The Corps was created on 4 October 1941 by special request of the STAVKA supreme command, in an area of the city of Mtsensk (the Oryol Oblast).
Initially its structure included the 6th Guards Rifle Division, 5th Airborne Corps, 4th Tank Brigade, 11th Tank Brigade, the Tula military school, several Border Guard Regiments, two artillery regiments, two rocket artillery battalions and the 6th reserve aviation group.
The corps was given several tasks: to destroy the nearby enemy, to break through into Oryol, to slow the progress of the German tank armies, and to block the way to Tula.
The Soviet government and STAVKA command highly valued the efforts and sacrifices of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps in the Oryol-Bryansk defensive operation, which took place from 4 to 18 October 1941.
On 25 October 1941, its field HQ was disbanded, and its constituent formations were transferred to the 50th Army of the Bryansk Front.