RP78UA
1-ya Udarnaya Armiya

1st Shock Army under the command of

Lieutenant General V.I. Kuznetsov

In the autumn of 1941, a fierce battle for the capital of the Soviet Union between the troops of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht unfolded on the outskirts of Moscow. In this regard, in November 1941, the formation of the reserve 19th army of the VGK Headquarters began in Zagorsky and Dmitrovsky districts. It was formed on July 2, 1941 in the North Caucasus Military District. Initially, the army was in the reserve of the VGK Headquarters.

The army headquarters was deployed in Zagorsk by November 24. On November 23, 1941, on the basis of the directive of the Headquarters of the EKG, the 19th Army was renamed the 1st Shock Army. It was given a special name – "shock". It was intended for offensive actions, in connection with the preparation of Soviet troops for the transition to a decisive offensive near Moscow. The main forces of the army are the Red Army men of Siberia, the Far East and the sailors of the Pacific Fleet. Local residents also joined the ranks of the army.

The most difficult issues were the organization of communication. The 113th Training Reserve Communications Regiment, which arrived in Zagorsk and was incorporated into the army as the 103rd Communications Regiment, was not fully equipped with radio stations, telephone and telegraph equipment, and transport. Other communications units arrived already during the offensive that had begun. The main one was a wired connection. Signalmen-skiers laid lines along the military roads and outside them on the snowy virgin land, while coils with cable were installed on skis and sleds.

On November 24-26, 1941, the situation at the front escalated. The fascists rushed to Dmitrov. On November 28, at night, the enemy captured the bridge over the Moscow-Volga canal, the villages of Peremilovo and Semashki. Tanks moved along the Dmitrov Highway towards Zagorsk, a threat to Moscow was created. The fighters of the 1st Shock Army were alerted, and the battle began at dawn. Three thousand sleds and skis of the Zagorsk Industrial Combine helped the rapid advance to Dmitrov.

On November 29, General Kuznetsov reported to the stavka that the task of the Motherland had been completed, the threat of capturing the cities of Zagorsk and Pushkino had been removed. This was the first victory of the 1st Shock Army. Having repelled the enemy's attacks, our units themselves went on the offensive.

On November 30, the Nazis were thrown behind the Moscow-Volga canal. The successful offensive of the 1st Shock Army and counterattacks of the 16th and 20th armies allowed Zhukov to launch a general offensive of the Western Front. Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky also emphasized the exceptionally great operational and strategic importance of counterstrikes for the subsequent actions of the Soviet troops near Moscow: "The counterstrikes carried out by the 1st shock and 20th armies north of Moscow, as well as the actions of the reinforced cavalry corps in the Kashira area allowed the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive near Moscow."

The troops of the 1st Shock Army during the Great Patriotic War went a long and difficult way. The army consisted of 13 rifle corps, 57 rifle, 7 artillery, 2 guards mortar, 6 anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 31 rifle, 8 tank brigades, a significant number of formations and units of special troops. The army troops had to fight at various times against units of the 3rd and 4th tank, 16th and 18th field armies of the Wehrmacht.

Having met with the enemy's 16th army near Staraya Russa in February 1942, the troops of the 1st Shock Army fought against it for the next three years and completed them in Courland. Seven times the troops of the 1st Shock Army were marked in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and solemn salutes were made in honor of the victories of its soldiers in Moscow.