksandr Bondovsky in the midst of this operation on December 2. On January 4, 1944,
3rd Army, to the south of the 50th, launched a new offensive in the direction of
Bykhov; for this effort the 324th was attached to that Army's
80th Rifle Corps. A daring night raid by ski troops had disrupted the headquarters of the defending German
267th Infantry Division, and 80th Corps quickly penetrated to a depth of 5km before reaching the German Winter Defense Line along the Ukhliast River. The next day the division reverted to 50th Army control, but despite the help of the
110th and
413th Rifle Divisions was unable to crack this new line. Belorussian Front became 1st Belorussian Front in February, and the 324th was assigned to
121st Rifle Corps. In the last week of that month the division took part in the
Rogachev -
Zhlobin Offensive:Beginning on March 25 the division and its Corps took part in an offensive, along with forces of 10th Army, to reduce or eliminate the bridgehead east of the Dniepr still held by German
4th Army, but this effort made only limited gains and was halted on March 31. On the night of April 5 the 324th took over the positions held by the
82nd Rifle Division on the southern outskirts of Krasnitsa. 50th Army remained in this Front until April, when it was transferred to
2nd Belorussian Front. On April 22 Col. Ivan Kornilovich Kazak was appointed to command, which he would hold until October. As of May 1 the division was reassigned to
19th Rifle Corps, where it served in the opening stages of
Operation Bagration. The 50th was holding a wide sector, but also had orders to assist the much stronger
49th Army in its assaults on the German-held city of
Mogilev. On the morning of June 24, 19th Rifle Corps penetrated the German 267th Infantry Division's line at Ludchitsa, but this attack was contained by 1100 hrs. On June 28 the 324th helped to force a crossing of the Dniepr near the city of
Shklov and soon received the battle honor "Upper Dniepr" for this accomplishment:After the liberation of Mogilev, on July 1, 19th Rifle Corps crossed the
Berezina River north of Brodets; following this, 50th Army cut off the escape of the broken German 4th Army between
Berezino and
Chervin, and then headed for
Minsk. On July 9 the division became a separate division under Army command. It was tasked, along with
38th Rifle Corps and five other separate rifle divisions, plus three
NKVD border regiments, to methodically comb through the forested areas east of Minsk with light air support. This was a
search and destroy mission against enemy groups that had not yet surrendered. During this operation, which ended on July 13, the 324th eliminated a group of about 2,000 men in the Bolshoi Trostenets - Yelnitsa - Apchak area led by General Engel, the commander of the
45th Infantry Division. Following this, in August was reassigned to 81st Rifle Corps. == East Prussian Campaign ==