All Alone: A Lithuanian AAR

[Ilaruum]

The World on Fire. July – September, 1941

Once all the operations in Libya ended, we got onto our ships and went back to our base in Alexandria for re-organization and re-supply, leaving the British and Iraqis to secure the coast around Tripoli.

We were still on our way, when the announcement came about the declaration of war between Axis and Soviet Union on July 22. Everyone’s thoughts were far from the shores of Northern Africa at that moment, but there was just no way for us to know how our closest ones were doing.

After Soviets bombed German forces in Helsinki, Finland joined the war along with Hungary and Romania a few days later.

Germans marching through Mid-Lithuania just two weeks into the war. Early August, 1941​

We were hanging on every word coming from the frontlines, but it was mainly from German propaganda Wochenshau announcements, that we were able to gather something. After crushing initial Soviet defences, German forces rushed along the roads to the biggest cities, leaving the retreating Soviet troops to wander in the countryside until they were captured or destroyed. However, fierce and bloody battles were fought for Kaunas and other main cities.

Soviets, on the other hand, started using scorched earth tactics by burning everything they could not take with them. And that left our families in between..

In the meantime, in the Medditerranean region, British Middle-East Command seemed a bit lost, after Northern Africa was secured so unexpectedly quickly and Italians were pushed to the very corners of the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps relying on the shifted focus of Germans to the Eastern Front, a division of British marines, lead by Gen.Keightley, conducted a landing in Athens, by driving out German paratroopers.

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However, Allied command failed to exploit this in any way, while Athens were held for the next two months, until Germans returned in force in October, and Brits had to abandon Greece for now.

By the 15th of August we were as ready for combat, as we were likely to get. Especially happy we were with our new latest-model British made artillery guns, replacing our trusty but older QF 25 pounders. Our SOF brigade, along with command and support troops from the 1st ‘Freedom’ Division, loaded on ships and headed West, to Sardinia.

After initial beachhead was created by 3rd Royal Marine division on the Northern shore at Olbia on 26th of August, we moved in to secure the harbour, and our brigade marched through Sassari and Laconi South, to Cagliari, main port of the island. It was defended by single Italian division, lead by an experienced gen.Messe, which moved to meet us at Olbia, leaving the harbour essentially unprotected, except for token guard force and logistics personnel. While the operation went as planned, and initial efforts by Italians to contain us at the beachhead were brushed away, it was their airforce we had problems with.

Two Cagliari-based bomber wings, supported by a wing of fighters, had conducted no less than 10 raids on our positions and columns of marching troops. Especially painful was the crossing of Tirso river on the 1st of September, as the Italians have blown the bridges over it, and the bombers came right at the moment when we were crossing it over the pontoon bridges and rubber boats.

Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 flying over Cagliari airbase. Nearly 500 troops were killed or wounded by constant bombing. Early September, 1941​

In about a week we have reached Cagliari, but it took another 3 days to clear all the pockets of resistance and push back the surrounded Italians, trying to get to the harbour, in order to flee to the mainland.

Nearly 6000 enemy troops surrendered by September 9 after relentless assault by Lithuanian and British troops. As the Italians fought stubbornly till the end, the casualties were quite high on both sides. During whole Sardinia Operation about 400 Allied troops were lost in action as opposed to nearly 800 Italians. Our brigade lost 67 men.

Just after we got back to Alexandria, another order was issued – this time closer to ‘home’ – Crete. As the first shots were fired again by the 3rd Royal Marine Division, our brigade and 3rd Division ‘Kaunas’ jumped right into the middle of the battle, so the operation could be completed in shortest terms. When sailing towards Irakleio, we were certain of our victory, even if we knew that Italians might be entrenched and more experienced than us. We had total confidence in our commanders and our brothers in arms.

After overwhelming attack from the land and sea almost 6000 Italians were forced to surrender. Our combined forces lost 124 troops. September 25, 1941​

On the Eastern Front, all Baltic States were in German hands in the North by the end of September, and in the South German tanks were already on the outskirts of Kiev.

 

[Ilaruum]

From Desert To Snow. October - November, 1941

We had only about a week to rest after leaving Crete, when the command was given to pack our belongings and head for the harbour of Alexandria. The logistics personnel was all busy handling and packing on board our heavier weapons for several days already, and it looked like we were finally leaving Africa, at least for now. In the end, it appeared to be true! We were heading back to Cardiff, to our home base in the British Isles.

The reason for this move, as we found out from our commanding officers only after the arrival to Britain on October 9, was that defences of Norway were falling apart. After a one-year long struggle, Germans have managed to capture Trondheim and its harbour, shortening their supply lines that way significantly, without the need for supply ships to navigate through mined fjords to Narvik in the North. However, Norwegians' main concern was that their army was incapable to stop German tanks, mostly due to the lack of their own armour or effective AT weapons. Even though British 4th Marine division was fighting alongside of Norwegians for some time already, and several light French Hotchkiss tanks were available, they were no match for German PzKwf II, III and NbFz VI model tanks, rolling now towards Oslo.

NbFz VI heavy tank in the mountains of Norway, South of Trondheim. Early October, 1941.​

Thus, after refitting and resting for a few days, we were all on board again and steaming through the Channel towards the shores of Norway. On October 18, after initial reconnaissance reports showed that the harbour is only lightly protected, we landed in force - at first - elements of our SOF division, securing the perimeter around the city within the very same day, and then all the rest - 2 Inf and 3 Mil divisions, in total more than 40,000 men.

Our landing in Trondheim. October 18, 1941.​

The landing of Lithuanian troops was foreseen as part of British operation Jupiter, proposed by Churchill, intending the capture of not only Trondheim by Lithuanians, but also Narvik by British Marines. The beachheads were to be reinforced as necessary and, ideally, expanded to meet in the middle of Norway. Our trusted friends from the 3rd Royal Marine Division were to land in Narvik.

Our part of the operation was to cut the supply lines for the advancing Germans and, if possible, surround and make them surrender. Then, we should have marched all the way to the North to link-up with the Brits coming from Narvik.

The first part of the plan seemed to work well - we have efficiently cut all communication and supply lines for German 2nd HArm Division and the 76th Infantry division, and Brits landed unopposed in Narvik. However, already by the end of October, it was clear that neither we could attack the Germans and their tanks directly, at least for now, neither the Marines could move anywhere without leaving the harbour unprotected, as the reinforcements and supplies were delayed by severe winter storms in the North sea for several weeks.

Lithuanian troops high in the mountains of Southern Norway. Early November, 1941.​

It was near that time, on November 4, to be exact, that we heard about Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, bringing the USA into the war with Germany as well.

Only two weeks later, after we linked with Norwegian troops and surrounded exhausted and famished Germans, more than 15,000 surviving troops surrendered few days later, and all the equipment fell into the hands of the Allies. We turned back towards Trondheim.

Even though Brits failed to expand anywhere from Narvik, being effectively blocked by 3 Infantry divisions from the South, it was decided that we should proceed with the second part of the Operation Jupiter as soon as possible, as no other relief force was immediately available to assist the marines. In addition to that, on the 12th of November Germans started an attack attempting to dislodge the Brits from Narvik. There was no time to lose.

Our next target was the closest mountain pass to Sweden near the town of Nordli, more than 200 kilometres North. This mountain pass was one of the very few, still usable in winter, used by Germans to bring reinforcements through Sweden.

Operation Jupiter. October - November, 1941.​

On November 21, USA declared war on Vichy France, bringing it to the war with Allies and opening another front in Africa.

