Soviet First Guards Army

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The Soviet First Guards Army was a Soviet field army that fought on the Eastern Front during World War II.

During the German Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad in August 1942, the Red Army launched a counter-offensive to drive the German forces back. The First Guards Army and the 24th Army launched the attack. Little success was met. The First Guards Army managed an advance of just a few miles, while the 24th Army was pushed back right into its start-line.

When the German troops were making their attack on Stalingrad, the First Guards Army was facing the Italian Eighth Army in the upper part of the Don River. The First Guards Army was not one of the Soviet armies that counter-attacked during Operation Uranus in November 1942. The First Guards Army stayed in that position until Operation Wintergewitter in December 1942. After the German relief operation was held, the First Guards Army, along with the Soviet Sixth Army and Third Guards Army, launched an attack in Operation Little Saturn. During the operation the Soviets defeated the Italian Eighth Army and gained a respectable amount of territory. By the end of the year, the First Guards Army was outside Millerovo.

The First Guards Army also took part in Operation Saturn, where the Red Army successfully drove back Army Group South to the Donets Basin basin in the Ukraine. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the First Guards Army was headed by General Dmitri Lelyushenko and included six rifle divisions as well as a guards mechanized corps. The First Guards Army was part of the Southwest Front, and took part in the victorious Soviet pushing into Germany in 1943 to 1945.