Most people reaching adulthood now have only uncertain memories of the Soviet Union and its elite elements, the Guards Divisions, but to those of us born before 1970, they were units that commanded respect, or at least large combat factors. For forty years, however, the Guards divisions of the Soviet Union represented the finest in Soviet military power. In this column, we will look back at their origins, and try to get a good handle on what they were, and what they meant to the Soviet Union. In the past, most units with the designation "Guards" were bodyguard units, which could, in the case of Napoleon, grow to armies within armies. The genesis of the Soviet Guards represents a stylization of our previous ruminations about the militarization of a society It would be easy to say that they were descendants of the Russian Imperial Guards, but there was a clear break between these formations. The Russian Imperial Guard was an elite unit that went back centuries, and reached corps size during the Napoleonic era. During the First World War, like the Czar it served, the Imperial Guard was destroyed by the Bolshevik revolution. Guard units were absorbed into the various red (Communist) and white (anti-Communist) armies and the Romanov Guard ended at Tobolsk when the Czar and his family were executed. In the flames that followed, a new Guard arose, the Revolutionary Guard. Various units came under this designation as defenders of the Bolshevik vision. There suddenly blossomed Guards on all sides, Red Guards White Guards, Cossack Guards, etc. Most of these were given the honorifics in lieu of food and proper equipment - anything to boost morale. The Bolsheviks and their Red Army created the most "guards" units. To further give them an elite distinction, Red guards were also designated "rifle" units, since in the old Imperial days of muskets, rifle-armed units were considered to be the top of the infantry heap. Pretty soon, all Red Army infantry were called "rifle" units except for Naval Infantry, which retained the "infantry" title. The Russian Civil War finally ended, and the Communists started their great experiment in a Socialist state where all were nominally equal. In this atmosphere, the elite status of Guards units had something of the odium of Imperial Days, so the units were redesignated. The Motherland was safe, and needed no more guards. Even during the vicious Winter War against Finland, no elite units were raised. The New Socialist Man had no need for such titles, and the Red Army had only to wait until the decadent governments of the West bled themselves in another world war, then their societies would collapse and the proletariat of Europe would beg for the embrace of Communism heralded by the Red Army. Stalin's dream of peaceful co-existence until the nations of Europe fell into his lap was shattered on that fateful day in June of 1941. The dictator could not believe that he had been stabbed in the back by the Nazis. German panzers drove deep into the Soviet Union and the army, lobotomized by Stalin's officer purges, could do little but provide speed bumps on the way to Leningrad and Moscow. Russia needed heroes before it ran out of territory. New Guard A new Guard appeared. Its first incarnation was at Leningrad. The local Soviet cobbled together several militia divisions to slow the German advance. The first wave was ground down, and the Soviet formed a second group of four militia divisions. The units were populated by large percentages of loyal Party members not a few of whom were female. These fanatically loyal Communists were the elite of the Soviet Union, so were designated the Guardians of Communism, and their original divisions were given the titles of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leningrad Militia Guards. Their glorious titles were short-lived. Moscow frowned upon the unauthorized use of such honorifics, and orders came within a month to drop them, giving them regular army numbers. There is no substance to any claims that the titles helped their performance in combat anyway. The zealous resolve of the Leningrad Militia was no match for the significantly superior German formations, and, Guards or not, they were shattered because they stood and fought rather than retreat as other nonGuards militia did. The second and enduring incarnation of the Guards came, as it only could have under Stalin, from Moscow. The Soviet General Staff was struggling to make some sense of the seething chaos that had been handed them by the German invasion. Though fresh from a sharp war in Finland, the bulk of the Soviet army had not been engaged in a war since the Russo-Polish conflict of 1920. It was an army long on reputation, but short on steady units. The Germans had demonstrated which Russian units were performing as expected, and which weren't. The General Staff identified those units and proposed to have them set the standards for the rest of the army. These units were models to strive for, and needed a special designation, one that rang through Russian, if not Soviet, history. Not surprisingly, they adopted the "Guards" designation for these units. Special insignia and extra pay went along with the name. The designations, though awarded in the usual top-down Soviet manner, were essentially self-selected based on performance. The General Staff first picked rifle divisions that participated in driving back the Germans at Elnya. So, on September 18, 1941, the 100th Rifle Division, the 127th Rifle Division, the 153rd Rifle Division, and the 161st Rifle Division became, respectively, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Guards Rifle Divisions. Successfully attacking German units got you the Guards designation, and so unit after unit was so honored, the largest single endowment being in the Stalingrad campaign, when units threw themselves heedlessly against the German Sixth Army, fighting building by building, room by