 

[Ilaruum]

A Fjord Too Far. December, 1941 – January, 1942

November 25. Our initial push north from Trondheim was going relatively well, even if slow. True, we had to march on foot along a single road through freezing rains and snow storms, but we were promised some Norwegian Army transports and assistance reaching us from the South any day now. At least there was some warm food and ammo supplies were sufficient, and, sometimes, this is the only thing that matters to a soldier. Encountering only insignificant German resistance, we have reached the outskirts of the Sulstu, our first operative goal - 115 km north from Trondheim) in two weeks.

Our horse-driven supply train on the way north. Late November, 1941​

On December 12, we first heard the news about a significant British landing (again) all over Greece – no less than 3 infantry divisions, lead by Army commander Gen. Hutton, recently transferred to Middle-East Command from Burma. Few days later, Greek guerrillas liberated several towns in Macedonian mountains. Sadly, in about a week all Brits had to evacuate from Euboea island without being able to link-up with them, after being pushed to shores by superior German forces.

The highest extent of British attack in Greece. December, 1941​

At the same time Brits were occupied with re-taking Malta for the second time from the Italians. Italians, on the other hand, made a surprise attack on Crete, bypassing patrolling Royal Navy ships at night. Besides, several Iraqi divisions, with support directly from the Middle-East Command, have converged on Vichy France-controlled Syria, making great gains within several weeks. Mexico joined our cause just before Christmas.

It was all so distant at that time, however, somewhere on the borderlines of our everyday lives, and most of it we heard only much later.

Iraqi advances by the end of December, 1941​

By the end of December everyone finally saw and started to realize the size of efforts needed in order to complete our operation. Our forward elements have managed to reach province of Snasa (mere 200 km from Trondheim) in 6 weeks, while the bulk of forces were still marching through Hell. Narvik was still more than 700 km away. Forward scouts reported German divisions, some with light tanks, digging-in in every direction - North, East and West.

To avoid possible encirclement, our division was tasked to lead the attack against single German 23. Inf division stationed around Steinkjer, but horrible weather, seemingly thousands of streams, ravines and lakes, and, first of all, masterful positioning of enemy forces, even if half-starved, led by experienced Gen.Busch, have significantly hampered our efforts, by beating off one attack after another. Just almost a week later we have managed to rout them, with a loss of 536 men out of more than 20,000, while Germans lost 723.

Last hours of our attack on German positions at Steinkjer. December 30, 1941.​

And then the grim news came. Due to unprecedented colds and unceasing storms raging at sea during the December, no convoy could reach the Marines fighting in Narvik. After a nearly 6 week-long battle against at least four German divisions, when first supply ships arrived, the marines were forced to evacuate instead, with more than 30 percent of 8000 men killed or lost. It was a severe blow to all of us.

British and Polish supply ships sinking in Narvik harbour after German bomber raid. December, 1941​

However, sadly ironic as it was, the skies soon cleared and late reinforcements of 4th Marine division came only 5 days later, while Germans had not yet fully secured the harbour. Exhausted Germans were in no position to attack again, and we had an even bigger motivation to rise for an attack again.

Our probing attacks towards Nordli revealed that Germans were giving their best to keep all the forces stationed in Norway in fighting order. During the first week of January we routed the HQ of Heeresgruppe A, led by von Blomberg himself, and several Army HQs, while, after questioning prisoner "tongues", we found out that a separate Theatre HQ - Hell HQ - was recently created in order to support their troops first-hand.

 

[Ilaruum]

North We Go. January - April, 1942.

All days became as one. Grey skies above, dirty snow beneath our feet. And Germans, Germans everywhere. It was so much a different experience than fighting Italians in the desert, or even Soviets in the woods of Lithuania - they seemed untiring, battle-hardened, always one step ahead of anything we could muster.

Machine gun nest. January, 1942​

As we fully secured Snasa and 1st division headed further north to Grong, on January 18 single 87. Infantry division started their attack from the mountain passes at Nordli on our remaining forces. Our guys in Grong were shelled by mortar fire and artillery guns of 62. Inf division, trying to turn our attack back. We were quite lucky in this, as our division was left as rearguard further south, but we got our orders to push north at our fastest for a counterattack. A few days later, another German division joined the attack on Snasa from the west, from Namsos, taking all our forces in pincers. It was quite expected, though, 211. Inf division soldiers were caught in several ambushes and routed.

Germans attacking from Nordli. Late January, 1942.​

After week-long battles we won, with a loss of 626 men, against 1361 Germans in Snasa, and 508 lost Lithuanians and 330 Germans in Grong.

Upon our arrival to Snasa, a difficult decision was to be made - we knew that there is a number of German divisions in Nordli, determined to keep the foothold this side of the mountain range, in order to keep the way for reinforcements. And we knew that more Germans were coming..

Our first attempt to approach the Germans in a broad front was met by well prepared machine gun nests, precise shooting and mortar fire. Our 2nd volunteer division took the bulk of losses, no less that 600 guys were lost or wounded during the first two days, with nearly 1000 lost in total in 5 days. However, in 2 more days German started to give way - one after another their positions were left empty, allowing us to reach the top of the pass by February 5. 1960 guys were lost out of 29500 in the fighting, against only 434 out of 35,000 Germans.

Germans looking out from their artillery positions at Nordli. Early February, 1942​

In the meantime, 1st volunteer division, supported by our 4th infantry, was trying to reach the shore at Kolvereid, brushing aside an exhausted 211. Infantry. Our 3rd volunteer division cleared all resistance from Sorli, close to Swedish border, shutting the mountain pass off.

We reached the sea by middle of February, catching 3 German divisions in a sack - no less than 28,000 German soldiers surrendered at the beginning of March, when Norwegian troops pushed from the south to Steinkjer. Gebirgsjager Division "Nord" and experienced 1st. Panzer division, a veteran of countless battles from Poland to France, was among them.

Abandoned Panzer I. March, 1942​

Our next operational target was at Mo i Rana - another mountain pass from Sweden and one of the narrowest spot of Norway - less than 30 km as the crow flies to Swedish border. We have reached German positions, manned by 2nd Gebirgsjaeger division and backed by a number of HQ's on April 2. As Germans were constantly on the run, no resistance was expected, so when a storm of bullets was unleashed on our forward troops, everyone was shocked to the core. When our reserves arrived, however, Germans were routed, with 178 Lithuanians lost, against 7 Germans.

Germans retreating from Mo i Rana - no food, no warm clothes, little ammunition. April, 1942​

3 German Infantry divisions were routed from Bjellaanes a week later without any losses. Several Norvegian divisions were now successfully pushing along us as well. Everything started to look a lot better. Only 250 km to Narvik left. Spring at last.

 

[Ilaruum]

Live Long and Free, Country of Mountain Trolls! April - June, 1942

Our fighting spirit was higher than it ever was. We were devastated after the loss to Soviets and being forced into exile; confused and scared after being dropped in dusty Tobruk. We gained courage and strength in the mountains of Cyrenaica. We became bold after the landings in Sardinia and Crete. We gained trust of our brothers in arms - Iraqis, Brits, Norwegians, occasional Pole, Canadian, Australian or French, fighting alongside us. And by fighting Germans - a formidable foe - we finally learned to fight as one, for each other.

Guys of our SOF division - ready to fight. Early April, 1942​

After Norwegians joined us in the pursuit of retreating Germans, we were given an unexpected order to stop, board the Norway Army trucks that have finally arrived, and head South, back to Trondheim. Most other divisions, except for the 2nd Volunteer, still recovering from horrible losses few weeks ago, and our Army HQ, were to reach the same destination by trains. Ships were already waiting for us in the harbour, ready to get us for the final swoop, even if risky - to Narvik.

