The newly created division was soon sent back to the Eastern Front and was stationed in the Rzhev and Orel sectors in central Russia until the spring of 1943, in the Army Group Centre Rear Area. As the Ninth Army planned the evacuation from the Rzhev salient in Operation Büffel in March 1943, the division took part in large-scale Bandenbekämpfung ("bandit-fighting") actions in the weeks before the operation, alongside elements of four Wehrmacht divisions and other SS and police units. An estimated 3,000 Russians were killed, the great majority of whom were unarmed: only 277 rifles, 41 pistols, 61 machine guns and 17 mortars were recovered.