 The First Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion, which was formed in Buzuluk in the Urals, was the first Allied unit fighting alongside the Red Army in Soviet territory.It was formed from former members of the Czechoslovak Legion, Czechoslovak citizens (mostly refugees) living in the Soviet Union, Slovak prisoners-of-war and defectors, and Volhynian Czechs (Soviet citizens of Czech origin).Lieutenant-colonel Ludvík Svoboda was appointed to become the commander of the unit on 15 July 1942.