It took us several days to see the lights of our destination, and everyone was feeling the tension before landing that morning - there, on the shores, a huge number of armed Germans were lurking, trying to pass further North. And then the sound of alarm rang - SUBS! German subs were spotted by the ships at the rear of the convoy. Two destroyers - one Polish, the other British - part of our meager escort - rushed back to chase them away.

Submarines spotted near the gates of Narvik harbour. End of April, 1942.​

We were lucky, this time, at least. It is likely that they were just preying on smaller supply convoys that were trying to bring food and ammo to the marines, as there were constant reports about ships lost, and did not expect that many ships to arrive at once.

No subs were sunk, but none of our ships was lost as well, and we landed on the main wharf unopposed later that day. Gen.Rastikis, heading our Operational HQ has met with Gen.Aizlewood, leading the 4th Division of Royal Marines, shortly after. Gen.Aizlewood, apparently a former Commanding Officer of the 2nd Indian Independent Armoured Brigade Group, was transferred to the Marines only recently, just before their landing in Narvik almost 4 months ago. The Marines had it tough during that time - occasional shelling by mortars from the North by the 3rd Gebirgsjaeger division, harassing bomber sorties and, by now, total lack of ammunition left, and their food supplies were barely sufficient.

We took the positions along the perimeter by the 1st of May. After our ships left, and with German subs prowling the waters, our supply situation was becoming quite difficult as well, thus, we had no other option than to attack south, through Ballangen, the very same day, in order to link up with advancing Norwegians and our guys from the 2nd Volunteer Div.

After 13 hours of intense battle Germans finally gave way, with 136 of our losses against 37 of theirs. May 2, 1942​

Before we could fully secure the town, however, we were ordered to return to our positions around Narvik, since holding the port was crucial to forcing enemy's surrender, instead of chasing them through mountains and woods, while the forces coming from South were supposed to secure that area much easier now. Our officers were right - more than a week later, on May 11, 3 German divisions, apparently just driven to the shores by our guys, initiated an all-out assault on our positions, trying to break through, but, as we expected them to do so, battle did not take long - on May 12, after losing 137 guys (even though we lost 329, mostly wounded, though), Germans stopped their attack. Von Blomberg - German commanding officer of the surrounded group, officially surrendered on the morning of May 13 along with 44,000 Germans - 4 Infantry divisions and 1 Gebirgsjaeger, together with the HQs of the 1st Army and Heeresgrupe A.

Surrendering Germans, Mid-May, 1942​

The operation in Norway ended by us chasing and forcing the surrender of the 3rd Gebirgsjaeger division - 8000 men - in the vicinity of Tromso by the 7th of June. 66 more men were lost by that time.

 

[Ilaruum]

The Power of Words. September - October, 1943

Within the next week we chased down Germans from 196. Infantry division further north, while 94. Inf., almost 8000 men, in Arta just surrendered after a short fight. Then, after an attack on our 3rd. Infantry in Kozani was repulsed with high casualties (on Yugoslavian side - more than 1200 against our 133), we got a chance for a short respite.. And a lot of marching. Trucks or even fuel was very hard to find, except for an occasional helpful Greek farmer with his horse cart.

Panzergrenadiers on watch in Paliouria. September 14, 1943​

The situation on the front line was quite precarious, even if it did not look like it - we had 9 divisions, including one armoured with a mix of Crusader and Churchill tanks, not counting the militias, against basically a single Heavy Panzer division, equipped with Tigers, led by Lt.Gen.Jodl, and supported by a mix of several auxiliary Infantry divisions from Romania, Germany and Yugoslavia on the outskirts of northern mountains.

Our command did not seem to be particularly keen on trying them out directly, luckily for us, and none of us were either. Everyone still remembered the clash with Panthers just a few weeks ago.

Second contact with the enemy at Kozani was made in the middle of the night, on September 15, when we heard the roar of the tank engines coming from the valley west from us, up the mountain road. At the same time, further north, our comrades from 15th 'Scottish' division were attacked by sole Romanian division. As the tanks turned back just before sunrise, we were left wondering, whether they underestimated our forces here, or just tried to take us by surprise, hoping to scare us away.

Romanians did not have a chance to cross the fields of fire, defended by fierce Scots, even under cover of darkness. September 15, 1943 ​

Noone of us had yet forgotten the slaughter of our guys in June, earlier that year, in these very same hills, just slightly more to the north west, thus, we were not overly sad when the Romanian will to attack faded away by the morning of September 16, with their loses mounting close to 15 percent - more than a thousand, while the Scots lost 74 guys.

We were ordered to immediately rise and move forward, to Florina, along with our 3th Infantry, routing the disheartened Romanians without a fight, while Marines were clearing Kastoria further west from the remnants of another Romanian division.

By the 20th of September, even though we were yet to reach our destination, most of the guys were overjoyed - 'Finally, we have taken German panzers in a sack! Now to push from all sides, finish them off, and onwards to Berlin!'

Obviously, this was not going to happen. German commander, seeing that single relatively easily traversable road from Paliouria was being blocked, did not wait a minute and moved west, to Kastoria, before Engineers form 3rd Marine could even properly begin their preparations for building anti-tank defences. An order was given for them to move north, after a short skirmish on the main road.

Digging-in into the rocky ground is not that simple. September 24, 1943​

By September 27, Marines reached Florina, even before us, and way ahead of German 196 Inf. Division. Their battle took 4 whole days until we arrived, but finally Germans were pushed back with several hundred lost on our side, and more than 900 on theirs. This created a perfect opportunity for a counter attack, which we took without hesitation - and on October 5th, we held Gostivar.

Not all pieces were in place again for the encirclement - are they ever? Even though eastern side of the circle was firmly held by troops under direct Lithuanian command, western side left much to wish for - British 9th Armoured left Korce - single province, separating Jodl's tanks and the port of Tirana - to reinforce southern segment at Pramanta, already defended by British Infantry, while all our 4 Militia divisions were transported to man the old fortress at Ioannina. Only the HQ of Lithuanian Liberation Army was left in Korce, undefended and vulnerable.

When getting back to our tent, I saw that most of my men were really afraid of what was to come this time, even though almost all of them already had a fair share of fighting under their belts - Soviet, Italian, German troops, you name it, machine guns, mines, mortar fire, artillery bombardment, bombers, even other tanks.. But the tales were going from tent to tent for some time then about roaring fire breathing deadly beasts, tearing open Allied tanks before they can even see anything coming, not speaking about simple leg infantry.. With no way to stop them. I tried to keep the spirits up as much as I could. But the voice of none other than our President A.Smetona sounded that night from our radios and worked miracles, encouraging everyone of us to never lose hope, to fight for the freedom of others, as this was also a fight for our freedom, our families, our land and our lives.

The speech that changed lives of many of us. And saved some. October 5, 1943​

 

[Ilaruum]

The Battle Was Lost. October, 1943

And the next day it started. At first we thought that there were not that many of them, coming in two lines through a narrow pass between two hills, followed by infantry squads, just behind, but then the pass opened into a hilly plain and they split their formation into a wide one, at least twenty machines wide against our hastily dug-in trenches.

It took another hour to coordinate, but soon the plan of our command started to work - 4 divisions rammed into the backs of advancing Germans, and scattering their rearguard troops.

