The 88th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the prewar buildup of forces. In its first formation in the far north it had an unusual shtat (table of organization and equipment) probably to facilitate its movement in the roadless tundra and forests of that region. During the Winter War against Finland it saw action in the fighting around Salla. Its organization again proved beneficial in the spring of 1942 during the first stages of the Great Patriotic War. It played a large role in holding and then pushing back the Finnish III Army Corps during Operation Silver Fox and for this success was redesignated as the 23rd Guards Rifle Division.
A new 88th began forming in April 1942 based on the first formation of the 39th Rifle Brigade, mostly in the Moscow Military District and was soon assigned to the 31st Army of Western Front; it would remain in that Army for the duration of the war. It took part in the savage and mostly fruitless fighting around the Rzhev salient into the winter of 1942/43 and then in the summer offensive that liberated Smolensk. During the following fall it became badly depleted as Western Front repeatedly attempted to batter its way through the German defenses to Orsha. After rebuilding in the spring of 1944 it served as part of 3rd Belorussian Front during Operation Bagration, soon being awarded a battle honor as well as the Order of the Red Banner. During this offensive it reached the border of East Prussia and won a second decoration in the unsuccessful Gumbinnen-Goldap Operation. During the East Prussian Offensive in January 1945 it made steady progress, eventually earning its third Order after the battle for the Heiligenbeil Pocket. After the East Prussian campaign the 31st Army was railed south to Czechoslovakia where the 88th ended the war marching on Prague. Despite a fine record as a fighting unit the division was soon disbanded.
1st Formation The 88th Rifle Division began forming for the first time on the day the war began in Europe, September 1, 1939 at Arkhangelsk in the Arkhangelsk Military District. During November it was transported across the White Sea to Belomorsk. By December 1 the division was developing a two-pronged attack on Salla in cooperation with the 122nd Rifle Division. The intermediate objective was the town of Kemijärvi en route to Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland. By December 17 the 122nd Division was less than 30km from the former when it was struck by Finnish counterattacks and forced to retreat on some sectors. As the 88th came up it was fed into the fighting piecemeal with little result. By the end of the month the two Soviet divisions were hard-pressed to hold the ground they had gained and under fresh attacks beginning on January 2, 1940 were forced back to a line of ridges 3km west of Märkäjärvi. There they dug in and remained for the duration of the war.William M. Trotter, A Frozen Hell, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, pp. 53-54, 179-80
Maj. Gen. Andrei Ivanovich Zelentsov took command of the division on 14 June 1940. As of 22 June 1941 the division's order of battle was as follows: 426th Rifle Regiment 611th Rifle Regiment 758th Rifle Regiment 401st Light Artillery Regiment 269th Antitank Battalion 147th Reconnaissance Battalion 222nd Sapper Battalion 221st Signal BattalionCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 47 368th Mortar Battalion (until 16 October 1941) 288th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 128th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 184th Motor Transport Battalion 154th Field Bakery 189th Field Artillery Remount Workshop 191st Field Postal Station 373rd Field Office of the State Bank Zelentsov also served as the acting commander of Arkhangelsk Military District from 27 June to 5 July. The division remained near Arkhangelsk until the beginning of August, when it was shipped across the White Sea to Murmansk. Sharp states that it's possible the 88th had a special organization for operations in the roadless arctic terrain because it did not have a howitzer regiment and when it was disembarked from 10 small transports from 9–14 August it had just 7,818 personnel on strength with 58 artillery pieces of all calibres, 22 trucks and 1,928 horses in total. It also had a full reconnaissance battalion versus the standard company. This does not match any prewar shtat but appears to be a lightly armed organization utilizing horse packing for most of its transport needs.Sharp, "Red Legions", p. 47
The German-Finnish Operation Silver Fox had begun on 1 July with the goal of cutting the Murmansk railway and on 7 August the Finnish III Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo, captured Kestenga. By now he was 65 km short of his objective of Loukhi. The Soviet 14th Army sent in a group of reserves known as the Grivnik Brigade which slowed the Finnish drive. At this point the 88th joined the Kemskaya Operations Group and took over defense of the Kestenga-Loukhi road, one of the few avenues of operation in this mostly trackless wilderness. On 15 August, while leading the division as it attempted to establish defensive positions along the Sofiangi River, General Zelentsov was killed in a German air attack; he was replaced five days later by Col. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Solovyov.Aleksander A. Maslov, Fallen Soviet Generals, ed. & trans. D. M. Glantz, Frank Cass Publishers, London, UK, 1998, p. 37 By this time the Finnish forces were exhausted and on 25 August General Siilasvuo called a halt to regroup.John R. Elting, Battles for Scandinavia, Time-Life Books Inc., Chicago, IL, 1981, p. 127
