Page 9 SHOCK UNITS, 1917. Most famous of the shock units was the Kornilov, starting its history in May 1917 by order of the Commander of the 8th Army of the South-West Front, Lieutenant-General L.G. Kornilov, to General Staff Captain M.O. Nezhentsev to form the 1st Shock Detachment in the 8th Army (renamed later the Kornilov Shock Detachment) made from volunteers - nationalistic and patriotic officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Detachment took action at the front in the June offensive, at the first they rushed to prove themselves to the Russian Army as one of the most elite military units. With 1 August the detachment was re-formed into a three-battalion Kornilov Shock Regiment. However, as a result of the success of the Kornilovs "as called" on the insistence of A.F. Kerensky on the 10th of September the regiment was renamed to the 1st Russian Shock, and then on the 30th to the Slavic Shock. After the October Revolution part of the ranks of the regiment under Nezhentsev's command went over to Novocherkassk, where at the close of December (the old style) regiment was restored under the title Slavic Kornilov Shock. Other shock units were to follow. Created from volunteer wounded soldiers coming out of hospital. On 27 May 1917 in Petrograd was formed a Central committee on their forming. From hundreds residing then in invalid homes and hospitals (among them were armless, and even legless) in the capital. Hoping its personal example and participation would inspire the decomposing regiments at the front, in June ending 1917 was formed the 1st Volunteer Detachment from wounded soldiers, directed before long to the Western front. Then there was dispatched to the North Front the 2nd Detachment to cover disorder starting in Petrograd, provoked by Bolsheviks in the beginning of July. The 2nd Detachment actively participated in their suppression; afterwards they departed for the front. By autumn in the capital there was started the forming of a 3rd Detachment from wounded Soldiers, but due to October events it was not completed. More White Armies Introduction Uniforms of the White Armies: 1917-1922 Shock Units 1917 Kornilov's Shock Division 1918-1920 General Markov's Officers Division 1919-1920 Partisan Alekeev General Infantry Division 1918-1920 Officer's Rifle General of Drozdovsky Division 1918-1920 Back to The Gauntlet No. 21 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com