Time is what we do not have anymore. Gostivar, October 6, 1943​

Our line somehow held for whole three days of unrelenting assault. We managed to hit and damage several tanks, but our losses were becoming unbearable. Lack of any serious trenches did not allow us to rotate our troops, as little as we had, or even get the ammunition and meal in, and the wounded out. The feeling of despair was growing beyond what we could bear, and then, on the morning of October 9, a retreat signal was sounded, and we hastily left for Florina. We counted nearly 800 lost in action.

The battle raged further, however. Without us in front of them, Germans gathered what has left and managed to launch an overwhelming counter-attack.

Churchill tanks of 9th Armoured firing from cover. October 9, 1943​

This did not last long, however. In four hours after we withdrew, Germans surrendered in full. Their losses were heavy - more than half tanks burned or damaged, nearly 1200 men lost, 6500 surrendered, while joint forces had close to 400 in casualties.

We all hoped that the battle for Greece was won, when our Militia Corps reached Tirana on October 14, after pushing out Yugoslavian garrison in a short fight.

At an official ceremony in Tirana a lot of guys received their medals "For Battle Merit". And I got my Lieutenant star. October 16, 1943​

 

[Ilaruum]

Clear Skies, Still Sea. End of October, 1943

The celebration of the victory did not take very long. However, we did not immediately returned to the front lines either, which was quite surprising, as the men were now eager to chase Yugoslavians and Romanians further north. While Brits and our volunteer corps were left to man the lines, we were ordered to board trains instead, and move to Thessaloniki. While most of the soldiers were only guessing our further destination, I had heard some discussions with higher rank officers about recent developments in the front, and had some guesses. My discussions with my brother after the war confirmed that I was right.

Apparently, the governments of Allied countries were especially concerned with impressive gains Red Army was making recently in the East front, and the sudden change in Soviet official rhetoric, as Axis forces were pushed from Kiev and Red Army stepped into Bessarabia reaching the west coast of river Dniester.

"Rescue Europe from the fetters of fascist enslavement!" - this was not something that sounded great to the British government. And even less so to ours​

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In order to counter this advance and to ensure that their sphere of influence in Balkans, British have been in contacts for some time with the representatives of Bulgarian government. My brother was involved in these negotiations, undergoing for several days that October in Cairo.

However, Bulgarians were reluctant to commit to anything, saying that Germans were entrenched in Bulgaria and surrounding countries and did not intend to leave soon, at least until allied forces are reinforced and a full-pledged third front is opened there.

Besides, resistance movement, that was quite wide-spread at that time, was headed by Bulgarian Workers' Party, an outlawed communist party, which did not want direct involvement of Western countries.

In the end, an operation 'Thracian sword' was prepared, involving mainly Lithuanian Liberation Army, and it found approval among the people close to Tsar Boris III and Prime Minister Georgi Kioseivanov, even if opposed by a more moderate Foreign Minister Aleksander Nikolaiev.

Prime Minister Georgi Kioseivanov - once a secretary to Tsar Boris III, now a Prime Minister - a controversial personality, considered by many as pro-German enough to still any suspicions.
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After multiple assurances of military, political and financial assistance were granted for war- and post-wartime cooperation, a 'go' was given for the operation in the beginning of October, and Marines sailed from Tirane through Dardanelles to Black Sea, to reach the Bulgarian shores.

Marines were to secure a beachhead at break of dawn on October 20, 1943​

A part of the agreement with Bulgarian authorities, was that the attack would look like an independent landing by Allied forces, not in any way related to Bulgarian government, to avoid any possible repercussions from German forces, stationed all over Bulgaria, and Bulgarian armed forces fighting in Western, Eastern, Italian and Balkan fronts. On the other hand, we were to avoid any unnecessary military or civilian casualties as much as possible.

This was one of the reasons for landing in Burgas first, instead of Varna, which was protected by a full Bulgarian garrison. The landing was apparently quite uneventful, except for several air raids, possibly by Romanian bombers, sinking several small cargo ships with supplies for Marines.

For several days British planes were dropping similar leaflets (mostly - in Bulgarian) all over Eastern Bulgaria. October 20-23, 1943​

 

[Ilaruum]

They Came Here To Stay. October - November, 1943

Our division landed in the second wave at dusk on the 23rd, and orders were given to move out to Varna even before the daybreak over the Black sea the next morning. Marines were to spearhead the push to the west at the same time.

I still remember that night - full of confusion, people running to and from all directions possible, boats being unloaded with crates and guns, troops assembled. We didn't even have a glimpse of the town we were in, and only a very vague picture of what was to come in the morning.

The light brought our first encounter - some patrol of Varna garrison, which soon dropped the rifles and put the hands above their heads. When approaching the town itself, we were met with scattered rifle fire from the buildings on the outskirts, along with a lonely stuttering of a German-made machine gun. After several of our guys were bitten by the bullets, we all dropped down into the dust and called for mortar teams to help. It took another hour, and several buildings burned to the ground for a white flag to appear from one of the windows - the town was ours!

The marines were not that lucky - there were twice as many soldiers in Yambol - nearly 14000 (even if one division was hastily assembled reserve troops), besides, German bombers made at least two bombing runs to try and help them.

Stiff resistance in Yambol, October 24, 1943.​

By the evening of that day, however, the resistance was broken - with a cost of more than 300 of our guys, against their 398. Or, perhaps, what is more believable, the Bulgarian high command was finally persuaded to switch sides, and an order was given for Bulgarian troops to stand down, surrender, and even assist us, if possible, as became apparent in the following days.

We met only occasional shepherd or a farmer during next week, when marching through the Balkan mountains towards Stara Zagora. October 28, 1943​

It was there that we have encountered first guerrilla squads - Bulgarian resistance fighters - workers, teachers, farmers, soldiers - that have left their homes nearly 3 years ago and hid in the mountains, when Bulgaria joined axis, and Germans soldiers came into the country, not intending to leave soon. Mostly adherent to communist ideology, but also belonging to Christian-democrat and other parties, as well as those belonging to none, they were all fighting for the freedom of the homeland. Now, when the opportunity arose, they were ready to take this fight to the capital, along us, to take the country into their own hands.

The Marines were lucky - tasked with reaching Sofia as soon as possible, they even got an opportunity to ride a part of their way by railroad, from Dimitrovgrad to Plovdiv. November 3, 1943​

With the help of the guerrillas, we managed to get through the mountains and reach Sofia at the same time the marines did - on the morning of November 7. The sight of the city waking up for a new day, the joy in the eyes of the Bulgarians that were leading the way - there was a feeling that everything will be OK in the end, for all of us. Of course, we have felt this before, and there was always some, and even more bitter fights ahead of us, but we just wanted to stay in this moment for a little while longer.

A column of partisans marching into Sofia. November 7, 1943​

At noon, a delegation of our officers, led by Maj.Gen. Hemming (as Lt.Gen. Zemaitis HQ was delayed by some Hungarian troops further north), on behalf of all Allied Command, met with Tzar Boris III to discuss the terms of official capitulation, and the act was signed soon afterwards. Tzar Boris III, the fox of the Balkans, as he was called in political circles around the world, declared that Bulgaria withdraws from the Axis and declares war on Germany and its allies. Also, as there was never a war declared on Soviet Union, Bulgaria was now freed from allegations in assisting the German cause, and joined the Allied countries with full powers of an ally.

In the coming days, there were some changes in Bulgarian government, with Boris III taking over as the head of government, and Georgi Kioseivanov replacing a pro-German foreign minister Aleksander Nikolaiev, just as was agreed with Allied Command.

The fight for Bulgaria was ahead still, with German and Hungarian forces scattered all around the country.

