The 54th Guards Rifle Division was a Soviet military unit created on December 16, 1942 from the second formation of the 119th Rifle Division. It was assigned the honorific title of "Guards" in recognition of that division's leading role in Operation Uranus, the breakthrough that led to the encirclement of the German/Rumanian forces at Stalingrad, and the subsequent elimination of the 3rd Rumanian Army. The 54th Guards Division continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of the World War II.