First Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion
Encyclopedia
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...
military organization
Military organization
Military organization is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defence policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
fighting alongside the 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...
on the East Front, notably in the battle of Sokolovo
Battle of Sokolovo
The Battle of Sokolovo took place on March 8 and 9, 1943 near the town of Sokolovo near Kharkiv in Ukraine when the on-going attack of the Wehrmacht was halted by joint Soviet and Czechoslovak forces. It was the first time that a foreign military unit, the First Czechoslovak Independent Field...
. In 1943 it provided a basis for the formation of the 1st Czechoslovakian Independent Brigade in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Formation
The Batalion was formed in Russian town of BuzulukBuzuluk
Buzuluk is a town in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the Samara, Buzuluk, and Domashka Rivers northwest of Orenburg. Population: It was founded in 1736 as the fortress of Buzulukskaya on the Samara River near the mouth of the Buzuluk River along Russia's southern frontier. It was later moved...
in February, 1942 from the former members of the Czechoslovak Legion
Czechoslovak Legion (1939)
Czechoslovak Legion of 1939 was formed in Second Polish Republic after Germany occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. While about 4000 Czechs and Slovaks joined the French Foreign Legion, about a 1000 chose to go to Poland, which looked likely to be involved in hostilities with Germany in the near...
, Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
citizens (mostly refugees) living in the Soviet Union, Slovak prisoners-of-war and defectors, and Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
n Czechs (Soviet citizens of Czech origin). Lieutenant colonel Ludvík Svoboda on was made the commander of the unit on 15 July 1942.
Operational history
Despite the plans of the Czechoslovak political leadershipCzechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...
, who intended to keep the unit intact to help with the future liberation of the Czechoslovakia, the officers of the battalion tried to bring the unit into the fight as soon as possible. After sending a personal letter to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, they eventually succeed and the battalion was sent into action. Notably, it took part in the defensive Battle of Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
in the March 1943. At the time, it was one of the most well armed infantry battalions on the East Front - fully equipped with automatic guns and semiautomatic infantry weapons.
However, the battalion lacked heavier anti-tank weapons and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, which was to be provided by supporting Soviet units. Because of this, in the defensive battle of Sokolovo
Battle of Sokolovo
The Battle of Sokolovo took place on March 8 and 9, 1943 near the town of Sokolovo near Kharkiv in Ukraine when the on-going attack of the Wehrmacht was halted by joint Soviet and Czechoslovak forces. It was the first time that a foreign military unit, the First Czechoslovak Independent Field...
, when facing parts of the German armored division
Panzer Division
A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....
, the battalion suffered heavy losses and was later withdrawn from the front line.