room. Divisions that became Guards were often so depleted that it took months for them to return to the same level of performance, and only after training of replacements or equipment levels went up. The Russian army was expanding beyond its ability to properly train and equip troops. Guards units, while still not equal to their German counterparts, could manage average military tasks, and so found themselves plugging gaps and doing rapid maneuvers that were simply beyond the raw conscripts hastily given rifles and uniforms. It took until 1943 for the rest of the army to catch up to Guards standards, as it did so, the raising of higher Guards units tapered off. The Red Army had a breather after the conclusion of the Stalingrad campaign, and it used the time to train and equip all its troops to a standard level of performance. In fact, during most of 1944, the performance levels of non-Guards units was virtually indistinguishable to those of their supposedly elite brethren, and could even get their vehicle upgrades before Guards units on occasions. Performance meant more now than title. Guards did have some perks, though. They usually enjoyed extra automatic weapons, a slight increase in manpower, and an extra battery of artillery. At the end of the year, however, a dramatic change occurred in the makeup of a Guards Rifle Division. Its divisional artillery was pumped up to brigade size with separate howitzer, mortar, and light artillery regiments, plus a battalion of SU-76 self-propelled guns. This was only beginning to be implemented by the end of the war, and was still incomplete when the Soviet Union attacked Japan in August of 1945, when no units in the far east, including Guards divisions, were so blessed. Guards Armor Guards armored units had a slightly different path to glory. The first designated unit was the First Guards Tank Brigade, in November 1941. AFVs to equip them were in short supply, so only seven such brigades had been formed in the next six months. Armored units were sent forward as brigades due to the limited numbers that could be assembled versus the crying need for support at the front. When the re-located Soviet factories were able to turn out sufficient numbers of KV-1 and T-34 tanks, the 26th Tank Corps was renamed the First Guard Tank Corps in December 1942. All Soviet tank formations were apparently equally competent, unlike their infantry units, so the high command made no organizational distinctions between Guards and non-Guards units. They did, however, get the better equipment first, such as T-34/85's. However, some reinforcement/ augmentations of units occurred to support specific missions, so some regular units in some sectors did get their heavy SU or tank formation upgrades sooner. The formation of Mechanized Corps occurred in a peculiarly non-standard manner, the "exception that proves the rule", in a sense. They were formed from whatever units the Soviets decided to upgrade by pumping in enough tanks and other motorized equipment. The first two were upgraded from motorized rifle divisions that had earlier been rifle divisions, while later formations such as the Sixth were formed as standard mechanized corps. Other formations, such as Guards Cavalry and Guards Airborne, followed the more conventional patterns. Guard Tank Regiments A final word about Guards armored formations regards their tank regiments: While infantry units were honored for combat prowess, the tank regiments were designated Guards based on equipment and unit mission. Their mission, on which their name was based, was to lead attacks and break through defenses. The Guards were given the heavy tanks for these regiments, which in the early period meant KVs and Churchills. By 1944, these regiments were being equipped with Stalin tanks and properly called "Heavy' tank regiments. After the Stalin 11 tank became available, heavy tank regiments began to form Guards Heavy Tank brigades and were tasked to mechanized or tank corps interchangeably with ISU-122 self-propelled guns. The Guards did not always enjoy the privileges of other elite units. Better pay did not mean better equipment or training. It did mean pressure to achieve what the regular units often could not. Early in the war, it meant taking enormous casualties. The Guards units ended the Great Patriotic War by being some of the toughest, best led units in the Red Army. Guards units fought in every significant battle from Stalingrad to the end of the War. For brevity, however, I will only focus on two significant engagements. The first is to spotlight the roles of some Guards units during the Stalingrad campaign. The Guards divisions first appear in large formation combat here. Stalingrad On August 24, 1942, Soviet General Yeremenko sent the First Guards Army and the 21st Army to try to cut off XIV Panzer Corps, but it failed valiantly due to poor coordination of effort and total control of the skies by the Luftwaffe. While this army remained north of Stalingrad, Chuikov's 62nd Army was being battered inside the city itself On September 14, the 13th Guards Rifle Division under Rodimtsev arrived on the east bank of the Volga River. While at full strength with nearly 10,000 men, it was short on weapons and ammo, some ten percent not even having rifles. Chuikov outfitted them with equipment from the 62nd Armys supply personnel that were still on the East bank. They were assigned a tough front from Mamayev Kurgan to Tsaritsa, with its divisional artillery staying on the East bank where it was safer. That first night, only two of its three regiments crossed to take up positions. The following day 3 German divisions attacked it. The regiments held, but they were hurt, so that night the third regiment crossed the Volga. On September 30, the 59th Guards Rifle Division, barely half-strength, became available and crossed over the join the embattled 62nd Army. Chuikov's strategy was to remain locked in close to the