After being reinforced by units of the German XXXVI Mountain Corps the Finns resumed their offensive on 30 October. The 88th Division had also been reinforced and had had time to improve its positions. Despite this the attackers made progress and by 6 November two battalions of the 426th Rifle Regiment and a company of the 611th Regiment were fighting in encirclement. The next day two Finnish and one German battalion that had earlier infiltrated between the two Regiments were driven back 45 km along the Kestenga-Loukhi road by other Soviet forces. On 9 November the encircled battalions of the 426th, low on ammunition and without food, were forced to break out; only 275 men returned to friendly lines. On 16 November the offensive subsided, in part due to heavy casualties on the Axis side but also due to diplomatic pressure from the United States government which threatened consequences for Finland if its supply deliveries to the USSR were interrupted. However, this might have been, the division was credited with stopping the Finnish drive and largely in recognition of this it was redesignated as the 23rd Guards Rifle Division on 17 March 1942, one of only two Guards divisions created (the other being the 10th Guards Rifle) in the Arctic.
On 22 February 1943 two soldiers of the division would be posthumously made Heroes of the Soviet Union for their roles in the November battles. Krasnoarmeets Mikhail Egorovich Rodionov had been a machinegunner in the 2nd Battalion of the 426th Rifle Regiment. While fighting in encirclement Rodionov helped to drive off seven enemy attacks with his fire, despite being wounded. Following a second wound he lost consciousness; when he revived he killed himself with a grenade before being captured.https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=4723. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved 1 January 2020. Cpl. Fyodor Afanasevich Luzan commanded a radio platoon of the 758th Rifle Regiment. On 24 November, while fighting for the railway station on the Loukhi-Kastenga line his battalion was surrounded by enemy tanks and infantry. In order to help his comrades to break through to friendly lines Luzan called in artillery fire on his own position. Soon after, as SS troops were breaking into his dugout, he blew up himself and his radio with a grenade, taking several attackers with him.https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=4609. In Russian; English translation available. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
2nd Formation The 88th began forming again on 29 April 1942 based on the 39th Rifle Brigade at Kizner in the Urals Military District.
39th Rifle Brigade The 1st formation of the 39th Rifle Brigade began in October 1941 at Alma-Ata in the Central Asia Military District.Dunn, Jr. states that it formed in the North Caucasus Military District in September; Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 83 It was formed from the Alma-Ata and Fruzensk Rifle-Machine gun Schools, largely with students of Kazakh nationality. In December the brigade was shipped north and by 1 January 1942 was in the reserves of Northwestern Front, under command of Col. V. G. Noziyak. It was then assigned to 4th Shock Army taking part in the Toropets-Kholm Offensive and on 21 January was one of the units recognized for its role in the liberation of Toropets and the capture of the German supply base there. By the end of the month 4th Shock came under command of Kalinin Front and the brigade remained in the Toropets salient to the west of the German-held Rzhev salient until April when it was pulled back well east of Moscow where it was disbanded to form the cadre for the new 88th Rifle Division.Sharp, "Red Volunteers", Soviet Militia Units, Rifle and Ski Brigades 1941 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. XI, Nafziger, 1996, pp. 25-26
Although it physically formed in the Urals the new 88th Division, based on an existing cadre, was very soon assigned to the Moscow Military District.Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, p. 111 Its order of battle was similar to that of the 1st formation: 426th Rifle Regiment 611th Rifle Regiment 758th Rifle Regiment 401st Artillery Regiment 269th Antitank Battalion 222nd Sapper Battalion 147th Reconnaissance Company 221st Signal CompanySharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 31 288th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 128th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 598th Motor Transport Battalion 489th Field Bakery 1004th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1596th Field Postal Station 1642nd Field Office of the State Bank Divisional Training Battalion Col. Andrei Filippovich Bolotov was assigned to command of the division on the day it began forming. In June it was assigned to the 4th Reserve Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and then in July to 31st Army in Western Front.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, pp. 134, 145
Battles for Rzhev