The 43rd Rifle Division was a formation of the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

, which took part in the Second World War, known to the Soviets as the "Great Patriotic War".

The 43rd Rifle Division was formed in 1924-1925 in the Velikiye Luki

Velikiye Luki

Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....

 region as part of the Leningrad Military District

Leningrad Military District

The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:...

 under the name of the 43rd territorial division. Stationed in the Western Special Military District. In autumn 1937 it was relocated directly in Leningrad. The division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner

Order of the Red Banner

The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...

 for participation in the Winter War

Winter War

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

. Fought at Oranienbaum

Oranienbaum

Oranienbaum may refer to:Germany:* Oranienbaum, Germany, a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany* Oranienbaum-WörlitzRussia:* Oranienbaum, Russia , a Russian royal residence* Lomonosov , the former name of the adjacent town...

.

On June 24, 1941, when the Northern Front was formed, it became part of the 50th Rifle Corps, 23rd Army

23rd Army (Soviet Union)

The 23rd Army was a Field Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army. It was formed in May 1941 in the Leningrad Military District for the defence of the southernmost part of the Soviet Union's border with Finland, north and northeast of Vyborg...

. In 1941 it fought in the defence of the Karelian isthmus

Karelian Isthmus

The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva . Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga...

 during the Continuation War

Continuation War

The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...

, from 1941 to 1944 in the Siege of Leningrad

Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...

, in 1944 in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, the Offensive Krasnoselsky-Ropshinskaya, Offensive Kingiseppsky-Gdovskii, the Baltic Offensive, Offensive Tartu, the Riga Offensive, and the Memel Offensive. In 1945 it fought in the Courland Pocket

Courland Pocket

The Courland Pocket referred to the Red Army's blockade or encirclement of Axis forces on the Courland peninsula during the closing months of World War II...

. With Leningrad Front May 1945.

For the combat history of the division see, for example: “Red Banner Volgaside". Military Publishing, 1984, pp. 367–368 (Note via Lenskii 2001).