German train was destroyed at Stanke Dimitrov, on the way to Yugoslavia. November 11, 1943​

It was officially announced a week later that the British are opening separate Balkan front for all the operations in Greece, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, under the command of General Hastings Ismay, former close advisor of Churchill himself.

 

[Ilaruum]

We May Never Return Home. November - December, 1943

Bulgaria was in turmoil. Axis troops, stranded and cut off from their supply lines were trying to get through liberated lands to the safety by any way possible - scattered, by night, like Hungarians further east, or attacking in force, like two German divisions, stuck south of Stanke Dimitrov, with a third - motorized one - trying to keep the path to Yugoslavian mountains open.

Northern Greece was finally transferred to Greek military administration. Hopefully, it will not be a temporary measure. November 15, 1943.​

The confusion was not restricted to the Axis command, however. As the events were unfolding at a lightning speed, Allied commanders seemed to be at a loss on what should our next actions be. As I recall, our unit would receive at least 3 different and contradicting orders some days, ranging from digging in around Sofia, supporting marines in the west or marching south, to clear the remaining German resistance.

Apparently, there were some serious disputes between Bulgarian leaders and allies commanders, mainly on who should have the supreme command in Bulgarian territory, and the strategy, suited best in those circumstances.

Bulgarian forces, now having incorporated some of the guerrilla units, were feeling confident enough to consider Allies being able to defend the borders of Bulgaria.

General Hastings, who flew to Sofia in mid November, insisted that the numbers of Allied numbers are vastly insufficient - not with huge battles undergoing further west, on the Greek-Yugoslavian border, and defensive measures must be taken to entrench in the mountains around Sofia and weather the storm, which was definitely coming.

The Greeks had their own mind on this as well, taking account their recent relationships with the Bulgarians, thus, our own command was caught in the middle, and forces torn apart to fill-in the holes in the front line as needed.

Guys from 3rd Marine have cut the corridor for German retreat at Surdulica. November 23, 1943​

Further west, on Adriatic coast, our volunteer corps was struggling with keeping the front line intact from incoming Axis reinforcements, headed for Tirana, while our division was chasing the disheartened Germans in the south.

By November 26 all Axis forces in southern Bulgaria - 6 divisions, 40000 men in total - ceased any resistance and surrendered.​

The storm WAS coming, and it did not let us wait for long. Even though we heard Soviet assurances over radio to liberate Romania within the next week - at least seven weeks in a row at that time, their troops were apparently still struggling to cross Dniester in force. Then, the reports started coming in from the 20th of November of large Axis formations, including armour, crossing Danube and marching south entirely unopposed - there were no troops whatsoever left between them and us.

German troops moving towards Varna. November 24, 1943.​

First blow fell on our 2nd Division, stationed in Berkovica - 3 German divisions attacked from multiple directions, and even the counter attacks and British bombers were not sufficient to break this onslaught.

Waffen SS division was a tough nut to crack. November 28, 1943​

Our own division was rushed into Sofia and reached the battle on December 1, but it was all too late - our 3rd Infantry was scattered a day later and retreated from Berkovica with a loss of nearly 1600 men, while another German division occupied hills to the east of Sofia.

The battle for Vratsa raged for another 5 days, almost 27000 of our men against at least 6000 Germans. We won in the end, with casualties on both sides reaching over 1000.
Those days were both sobering and tragic - nearly three thousand Lithuanians, Greeks and Bulgarians were lost in a single week. Several German armour divisions were roaming in the east, the mountains all around were crawling with Axis troops. What were we to do now?

Single American Marine division was sent as reinforcements to Bulgaria, three in total for the whole Balkan front. December 6, 1943​

There was no easy answer, and we had to learn to live one day at a time. We fought Germans off as good as we could, we were chasing them, digging in, withdrawing, and then attacking again, day after day, keeping ourselves and those next to us alive. We could not surrender, not now.

 

[Ilaruum]

The Spirit of Victory. December, 1943 - January, 1944

We reached Vrasa just behind the Bulgarian troops, promptly to be attacked by some Romanian mountaineers on December 8. Later that night, our Marines were attacked further south, at Kyustendil, by another German infantry division.

Even though the battle soon ended with victory, it was not the last time this town would see a battle that month. December 8, 1943.​

Apparently, our commanders were busy at that time working on a broader picture. With the events unfolding rapidly on all ends of the front, intelligence information was received confirming our suspicions that Axis command was caught off-guard by Bulgarian reverse in allegiance, and their forces were disoriented and poorly commanded for the time being, even more than we were - there where German units belonging to Armies from all possible theatres - East, Central and West, troops under Romanian, Yugoslavian command, and even divisions under direct command of OKW, like that Waffen SS division we just had a brutal fight with.

The plan devised was quite bold and opportunistic in my opinion, when I heard of it first on the evening of December 10 - but this perhaps was to do with the fact that our division was at the spearhead of the whole operation, and noone could guarantee any rate of success of our manoeuvre.

To help us with it, the commander of the Balkan front finally agreed to release our volunteer corps from guard duty in Albania, soon to be replaced by British garrison troops, and they were all shipped to Varna - 19000 men that we could trust.

Operation 'Air Balloon'. Our optimistic plan for victory. December 16, 1943 ​

The plan seemed to work well at first - Germans seemed to be confused and reluctant to come into the open from their mountain strongholds. Just on the Christmas eve, right after the dusk, coordinated attacks were started all across Bulgaria.

Noone was safe that night. December 24, 1943​

We attacked the Hungarians in Kazanlak immediately, and, as far as I know, Lithuanian volunteers in Silistria tried to hit the panzer division in Sliven from a flank as well, even though the result of those attacks differed significantly - we routed our enemies within several hours (Hungarians surrendered in several days), while they had to cancel their attack within the next day due to high losses, and almost no damage done to the Germans.

Much bloodier battles were fought further west - Sofia, protected by our undermanned 3rd division 'Zemaitija' could not hold for long the blows by three German divisions, attacking from all sides, and had to retreat on December 28 after losing almost 15% of their men, to be replaced, just in time, by a Royal marine division, led by Gen. Keightley.

By the 29th, however, the Germans from SS-Division had to finally admit that they cannot beat 3 entrenched divisions despite their fanatical fervour - for 5 days 4700 Germans tried to break through 27000 Lithuanians, Brits and Bulgarians, and only after losing more than a third of their men they stopped, and were routed the next day.

The Brits could not hold Sofia either, and by January 5 our 2nd Inf. division took their place in the defence of the Bulgarian capital. Despite a number of flanking attacks, the Germans pushed on block by block, house by house, and by January 10 our guys had to leave the city as well, after the loss of 1300 men, against 1000 Axis troops.

Sofia streets after house to house fighting. January 10, 1944​

The city was not surrendered, however. Royal marines returned, and combined forces of our and Marine division pushed German infantry out of Berkovica by January 12. There was still the question of cornered SS troops and a panzer division in the mountains of central Bulgaria. Hungry, frozen and angry, they refused to surrender under any conditions offered.

Despite all Allied efforts, 2800 Germans held their positions for 7 days against 22000 of ours until succumbing, more to the forces of nature, than to our bullets and shells. January 11, 1944​

We were totally exhausted. The weather turned worse, with freezing rains and freezing mud, with snowbanks waist deep higher in the mountains. Food was scarce, and we did not expect any better to appear soon. We even fought like we did not care anymore, and most of us didn't. We somehow managed to push another German panzer division away from Vratsa and back to Lom, but it did not seem to matter much - additional Axis forces were coming still, and our ranks were getting thinner by the day.

