The bold gamble to reduce the Soviet Union in the summer and autumn of 1941 had failed, leaving German military planners to plan strategy for the year 1942.  Franz Halder, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces High Command (OKW), felt a year in which no new offensives were mounted would give the Army a chance to adopt new weapons (especially tanks and anti-tank guns capable of battling the Russian T-34 and KV-1) and "tidy up the line."  Hitler, as supreme warlord, felt differently, but he limited offensive action to the southern part of the front, choosing to invest the wheat and oil rich areas in the southern USSR.  Oil was especially vital to the Third Reich's war economy and the Caucasus was thus a much more logical target than Moscow, in central Russia, which was little more than a name on a map.

A series of offensives were planned for the summer of 1942, all of which were designed to assist Army Group South move forward and seize territory in the Caucasus.  Grossdeutschland was to play an important part of the opening moves of this series.

Finishing the Winter
January-February 1942

After solidifying a line along the Oka river, the GD Division weathered the storm of Russian counter-offensives, which eventually ran out of steam.  By the first of February, local counter-attacks were mounted, which were successful in gaining ground - but at a price.  On 1 February the 2nd Battalion as a whole was disbanded, its men redistrbuted among the other battalions of GD.  Russian resistance in turn stiffened; on 18 February an assault on Tsklovo suffered severe losses; one battalion was reduced to just sixty men; according to one history regimental strength along the front line eventually dropped to just 3 officers and 30 men.  The two remaining infantry battalions were reformed as a single battalion.

Stalemate
February - April 1942

The attack on Tsklovo was the last offensive operation by GD during the winter of 1941-42.  While reinforcements did help bring the regiment back up to a respectable strength, including a re-raising of the formerly disbanded battalions, all the organic armour was gone by 29 February, the date on which GD's last StuG was destroyed.

Rebirth April - May 1942 The entire Eastern Front now stabilized along lines that did not change appreciably until the German summer offensives.  On 1 April 1942, it was announced that the Infantry Regiment "Grossdeutschland" would be expanded to an entire division bearing the same name.  Between the 9th and 14th of April, the Regiment was moved to the rear to reorganize.  Renamed "Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 1", the unit remained in Russia; other divisional units, including "Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 2", were organized and trained at barracks and training grounds in Germany.  On April 15/16, the former Infantry Regiment GD travelled by train to Rechitsa, on the Dniepr near Gomel. In the last week of May, the divisional units still in Germany began the long move by rail and truck to an area northwest of Fatesch, near Kursk.   The division was assembled in the first days of June, and joined the 48th Panzer Corps.  This Corps formed the extreme left wing of Army Group South.

Training and Preparation for the Summer Offensive
June 1942

From 6 June to 24 June, the vast numbers of GD vehicles were repaired and made ready, while the troops underwent training.  On the night of 24 June, the infantry moved forward to the main defensive positions that had been manned since the winter battles months before.  The Russians in this sector were quiet and gave the impression of not strongly holding their positions.

The opening phase of the summer offensives would be an encirclement blow, with the 1st and 4th Panzer Armies forming the northern half of a pincher, striking between the Don and the Donetz, with the southern pincer advancing across the Don from Volchansk.  Grossdeutschland was to take its place as part of the northern pincer; once this encirclement battle was fought, the 6th Army could then play its part in subsequent encirclements, until it was free, along with 4th Panzer Army, to drive to the south towards the Caucasus.

The order for GD to move came on 27 June.

Across the Tim to Voronezh
June - July 1942

Movement to the final jumping-off positions were carried out on the night of 27-28 June.  Russian aircraft were active during the night, and the fuel dump for the Panzer Battalion took a direct hit; the ensuing explosion and fire consumed the entire supply of fuel.  The rear area of 7th Company, Infantry Regiment GD 1 was hit by enemy bombs, killing a popular Hauptfeldwebel, a company tailor, and three other men.  There was no safe place when the division was in the line.

The Division crossed the Tim and until 4 July pursued retreating enemy forces all the way to Voronezh.  During the next two days, GD fought across the Don River and the city itself was taken shortly after.

