in the Nelidovo area. At the end of August, it became part of the front's 43rd Army, remaining there until February 1944. In September 1943, the division fought in the Smolensk Operation and the Dukhovshchina-Demidov Offensive. On 22 September, it was awarded the honorific "Demidov" for its actions in the recapture of that town. In the fall, the division advanced westwards into Belarus, fighting northeast of Vitebsk from October. On 25 October, Belyayev was wounded and temporarily replaced by Colonel Tikhon Yegoshin until 28 November. On 14 February, the division transferred back to the RVGK and became part of the 103rd Rifle Corps. In early June, it was relocated to the Novokhovansk area south of Nevel. On 12 June, the division and its corps joined the 6th Guards Army of the 1st Baltic Front just before Operation Bagration began in late June. The division participated in the Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive and the Polotsk Offensive in June and July. For its actions in the capture of Polotsk, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 23 July. Continuing the offensive, the 270th advanced into Latvia, fighting in the Rezhitsa–Dvinsk Offensive, the Šiauliai Offensive, the Baltic Offensive, the Riga Offensive, and the Battle of Memel from July to November. In December, the division began blockading German troops trapped in the Courland Pocket on the Baltic coast. On 12 February 1945, the division was transferred to the 22nd Guards Rifle Corps of the 10th Guards Army, part of the 2nd Baltic Front. A month later it shifted to the 6th Guards Army's 84th Rifle Corps. On 17 April, the corps transferred to the 4th Shock Army, still in the Courland Group of Forces, defending positions southeast of Libau until the end of the war. The division's honorifics at the end of the war were "Demidov Red Banner". Postwar After the end of the war, the division was relocated to Buzuluk and Totskoye with the 84th Rifle Corps in the South Ural Military District, where it became the 41st Rifle Brigade in 1946. In October 1953, the 41st Rifle Brigade was expanded into the 270th Rifle Division. In September 1954, the division participated in the Totskoye range nuclear tests and exercises as the defending side. In the spring of 1955, the 270th Rifle Division was renamed the 44th Rifle Division at Uralsk. On 4 June 1957, it was converted into the 44th