The 1st Guards

Russian Guards

Guards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...

 Special Rifle Corps (Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: 1-й особый гвардейский стрелковый корпус 1-ĭ osobyĭ gvardyeĭskiĭ strelkovyĭ korpus) was a hastily formed Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 blocking formation active briefly in 1941, during the German advance on Moscow.

The Corps was created on the 4th of October, 1941, by special request of the STAVKA

Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

 supreme command. The rifle corps was formed in the area of the city of Mtsensk

Mtsensk

Mtsensk is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Zusha River northeast of Oryol. It stands on the Moscow–Simferopol highway. Population: 28,000 ....

 (the Oryol Oblast

Oryol Oblast

Oryol Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Oryol. Population: -Geography:It is located in the southwestern part of the Central Federal District, in the Mid-Russian Highlands. Kaluga and Tula Oblasts border it in the north, Bryansk Oblast is located to...

). Initially its structure included the 6th Guards Rifle Division, 5th Air Assault Corps, the 4th Tank Brigade, the 11th Tank Brigade, the Tula military school, several Border Guard

USSR Border Troops

Soviet Border Troops, were the militarized border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to its subsequently reorganized state security agency: first to Cheka/OGPU, then to NKVD/MGB and, finally, to KGB...

 Regiments, two artillery regiments, two rocket artillery

Rocket artillery

Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.-History:...

 battalions and also the 6th reserve aviation group. Major General Dmitri Lelyushenko was appointed the commander of the corps. The corps was given several tasks; to destroy the nearby enemy, to breakthrough

Breakthrough (military)

A breakthrough occurs when an offensive force has broken the enemy defensive line, and is rapidly exploiting the gap.Usually, large force is employed on a relatively small portion of the front to achieve this...

 into Oryol

Oryol

Oryol or Orel is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow...

, to slow the progress of the German tank armies, and to block the way to Tula

Tula, Russia

Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...

.

Fierce fights raged on from October, 4th till October, 18th, 1941. Subsequently these battles have been named the Oryol-Bryansk defensive operation. Soviet soldiers have shown unprecedented heroism in these fights. The Soviet government and the STAVKA

Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

 command highly valued the efforts and sacrifices of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps.

So, on November 11th, 1941 by the order of the National Commissioner of Defense of USSR № 337, the 4th Tank Brigade, which played a vital role in the battle of Mtsensk

Mtsensk

Mtsensk is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Zusha River northeast of Oryol. It stands on the Moscow–Simferopol highway. Population: 28,000 ....

, was renamed the 1st Guards tank brigade. The Commander of the brigade, Colonel Mikhail Katukov

Mikhail Katukov

Marshal of the Armored Troops Mikhail Efimovich Katukov served as a commander of armored troops in the Red Army during and following World War II. He is viewed as one of the most talented Soviet armor commanders.-Pre-War:...

, was eventually promoted to commander of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army

Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army

The 1st Tank Army was a Soviet armoured formation that fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov...

, and was twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

 award.

On the 12th of October, 1941, by the order of STAVKA supreme command, the corps was transformed into the 26th Army

26th Army (Soviet Union)

The 26th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, active from 1941.- Operational history :...

. On October, 25th, 1941 its field HQ was disbanded, and its constituent formations were transferred to the 50th Army of the Bryansk Front

Bryansk Front

The Bryansk Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War.General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, 'on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three...

.

Sources and See also

• :ru:1-й особый гвардейский стрелковый корпус
• http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/maps/1941W/Moscow41/1SGRC_Orel-Mtsensk_Oct3_11_41.jpg