Moving South
July 1942

After the fight before Voronezh, the Division assembled on the west bank of the Don, then moved south, without enemy contact, past the "big bend" in the Don; from the 14th to the 19th of July the Division encountered mild resistance, as it made its way to the Donets River.  The road march wound its way over 450 kilometres, over open steppe and with GD vehicles taking priority on the roadways.  As fuel supplies dwindled, some units were left behind leaving the armour and reconaissance vehicles to continue the advance.  Between 21 July and 31 July, GD launched renewed attacks southward, crossing the Donets and fighting towards the Manytsch River.  During the month from 28 June to 24 July, the Red Army was forced to withdraw - in both areas GD fought, mainly Voronezh and the Don bend - between 150 and 400 kilometres.  The greater mission - facilitating the move of Army Group South into the Caucasus - was accomplished.  The 6th Army was on the outskirts of Stalingrad in short order.

Reserves - South and North
August - September 1942

Stalingrad was not in Grossdeutschland's future, however.   On 1 August, GD went back into OKH reserve, assembling on the north bank of the Donets at Skakhty. On the 15th, GD began emarking for a long rail move, moving between 16 and 18 August to Smolensk, departing the train and moving from there to the Rzhev area, arriving on 25 August.  GD moved into bivouac areas as the reserve for the 9th Army.

Rzhev has remained an important area of the front; while Army Group South had embarked on its offensive, Army Group Centre set about tidying its battle lines, with the knowledge that any future moves on Moscow would be launched from the Rzhev area.  The Red Army knew this as well, and began serious efforts to retake the town, and reduce a salient created there during the tidying-up phase that began with the spring.   At the end of July, furious Soviet efforts to take the area led to no avail.   Continued assaults began to put serious pressure on the German defenders, and advances by the Soviet 31st Army towards vital rail lines prompted the move of GD once more into the fighting.

Defensive Battles at Rzhev
September 1942 - October 1942

Fighting as part of the 27th Army Corps, GD engaged in fierce defensive battles beginning on 10 Sep  The initial German attacks suffered severe losses; one GD platoon of 42 men ended the day with only 16 soldiers.  Advances the next day were met with intense artillery fire, and Soviet counter-attacks began on the 12th.  Beating off this attack, consolidating and then meeting another Soviet attack on the 15th, the rain-soaked ground forced the action into a stalemate.  The Division was combed through for another German attack on the 30th, and many rear-echelon soldiers were lost in the ensuing action.  Grossdeutschland had gained a few hundred yards, but the divisional strength now equalled only a single under-strength regiment.

In October, in tandem with similar renamings throughout the German Army, Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 1 was retitled "Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland."  The Infantry Regiment GD 2 was renamed "Füsilier Regiment Grossdeutschland."  All Infantry Regiments in the German Army were similarly being renamed as Grenadier Regiments in homage to the army of Frederick the Great, whom Hitler greatly admired.  Schützen Regiments in Panzer Divisions were likewise being renamed Panzergrenadier Regiments. Rank titles for infantrymen were also renamed, Schütze becoming Grenadier or Panzergrenadier.  For the Füsilier Regiment of GD, Füsilier also became the rank title for a private serving in the unit.

The Division remained in the line until 8 Oct; relief came on the 9th along with a transfer to a rest area around Olenino.  The area around Rzhev had held.

Renewed Winter Battles 
October - December 1942

The GD Division was now broken up and used to fill holes in the line; the following is a breakdown of GD Divisional units on the 30th of November.

In return, GD had assigned to it two battalions of the 216th Grenadier Regiment, two companies of pioneers, and a battery of artillery, all from the 86th Infantry Division, as well as a reinforced company, an artillery battalion, and a battlegroup of two reinforced companies from the 110th Infantry Division.

This was the situation when the Russian offensive began on 24 November.  When the 86th Infantry Division collapsed under the attack of some 21,000 Russian soldiers, the last reserve in the area - 2nd Battalion of Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland - was commited to stop them.