-April 1942: Ceremonial distribution of Arms to soldiers.
-May 1, 1942: Swearing in ceremony for the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division
-August 15 1942: The entire division was sent by rail from Balakhna to the forest region east of Tula.
-December 1942: The division was attached to the Third Army of the Briansk front. Just before setting out for the front the division possessed 7,072 rifles, 150 automatic rifles, 911 submachine guns, 220 light machine guns, 108 heavy machine guns, 9 antiaircraft machine guns, 228 antitank guns, 74 cannons, and 188 mortars.
-February, 1943: Two days after arriving at Alekseyevka, without a real chance to rest and refresh themselves, and without artillery support, the division was thrown in the first line on the Central front. The objective was to break through the enemy's defense line towards Zmeyovka, and from there to join the Red Army assault on Orel at the Central front.
During the fighting west of Alekseyevka, heavy losses are inflicted on the division's Infantry units. After the failure of these assaults, and with the ranks depleted by more than half, the division was moved back to the second line of defense. The division was reorganized. Major-General F. Baltusis-Zemaits was replaced as division commander by his deputy, Major-General V. Karvelis and Colonel A. Urbsas was named chief of staff:
-May-June 1943: The decimated units were restored to their full complements with soldiers from all over the Soviet Union.
-July, 1943: 'Operation Zitadelle' 16th Lithuanian RD was assigned to the Central Front / 48th Army
[Throughout the war the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division was used as an assault unit formation by the Red Army.]
-July 5, 1943 (05:30hrs): Two German Divisions attack in the in the Lithuanian's responsible sector of defense. Artillery batteries of the 224th Artillery regiment of the 16th Lithuanian smash the German attacks in this sector with precise and devastating artillery salvos. Destroying both of the German Divisions and giving up not one foot of land.
-August 1943: The division is moved back to the Moscow Military district for rest and reorganized for upcoming offensives.
-October 6, 1943-October 11, 1943: In the offensive launched on Nevel by the Red Army's Third and Fourth Armies, the 16th takes Palkino after a week of fierce fighting.
-November and December 1943:Vitebsk-Gorodok-Polotsk sector the division devoted most of this period to staging deep penetrations into the enemy's rear, harassing its communications lines and staging diversionary actions.
-December 1943-February 1944: The division was shifted frequently to different places in the Polotsk region until the Polotsk was liberated.
-November, 1943-March, 1944: the division was part of the Kalinin Front. (After October, 1943 the 1st Baltic Front)
-June 22, 1944: 'Operation Bagration' The 16th Lithuanian RD is assigned to 1st Baltic Front/4th Shock Army and 51st Army/83rd Rifle corps.
-July 13, 1944: Red Army troops of the third Byelorussian front enter Vilna.
The 16th Lithuanian Rifle division set out on a 312-mile foot march, crossing the Lithuanian border in the north and continuing to the outskirts of Shavli.
With fierce fighting in the Shavli region the Division suffers heavy losses and saved from rout by Red Army Amour
-August 1944: The 16th Lithuanian RD provides a cadre for the 50th Lithuanian Rifle Division, setup in Lithuania to process replacements for the Red Army from the population.
-August-December, 1944: the Division becomes part of the 2nd Guards Army.
-October 5, 1944: With the renewed offensive on the First Baltic front and the aim of driving the Germans from the Samogitia region in Northwestern Lithuania. The Lithuanian Division starts offensive operations in and around the region (Note : The period of October 5-9, 1944 is considered the most glorious chapter in the divisions history. Bitter fighting against the German Panzer-Grenadier-Division Grossdeutschland in the Siauliai Memel (Klaipeda) region of Lithuanian.
-October 13, 1944: Battles rage near and around the Pegegai area.
The Lithuanian Division crosses the DubysaRiver to the west and fights it's way to the border of East Prussia not far from Tilsit (Sovietsk)
-October 31, 1944: The division is awarded the Red Banner decoration, and ten of it's soldiers including four Jews are awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
The division is then marched 100 miles northward to the KurlandPeninsula in Latvia to participate in the assault on the thirty German divisions still entrenched there.
-December, 1944- February, 1945: The Division was moved back in the 1st Baltic Front's 4th Shock Army
-January 1945: The division was rushed back to Lithuania to help eliminate the last vestiges of Nazi occupation from Lithuania. The division retakes the mined city and port of Klaipeda, Lithuania. The division is later dudded the ';Klaipeda Division'
-February 1945: The division returns to Kurland, where for the next three months it participates in the siege on the German forces.
-March-May, 1945: The Division finishes off the war under the 6th Guards Army at Kurland.
-May 8, 1945: Kurland, When the division's commander was personally directing the shelling of the enemy, the Germans raised white flags all along the front. And by approval of the High command, the division accepted the surrender of the German corps in the sector. It was also in charge of gathering and storing the arms of eight German divisions and moving prisoners to collection points.
The soldiers of the division were awarded more than 21,000 medals and decorations, including 12 'Hero of the Soviet Union' medals.
Charles C. Sharp Soviet Order of Battle
World War II Volume X Red Swarm Pages 8-9.
Dobrovolskas, 'Lietuviaikariai,'