History of the Regiment

The 1st Armoured Division was formed on 10 July 1919, consolidating armored cars and armored trains that the newly created Latvian army had captured from retreating German forces after the Battle of Cēsis. In combat against Bermontian forces in autumn 1919, crews served as infantry support, struck deep into enemy rear areas, and helped cover the Latvian army's retreat across the Daugava. The armored car "Lāčplēsis" was lost on 8 October; commander after commander fell during the October fighting for Riga's bridges and the later liberation of Latgale. In total, the division lost five officers and eighteen enlisted men killed, while forty-two soldiers earned the Order of Lāčplēsis.↗

In 1926 the division was reorganized into a regiment following the acquisition of Fiat light tanks, and it continued to modernize with British Vickers tankettes in 1936. In March 1940 it became a brigade with anti-tank companies, but by September that year — under Soviet occupation — the Latvian army was dissolved and its equipment transferred to the Red Army.↗

Visiting the Monument

The monument occupies a small rectangular lilac-lined square between buildings along Slokas and Pulka streets in Kurzemes rajons, on the grounds of the former regimental barracks. It is freely accessible at all times as an outdoor public landmark. The area sits in one of Riga's quieter, leafier Pārdaugava neighborhoods, reachable by tram or a pleasant walk through the district's historic wooden architecture.↗↗

Restoration work in 2009 and again in 2022 cleaned the surface, renewed the granite plaster finish, and repaired joints. A landscaping reconstruction project has been drafted to tidy the surrounding grounds and restore a setting worthy of this national heritage monument.↗↗

Nearby Heritage in Kurzeme

The monument is part of a cluster of Latvian military memorials in this corner of Pārdaugava. Not far away on Sudrabkalniņš hill stands the 1937 monument to the 6th Riga Infantry Regiment — the city's defenders in 1919 — and at Bumbukalniņš a marker commemorates Latvia's liberation battles. Together they form a short walking trail through the early independence war.↗