The 5th Cavalry Corps was a corps of the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. It was part of the 12th Army. It later became part of the 6th Army. It took part in the Soviet invasion of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in 1939 and the Great Patriotic War. During the Great Patriotic War, the corps distinguished itself in the

Yelets Offensive Yelets, or Elets (russian: Еле́ц), is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Bystraya Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population: History Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It was me ...

, as a result of which, for courage shown in battle, in December 1941 it received the name of ''Guards'' and was transformed into the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps. At the same time, the 3rd Cavalry Division of the corps became the 5th Guards Cavalry Division. The 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps participated in the rest of the War as part of the Kalinin, Western, Bryansk, 1st and 2nd Baltic, South-West, South, Stalingrad, Don, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts. After the end of the war, the 5th Guards Cavalry Division and the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps became part of the

Northern Group of Forces The Northern Group of Forces (; ) was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in Poland from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union. Although officially ...

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...

, but soon withdrew to Izyaslav in the

Carpathian Military District The Red Banner Carpathian Military District (, ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Cold War and subsequently of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the early Post-Soviet period. It was established on 3 May 1946 on the ...

. It was reduced to the 5th Guards Cavalry Regiment in May and June 1946 when the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps was reduced to a division. The regiment and division were disbanded in April 1948.

Defeating the 2nd Army - Yelets Offensive 1941

Organization

1939: * 9th Cavalry Division * 16th Cavalry Division * 23rd Independent Tank Brigade 1941: * 3rd Cavalry Division * 14th Cavalry Division

References

Sources

* {{Soviet Union corps Cavalry corps of the Soviet Union Military units and formations disestablished in 1941