It was a clear realization - the fate of the war will not be decided in the Balkans. January 20, 1944​

 

[Ilaruum]

Having A Dream. January - February, 1944

Even with hope in men trickling away with each passing day, we were managed push the enemy out of the mountains of Berkovica by January 21, routing 7000 Germans from 218. Infantry of Lt.Gen. van Hulse, after 3 days of intense fighting, with nearly half thousand lost on each side.

We did not have any opportunity to use these gains either, as within the next three days we lost another 600 men, successfully fending off an onslaught of German Panzer division from Lom.

A trophy Hotchkiss H-39 used by 14. German Panzer Division in Vratsa. January 23, 1944​

I was called to the Army HQ that night, stationed in one of the surviving farmhouses on the outskirts of Vratsa, when we were informed the change of Chief of Staff - General Juozas Barzda-Bradauskas was appointed few days ago. We all felt - some changes in organization of Lithuanian army were coming - for better or worse.

We were also immediately issued an order for tactical retreat to Sofia, along with 3rd Marines, stationed nearby, both to shorten the frontline, and to assist Brits, who were constantly being harassed by German troops in the hills to the southwest of the city.

At that point, however, the reasons to me and my men were as good as any, I was only glad we could leave this dreadful countryside, dotted with wrecks of trucks and tanks, still smoking here nd there, shell holes and bloody trenches under low grey sky.

Sofia was already in sight when were informed about the elimination of Pazardzhik pocket, nearly 25,000 Axis troops strong. Finally. January 26, 1944​

As far as I could understand, our forces further east were not doing that great - after a prolonged staring contest with German Panzer division, entrenched in the mountains north from Stara Zagora, now they had to fight-off Romanian infantry as well.

Although we were just in time to relieve Sofia defenders - an exhausted Marine division, on a brink of disaster, we could not notice the difference in the city itself. There was no cheering anymore among its inhabitants, like the time we entered the main square headed by Bulgarian guerrilla fighters back in November, and it felt so much more ruined and desolate.

By the 29th, the German assault on Sofia was finally beaten-off, leaving two and a half thousand men dead on both sides, twice as many Germans, as Brits.

It was the sacrifice of those men, and of our bold guys fighting further east, that we got a short respite, just for a few days, and our commanders used them to the fullest. With two fresh British divisions coming in and one new Bulgarian just formed up, we got our orders to pack our belongings post-haste, leave all heavy equipment to the new troops and board the trains heading to Thessaloniki on the morning of Jan 31. I can still remember the faces of the men in my company, full of disbelief and relief at the same time, after I came-in running, with the order on my lips way before I entered the barrack doors.

In three days we were in Athens, a bit later joined by the guys from all four volunteer divisions, which have sailed there from Varna, just two days before advancing Germans captured the port.

There were some rumours in the press that Bulgarian government was holding secret talks with Romanians for a separate peace agreement. February 3, 1944​

It came unexpected as a thunder, even though a pleasant one, when I met my brother Vincas there in Athens on the 4th of February. Apparently, he was taking part (as a member Lithuanian diplomatic mission) at a conference destined to determine the conditions and terms of transfer of the administration from our military one to Greek civil government, who have just returned from exile in London.

As far as I could understand at that point, Lithuanian military command was relocating from Balkan theater for good, and with the front still unstable, Allied command was hoping that the increase in Greek resources could help reaching the balance with advancing Axis forces.

With a few hours at our hands, we managed to talk only very briefly on the matter of world affairs, and the impression I left with, was quite a bleak one.

German Fortress Europe was standing strong still, even with Atlantikwall breached or abandoned due to American attack from the south of France, and Russians capturing Kiev at last. Germans still had the remnants of the Maginot line and their own Siegfried line still intact, and apparently there were reports of intense and bloody battles in the forest of the Eastern Front. Attacking in winter was a feat, even Russians were not fully prepared for.

Festung Europa. February 5, 1944​

Another worry, and perhaps even a bigger one to the Allied command, was the seemingly unchecked Japanese advance all over Asia, far east Pacific islands, Australia and Oceania - from Siberia and Calcutta in the West, to Midway, Wellington and Sidney in the East, topped by the fall of Nepal just several days ago.

The fight was still ongoing for Dutch colonies, and the outcome was far from certain. February 5, 1944​

The single force having potential to stop them, was the USA, as most modern British assets were tied-up in Europe. Despite that, all the Lithuanian diplomats were aware of, were promises of the Americans to sail out with their Pacific fleet in force really soon.

There were also talks of a high level conference being planned for the following months, with most Allied leaders and Stalin attending, but my brother could not tell yet, even to me, when and where it is going to take place.

 

[Ilaruum]

Operation Market-Garden. February, 1944

Watching the lights of Athens harbour blinking away in the night, we were leaving so many things behind as well. Having set our feet on these shores nearly a year ago, we have found here valiant people with a hope for peace, who became our friends eventually, beautiful, pristine villages and towns, some of them still untouched by war and flame, but we also said our goodbyes to so many brothers in arms, who laid down their heads on the slopes of too many mountains and hills.

We were sailing west. No clear destination was yet known to us, but single thought was in our heads - Germany! We were finally entering the lair of the beast.

Big advance on Germany was anticipated by the press. February 8, 1944.​

We already knew that Americans and British have set their foot on German soil in several places - south, towards Freiburg, close to the Swiss border, passing the Siegfried line, also in Saar, where American armour was being massed, and further north - Aachen was in British hands already. But along the news of these advances, we also read reports of fighting getting more and more fierce as well, and no quick break-through was expected, at least not until end of winter.

Within few short days, by February 10, we have reached Marseille, and were on our way north by train in the morning of the 11th. The guys from volunteer divisions were sent by ships to Cardiff though, for some rest and re-fit, before re-joining us.

Lyon, Dijon, Paris, Amiens - off-loading, waiting, riding again, sleeping in the stations, box cars. All along the way we saw signs of war, which passed these placed not too long ago. Burned down churches, tank and truck wrecks, cratered fields with the remnants of trenches here and there, several scorched villages, which seemed empty and desolate. Of course, there were also those, which were being rebuilt, with roofs being hastily raised or fixed to have some shelter in the chill of almost-passed winter.

It started snowing when we reached Paris, and the scars of war were not that frightening anymore. February 13, 1944​

It took us 5 days to reach Antwerp, our final destination point. Without waiting for more than it took us to find our barracks, I was summoned by our division commander Maj.Gen. Vitkus for a briefing. And what a briefing it was! After leaving one theatre just mere two weeks ago, we were being thrown into another mess, based on sketchy intelligence reports, betting on sheer luck and hoping for best results. As far as I understood, neither our Division commander, neither Corps Commander Lt.Gen. Zemaitis were overly excited about the plane, but, since this was already decided by the higher rank brass, there was not much we could do.

The command for the whole operation was assigned to Field Marshal Gough of the Royal Army (he was also the commanding officer of Operation 'Husky' back in 1942) currently in charge of the whole northern part of the Western front. Supreme Allied commander Field Marshal Davies, an American, must have had quite a dilemma on his hands, as American troops of the 2nd Army, led by General have already entered German soil and were closing on Stuttgart, with armoured spearheads reaching the Rhine further north. With reports of Germans crumbling or surrendering en masse, even if exaggerated, led to an opinion that the Rhine can be forced and even the Ruhr region could be captured on the go, and then there would be only an easy ride to Berlin, or even a capitulation of Germany by the end of spring.

