The 196th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the table of organization and equipment of September 13, 1939. It began forming just months before the German invasion in the Odessa Military District. When the German invasion began, it was in the 7th Rifle Corps, in the District reserves. The Corps was soon moved to the reserves of Southwestern Front, and by mid-July the division had joined 26th Army as a separate division. It took part in battles on both sides of the Dniepr River during August until it was finally encircled and destroyed in September, although it remained on the books of the Red Army until December.
A new 196th was created from the 424th Rifle Division, which had been formed in the South Ural Military District in November. After several months of forming up and training, it was moved west, eventually joining the 7th Reserve Army, which was redesignated in early July as the 62nd Army in Stalingrad Front. Late that month, it was briefly encircled in the Great Bend of the Don River west of Kalach and suffered considerable losses in breaking out to the east bank, including the death of its commander. Throughout August and September, it took part in the fighting that drove its Army step by step back to Stalingrad itself, ebbing in strength, until it took up positions in the salient around Orlovka, west of the Dzerzhinskii Tractor Factory, by now reduced to a composite rifle regiment. In the last days of September, it was ordered to leave the salient and moved east of the Volga, before heading north to begin a lengthy rebuilding.
In March 1943, it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its role in the defense of Stalingrad. By this time, it had arrived in the reserves of Leningrad Front, and was eventually assigned to 55th Army and later 67th Army. In September, under this command, it played a secondary role in the battle that finally liberated the heights around Sinyavino. At the start of the winter offensive that drove Army Group North away from Leningrad, the 196th was part of 2nd Shock Army in the Oranienbaum bridgehead, but it was transferred to 42nd Army after the linkup south of Ropsha.
The 196th Rifle Division was active from 1941 to 1946 and was part of the Red Army. It was engaged in several key battles and operations during World War II, including Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Uman, Battle of Kiev (1941), Battle of Stalingrad, Siege of Leningrad, Mga offensive, Leningrad–Novgorod offensive, Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha offensive, Baltic offensive, Pskov-Ostrov operation, Riga offensive (1944), and Courland Pocket. The division was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner (2nd formation) and was given the battle honour of Gatchina (2nd Formation). Notable commanders of the division included Maj. Gen. Konstantin Efimovich Kulikov, Kombrig Dmitrii Vasilevich Averin, Col. Vasilii Polikarpovich Ivanov, Maj. Gen. Pyotr Filippovich Ratov, and Col. Nikolai Vasilevich Parshukov.