Home Page of the 2nd Guards Rifle Division

* Members of N.A.R.e.S.
* Winners of the Military Illustrated Best Living History Award 2000.
* Winners for the Best Public Interaction Award - Military Odyssey 2004.
* Winners of Best Display award - Belvoir Castle 2006 and 2007.

OUR BEGINNING: The 2nd Guards Rifle Division (We represent the 1st Guards Rifle regiment) is a Living History Society whose members are dedicated to representing an accurate portrayal of the men and women that served with the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, 1941 - 1945. The Unit was formed in the late 1980s by a few enthusiasts whose interest lay in the War on the Eastern Front.

In those early days getting kitted out and looking authentic in wartime Soviet uniforms and equipment was very difficult but the unit has come along way since those days.

THE RED ARMY: With four-fifths of the entire German War effort ranged against the Soviet Union, the Red Army/ Airforce/Navy and it's peoples bore the brunt of the military might of Hitler's Third Reich. It was not until the 6th of June 1944 that the Western Allies invaded occupied France in the Normandy landings, opening up the second front on Germany. By this time, the Red Army had encircled and destroyed the German Armies at Stalingrad and at Kursk, and the German Wehrmacht

was in full retreat. The Red Army captured Berlin when the Red Flag was hoisted above the Reichstag in the German capital in late April, with the Red Army sustaining over 300,000 casualties in the bloody Battle for Berlin.

The Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front were totally destroyed and pushed back to Berlin with a number of foreign SS divisions defending the Nazi capital to the last, But the victory over Germany came at a huge cost to the Soviet peoples, with estimated losses in the region of 30 million.

ABOUT US: The 2nd GUARDS RIFLE DIVISION is the single largest Red Army re-enactment group in the UK and Europe, and proberly in the western world, who Boast over 60 participating members!
We participate in a number of Living History events at military shows nationwide and throughout the year. Much of the uniforms and equipment items are of original Soviet issue in order to maintain a high level of authenticity, and new members are given advice on acquiring uniforms and equipment from a number of sources including from our own Quartermaster.

Unit member receives a bi-monthly newsletter the KZ is named Red Star. We participate in a number events through out the year and some involve our participation in a public battle display. We also have annual unit trips abroad which have included Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and Germany.

To Join the 2nd GUARDS RIFLE DIVISION click on the badge logo.