Battle plans for Operation 'Plunder' - crossing the Rhine at Coblenz and Duisburg.​

I recalled then, that when passing the straits of Messina, I had some talks with sailors, still remembering our landings in Sicily in 1942. Among other things, jokes were being passed around by Lithuanian sailors about allied ships going back and forth to Belgium and Northern France from the ports southern England - apparently part of our transport fleet was used for supply duties there. As I managed to gather, the sole available deep-water port east of Cherbourg was Antwerp, liberated just few weeks ago by Americans and Australians, and at that, Germans have managed to sabotage some of the port facilities before leaving, same as with Dieppe, Calais, Le Havre, and others.

The supply lines for the advancing Allied armies now stretched thin for hundreds of kilometres, stalling all big operations on land and grounding the planes due to the lack of fuel. February, 1944
​

Under these circumstances, the common opinion among the guys was that either the Germans break real soon, or a big port was to be captured intact. And single one that could make a difference was Rotterdam, even with one third of port facilities destroyed by Germans upon taking the city back in 1940, and occasionally bombed by RAF raids in the past months.

It was also the position of Field Marshal Gough, a long-time advocate of well-supplied and cautious, calculated advances. It was thus surprising to many that the operation proposed for alleviating the supply situation for the whole front was so daring and unconventional, if not, some would say (and some did say), reckless and outright stupid.

The operation consisted of two main parts - Market - a series of amphibious landings, and Garden - a dash along the Eindhoven - Arnhem highway to link-up with the Market troops. ​

Market forces, led by Operational HQ of Lt.Gen.Zemaitis consisted of 1 Marine Division, 2 Infantry, supported by one Volunteer division - 35,000 men in total.
'Market' was firstly designed to secure the dam - Afsluitdijk, a 32 km long dike, separating the sea from inner Ijsselmeer, along with its shipping locks and discharge sluices. Only then could the second phase commence - swift and unexpected landing in the newly reclaimed land, to the north west of Zwolle with the objective of seizing the polder system there, which was presumably mined by Germans in order to inundate the lands in case of Allied attack. Second objective was to secure the bridges at Zwolle and Deventer (just to the east from Apeldoorn) over the river Ijssel and then link-up with Garden forces at Arnhem.

Garden forces were led by Gen Liatukas himself, and comprised of 1 Infantry division, 3 volunteer divisions, directly supported by combined Australian brigade of engineers and mounted rifles, lead by Maj.Gen. Cliffton - 25,000 men in total. Their mission was to seize the bridges over the Maas and Lower Rhine at Nijmegen and Arnhem, in order to secure the supply route for Market forces.

Map of Dutch lands under the threat of inundation by Germans. We had to do everything possible in order to avert the catastrophe. February, 1944.​

 

[Ilaruum]

Winter Storm. February, 1944

Just less than a month since our last engagement in Bulgaria, we were not entirely sure how well planned the operation was, but this was not too much on our minds at that time. We were finally getting really close to pushing Germany back to their own land, and, perhaps, will be able to march to Berlin by summer - and that was much more inspiring than playing decoys and slugging through the mountains in the Balkans.

Being one of the junior commanders, I was acquainted with the operation plan 5 days before D-day, while soldiers under my command got their orders just after packing their belongings and right before boarding the ships in Antwerp.

Boarding ships at Antwerp harbour. Freezing to the bone. February 19, 1944​

First stage of the Market plan - until we reach Garden forces or are otherwise re-supplied, was intended to take up to 4 days, and at that, most of the time supposed to be simply marching, unloading and securing the strategic points along the way - access to Afsluitdijk, Zwolle and Deventer bridges and Arnhem itself.

According to the latest reconnaissance data, the bulk of still battle-worthy forces were concentrated in the South Holland in anticipation of all-out Allied assault on Rotterdam, and at that, most of them were lightly armed infantry from minor Axis countries. All we were planning to meet in the north, however, were garrison troops sent to man the Atlantikwall, being unfit for front-line duty - after injuries, too young or too old, even former prisoners of war from the East front.

Our transport flotilla sailed out at night of February 19, bound for British port of Hull, same as many other re-supply ships did, but turned around during the night of Feb 20, and managed to pass the Wadden islands under cover of darkness and wet snow storm without being spotted by German observer posts.

Anti-aircraft and anti-ship radar antennas on nearby Schiermonnikoog island were knocked down during recent bombing raid. February, 1944​

The marines off-loaded in the first wave and headed for the beach at Harlingen - a small harbour town west from Leeuwarden, mere 10 kilometres from the East end of the Afsluitdijk. This spot was chosen since the west end of the dam was strongly protected by the forts in and around Den Helder, armed with naval artillery and mined approaches to the harbour - part to the Atlantikwall. Besides, the and shipping locks of the Afsluitdijk at Kornwerderzand - the gate to the Ijselmeer - was way closer to the east end of the dam. We only had to break through the fortifications and the defenders, if any.

According to latest reconnaissance photos made by our own pilots, all the Afsluitdijk forts housed a full garrison of more than 6000 men. Too late to turn back now. February 20, 1944​

In a two-pronged attack - one coming from the land, the other - from the sea, by inflatable boats, marines caught the defenders unaware, but this was clearly not enough, and the assault now turned into slaughter on both sides. Machine guns from fortified nests blasted away the boats in the water, while the narrow approach by land was closely guarded as well.

It took more than 36 hours to break them and secure the dam, with the cost of more than 600 of Marines, against more than 1100 Germans lost. All further attacks by almost depleted Romanian and Yugoslav troops were easily brushed away.

With the way cleared, we pushed on full steam further south - "Vilnius" division landed near Zwolle, while we secured a strategically important road and rail crossings near Amersfoort, all quite uneventful. Except, of course, for the reception received from the Dutch population. Even from the first landing in Harlingen, everywhere they saw us, we were greeted by crowds of jubilant people bearing food, drinks, flowers, waving flags and flying orange ribbons, happy to get rid of Moffen, as they were calling Germans.

Most of the times this made our task a number of times harder, as it was simply difficult to push through all that sea of handshakes and smiles. February 23, 1944​

After first troubles with getting the operation started, everything seemed to go fine. Axis forces, stationed in the eastern part of the Netherlands, such as they were, appeared to flee towards Germany, leaving quite a lot of equipment behind. We also got reports from our Garden forces of no resistance or outright surrender of straggling German troops when Nijmegen was captured. They expected to reach and secure Arnhem within 24 hours at most, as all the important bridges were being captured intact.

On the 25th of February, I got orders to stop digging-in at Ameersfoort and get my soldiers on the move - we were liberating Amsterdam!​

By the 28th of February, we could consider ourselves lucky and proud to achieve what we have just in a mere week. But we knew better than to rejoice ahead of time. Apparently, this week was used by German commanders to regroup and consolidate their scattered forces - our supply convoys coming through Arnhem were being harassed constantly, with a threat to cut-off our single life line- at least until the port facilities at Den Helder and Amsterdam were working again. Besides, we still had more than 30000 Axis troops holed-up in and around Rotterdam.

Bitter street to street fighting was still ahead of us. February 28, 1944​

.

 

[Ilaruum]

Vrijheid. The Things We Cherish. February - March, 1944.

The feeling of freedom was overwhelming. The roofs, windows, even trees, orange banners and tricolors were flying everywhere, people were flocking to our headquarters, most just to express their gratitude and joy, others, mainly from underground resistance, ready to join our ranks and bring the fight further south, to Gouda, immediately. However, British command being suspicious also of possible infiltrators and spies, was reluctant to use these wannabe soldiers for front line duty without proper screening and preparation.

