The 1st Mechanized Corps was a

mechanized corps Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is disting ...

of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that formed twice. In 1946, the Corps became the 1st Mechanized Division.

World War II

First formation

The Leningrad Military District was directed to form the 1st Mechanized Corps from the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade, the 1st and 13th Light Tank Brigades, the

25th Cavalry Division The 25th Cavalry Division was a mounted division of the Red Army that served for just over a year in the Great Patriotic War. It was formed in the summer of 1941 and served in the region south and west of Leningrad during the following months agai ...

, and the 163rd Rifle Division, which was converted to the 163rd Motorized Division beginning on July 1. The formation of the corps was to be completed by 30 June 1940, but the reorganization was interrupted by the Soviet invasion of Estonia. For the latter, the 13th Light Tank Brigade moved to Pskov by 13 June, assigned to the 8th Army. The corps was initially formed in March 1940 attached to the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

, and held in reserve near the Pskov Fortified Region. It was under the command of Major General when the German

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

began in June 1941. It initially comprised the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and 3rd Tank Divisions, and the 168th Rifle Division. The 3rd Tank Division of the corps was formed from the 13th Light Tank Brigade; the new division inherited the brigade's Order of the Red Banner. The brigade's 6th and 9th Tank Battalions were used to form the 5th Tank Regiment and the 13th and 15th Tank Battalions the 6th Tank Regiment. The period for the formation of the corps was lengthened on 23 June with the extension of the deadline for the completion of the process to 31 July. Despite these delays, the formation of the first new mechanized corps was completed by October and the 1st became one of the most well-manned and -equipped due to the number of units used to form it. On 22 June 1941, 1st Mechanized Corps consisted of 31,439 men, 1,037 tanks, 239 armored cars, 148 artillery pieces, 146 mortars, 4,730 vehicles, 246 tractors, and 467 motorcycles; including lighter

T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...

BT-7 } The BT-7 was the last of the BT series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. It was lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for the time, and had much better mobility than other contemporary t ...

, and

T-28 T28 may refer to: Aircraft * Enstrom T-28, an American helicopter * North American T-28 Trojan, an American trainer * Slingsby T.28, a British glider Armoured land vehicles * T-28 (medium tank), a Soviet tank * T28 super-heavy tank, an ...

model tanks. After the invasion began, the

was renamed to the Northern Front and was overseen by Lieutenant General Markian M. Popov. The front fielded the 14th,

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

, and 23rd Armies, the 65th Rifle Corps and the Leningrad Military District forces, including the 2nd Division of NKVD troops. The 1st Mechanized Corps was heavily engaged in the first battles of

, particularly during the

Baltic Operation (1941) The Baltic strategic defensive operation () encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in response to the offensive launched by the Wehrm ...

. On 29 June 1941, the 1st Mechanized Corps was ordered to reinforce new defenses anchored on the

Velikaya River The Velikaya () is a river in Novosokolnichesky, Pustoshkinsky, Sebezhsky, Opochetsky, Pushkinogorsky, Ostrovsky, Palkinsky, and Pskovsky Districts of Pskov Oblast, as well as in the city of Pskov in Russia. It is the largest tributary o ...

, near Ostrov, on the former Stalin Line after the spectacular advances by

Georg-Hans Reinhardt Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1 March 1887 – 23 November 1963) was a German general of the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. He commanded the 3rd Panzer Army from 1941 to 1944, and Army Group Centre in 1 ...

XLI Panzer Corps XXXXI Panzer Corps (also written as: XLI Panzer Corps) was a Panzer (armoured) corps in the German Army during World War II. Operational history The corps was originally formed, as the XXXXI Corps, on 5 February 1940 in ''Wehrkreis'' VIII (Sile ...

, which had crossed the

Daugava River The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...

. However it was unable to hold the line. On 11 July 1941, Colonel on the Northwestern Front reported that the 1st Mechanized Corps had at the present moment fewer than 100 tanks remaining.

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

and Ostrov were captured within weeks. On 2 August 1941, Colonel Limarenko, Chief of Staff of the 1st Mechanized Corps reported that the Corps possessed no

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV; ) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour ...

s. When sent into action, only 20 were delivered after combat began. The 1st Mechanized Corps was disbanded in August 1941, although the 1st Tank Division remained in 14th Army.

Second formation

The Corps was formed a second time on the basis of the 27th Tank Corps on 8 September 1942 in Kalinin. It fought actively during the Second World War from 26 September—10 March 1943, from 9 July 1943—13 January 1944, from 7 June 1944—5 September 1944, and from 30 October 1944—9 May 1945. After the end of World War II, the Corps became part of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany.

Cold War

In 1946, the Corps became the 1st Mechanized Division. The division became the 19th Motor Rifle Division on 29 April 1957. It was located in the 1936 Olympic Village ( :de:Olympisches Dorf (Berlin)) (Dallgow-Döberitz barracks) and formed part of the

2nd Guards Tank Army The 2nd Guards Tank Army () was a large military formation of the Red Army and Soviet Army, later part of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the firs ...

. In June 1964, it was subordinated to the

20th Guards Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after th ...

. On 1 January 1965, it became the 35th Motor Rifle Division. On 22 February 1968, the division was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. In May 1983, it relocated to

Krampnitz Krampnitz Kaserne was a military complex, in Fahrland, Potsdam, created by the Germans during German re-armament, the rearmament period. It was used by the Germans until the end of the Second World War. After the war it was used by Soviet Union, ...

. In May 1989, the 219th Tank Regiment was moved to the Soviet Union and disbanded. It was replaced by the

32nd Guards Tank Division The 32nd Guards Tank Division was a tank formation of the Soviet Army/Soviet Ground Forces. Its predecessor, the 9th Guards Airborne Division, was a Red Army Airborne division of World War II. On 19 June 1945, it became the 116th Guards Rifle Di ...

's 69th Motor Rifle Regiment. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the 35th Motor Rifle Division was maintained at full strength. In December 1991, the division moved to Chebarkul and became part of the Volga–Urals Military District. The division was disbanded in April 1992.

Citations

Bibliography