Germans to dilute their air support. It meant holding when retreat made more sense. GuryeVs 59th Guards deployed behind another division just in time to keep that part of the line from breaking. On October 3rd, Zholudev's 37th Guards Division arrived, though without its headquarters unit or anti-tank guns. It was sent to the legendary Tractor Factory. The next day it was forced to stop a savage attack by three German divisions. After a lull, the 37th tried to counterattack on October 13th, for a gain of only 300 yards. The following day, five German divisions attacked, achieving a minor breakthrough that nearly surrounded the factory. The 37th and the other two divisions on this front were reduced to 25% strength by October 16. The fighting intensified as the weather changed, and Chuikov knew that if he could hang on, the Germans would weaken while he grew stronger. He held on doggedly, and by October 25th, the 37th Guards Rifle Division was down to probably 100 effective front line troops. Two days later, the weakened 59th Guards was struck, while German soldiers lobbed grenades directly into its headquarters. Chuikov had to send in a Guard battalion guarding the 62nd Army's headquarters to save the situation. November 11th saw the last large German offensive to take the city. Again, the 62nd Army held, but at terrible cost. The 118th Guards Rifle Regiment, starting the day with 250 men, lost 244 of them in little more than five hours. Word came, though, that the counteroffensive was on, and the next day it began, smashing into the weak Rumanian divisions holding the German flanks, and encircling the German VI Army. A relief effort by German General Hoth and Army Group Don was thrown together. They advanced spectacularly in the first six days starting December 12th, but were stopped by the newest Guards unit, the 2nd Guards Army under Lt. General Malinovsky, which consisted of six infantry divisions and one mechanized corps. Hoth's last throw was on December 22nd, when he sent 60 tanks against a regiment of the 24th Guards Rifle Division. This unit was made up of hardy soldiers from the Soviet Pacific fleet. These men fought with grim humor, tossing aside their tunics in contempt of the mild western winter to fight in their Navy vests. The drive to relieve VI Army failed. When the counterattack began, 2nd Guards Army led the way. Prochorovka The second example of note came on a foggy July 11, 1943, near the town of Prochorovka. The Germans were attempting to encircle the city of Kursk and destroy the Soviet strategic reserve, changing the balance of power before the weight of American forces could be felt. The attempt to encircle the Soviets and the southern pincer was spearheaded by General Hauser's SS Panzer Corps. The three German SS elite panzer divisions, Das Reich, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Totenkopf, had battled the heavily defended positions for days, and had finally achieved a breakthrough. These divisions, which contained a number of relatively new Panther and Tiger tanks among their 700 armored fighting vehicles, rolled through the mist in anticipation of a giant Kesselschacht unseen since the early days of Barbarossa. They found the 5th Guards Tank Army waiting for them. Channeled by terrain into a small series of battles, the Germans faced 800 tanks backed by dug in artillery and infantry. The Guards met them now as equals, no longer the scraped together units that could barely maintain formation or have enough ammunition. The 5th Guards Tank Army had a full complement of T-34 and KV-1 tanks. The battle seesawed all day long, until the Russians were forced to withdraw toward the town. This battle of elites left the Germans too exhausted to pursue. Both sides had lost about 300 tanks, but the Russians could more readily make up their losses. The front stagnated. Two of the SS panzer divisions were pulled to meet the Anglo-Allies attacking in Italy, and the tide of the war had shifted forever, again as a result of sacrifices by the Soviet Guards. Simulation How then to simulate these units in wargame terms? On a tactical level, on paper, they are barely distinguishable from regular units. For example, a December 1942 rifle regiment was only 300 men smaller than its Guards equivalent, which enjoyed an extra submachine gun company. So, the size difference can only occur at division level and lower, because at corps and army level, the numbers become even less significant. The major difference is in staying power, morale, and combat effectiveness. Various treatments would have to take into account the fact that Guards units could move faster, maintain formation better, and defend more tenaciously than regular units. They would be almost impossible to break on a morale level. Guard units would be converted from regular units, and the biggest change would be in speed and defensive factors. Also, Guard units should receive upgrades faster than regular units, and have better artillery. The designer should always give bonuses to Guards units, but attack bonuses should be smaller in proportion to any defensive bonuses. In summation, the Soviet Guards represented a change in elite units. They were not raised to specialized tasks, like bodyguards, or Marine units. They were designated more as awards for performance. These were the units that steadied the entire Red Army during its darkest time. Postwar, they went on to maintain their aura of invincibility through over forty years of Cold War, until, like the Soviet Union they defended, they slipped away quietly into history. Their echoes, and their contributions to the defeat of Nazism, still reverberate. Back to Table of Contents -- Against the Odds vol. 1 no. 3 Back to Against the Odds List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by LPS. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com * Buy this back issue or subscribe to Against the Odds direct from LPS.