Within one month nearly 2000 men joined our Volunteer division "Kaunas" forming a separate Dutch brigade.​

By March 1 the Marines linked up with the Americans from "the Big Red One" north of the Hague, finally surrounding the Axis troops entrenched around Rotterdam and Gouda, but numerous waterways prevented supplies reaching us in Amsterdam. Despite that, preparations for an all-out assault started immediately.

Battle of Arnhem

With supply lines still stretched for 200 kilometres from Eindhoven through Arnhem, passing a number of bridges, it was only to be expected that German blow will land where it hurts most.
In the early hours of March 2, the 454. German Reserve Division attacked eastern approaches of Arnhem, soon to be joined by 61. Infantry coming from Rijn, totaling 12 thousand men, against nearly 7000 Lithuanian volunteers, led by Gen. Liatukas, the Chief of Lithuanian Liberation Army himself.

At the same time the Ijsel river was forded and the bridge at Deventer was assaulted by another Reserve division together with infantry attacking from Zwolle. The road to Arnhem at Apeldoorn was defended by 3rd Lithuanian infantry division of Maj.Gen.Karvelis, this time - 14000 Germans against 7000 Lithuanians.

Supply route Arnhem - Amersfoort - Amsterdam had to be protected at all costs. March 2, 1944.​

Battle in Apeldoorn lasted two days, with Germans retreating back behind the river, leaving nearly 900 dead, while Lithuanian losses were much less - 170 men wounded and lost. A counter-attack was mounted immediately, on the Reserve troops in Deventer, but the opportunity to take the bridge over the Ijsel was missed, and the attack was drowned in blood in a hurricane of machine gun and mortar fire from the right bank of the river, without facilitating the situation of the troops in Arnhem.

The have managed to pull it off, nevertheless. After a dogged fight that took five days, the Germans withdrew on March 6, leaving our troops to mourn over a thousand of lives lost, while their losses where a bit lighter - nearly 700 men.

Battle of Rotterdam

In the meantime, the noose was being tightened around Rotterdam more and more every day - the German garrison at Betuwe fell on March 3, with further attacks of Hungarian troops on our 2nd. Infantry division repelled one after another, while the Marines were sent in to clear the pockets of resistance around Gouda - it was thought that only the scattered remnants of 217. German Infantry were still defending it, along with supporting staff of Hungarian High command, led by Gen.Barankay. Thus, it was even more unexpected, when the Marines were flanked and attacked by entirely fresh German Infantry division from Rotterdam, and our division was scrambled to battle having only a handful of clips each for our guns, in order to save them, without even waiting for our own Corps HQ of Gen.Zemaitis, now stuck in Amersfoort, to join the battle.

The supply route, stalled for almost a week due to fighting, was safe for now, but the effects were apparent - while food was sufficient, ammo was sorely lacking. March 7, 1944​

Within 2 days of intense fighting we managed to route the defenders from Gouda, and on March 11 the Germans were pushed back from Haarlem as well. The price we paid for this was high - 13 percent Marines were either lost or wounded, close to 1200, against about the same number of Axis troops.

There was no need for encouragement for any of the troops - everyone wanted to finish this as soon as possible, feeling that the war is coming to an end soon. However, Germans thought differently - more than 22000 Axis troops were totally surrounded in Rotterdam, and it took another 3 days of artillery barrage and all-out assault until they surrendered. Only 3/4th of the Germans survived the bombardment.

A file of Lithuanian troops march through ruins in the suburbs of Rotterdam. March 14, 1944.​

It was announced the same day that Bulgarian government surrendered to Romania. Greece is in danger!

 

[Ilaruum]

Argonaut Conference. March 15-22, 1944

"Germans are on the run!" "The days of the Third Reich are counted!" That was all we saw in the newspapers and heard on radio. But all I felt was a huge relief. We made it, most of us got through alive, again.

And we needed rest. March 15, 1944
​

Right on the next day I received a letter from my brother, asking me to come and meet him as soon as I can. Apparently, he was appointed as an attaché to the returning Dutch prince Bernhard, the head of the Royal Military Mission based in London, to assist with smooth transition from Lithuanian military administration to a civil Dutch one. I was under impression that he was still working on such transition in Greece, thus, it came as a surprise that the government of Greece, headed by King George II and Themistocles Sofoulis, was fully reinstated (even if still shaky), as was publicly announced the day after.

The Hellenes will have to endure one last battle for their country. March 16, 1944​

Despite the huge respite for us after freeing the Netherlands and our progress on Western front, the news Vincas brought were dire - Soviets were pushing on German heels and were soon to step into Lithuanian territory. The Allied High command is fully aware of the concerns of Lithuanian government in exile and is supportive of our cause for free Lithuania, there are no other options to resolve the situation than a diplomatic solution at the conference in Crimea, which will take place in the coming days at Yalta.

The second occupation by Soviet Union is imminent and cannot be avoided.​

This, obviously, put our underground resistance into a danger as well, with a number of Soviet supporters returning also to Lithuania as loyal agents of the new occupation administration. The resistance movement - Supreme Lithuanian Liberation Committee (Lith. - VLIK), established back in 1943, was in constant contact with British intelligence and Lithuanian government, but noone was sure it will be possible to keep it alive after Soviet return. It was thought that the resistance will no longer be passive and all efforts were made to prepare for an armed fight.

Main weapon of resistance against Germany, however, was underground press. One of the most popular newspapers - "Laisvės kovotojas" (Freedom Fighter) published a VLIK declaration claiming that Lithuanian state has not disappeared due to current German and upcoming Soviet occupation. ​

Next week was intense. In between of the preparations for the next operation, I managed to get a few short meetings with my brother. While Yalta conference itself was a subject to discussion in most major papers, I was eager to find out anything that was left not for press. It was not much at first, only some rumours in diplomatic circles about a power struggle undergoing between Soviets and Americans, with British left watching, but I still hoped for the best.

What I was able to learn, left me in deep shock - I didn't even dare to tell any of my brothers-in-arms. It was of course not fully confirmed yet, but it looked like Stalin played all the cards he had and was fully successful at it.

Churchill thought he can charm anyone, but this time flattery got him nowhere. March 19, 1944​

His main demands were for the war to continue until full surrender of Germany, its post-war division into occupation zones and also setting the zones of influence in Eastern Europe.

Despite the fact that we were standing at Germany's border (or some troops having crossed it already in some places), while Soviet Union has not even recaptured Leningrad yet, Stalin, reportedly, was unyielding, stressing that 70 percent of Wehrmacht was on the Eastern front, and going as far as implying a possibility for a separate truce with Germany, if no agreement was reached (probably, fearing that the British and Americans might do the same)

New division of Germany and Poland, and percentages of influence in Eastern Europe, as sketched on a napkin by Churchill. March 20, 1944​

The question of Poland and three Baltic countries was raised by Churchill repeatedly, or at least Lithuanian delegation was under impression that it was. The plan for Poland was harsh - loss of Danzig and surrounding area in addition to the whole Eastern Poland up until the line of Curzon. This at first created some hopes for our delegation to resolve the question of Vilnius, but they were shortly shattered - the allegiances to the East or West of all four countries were to be decided during the special popular election, but Stalin was relentless - the elections will be held under the laws of the occupying country, with no interference from other parties.

The last glimmer of hope was in President Roosevelt, but it soon was extinguished as well. With Japanese sieging Melbourne, massing on Midway island, and marching on he streets of Calcutta, the USA needed all the help with the war in Pacific Stalin could promise.

And all this not counting the fact that most men fit for military service in the US have been called already. March, 1944​

 

[Ilaruum]

No Race To Berlin. March 23 – April 5, 1944

With British and American forces having crossed the Rhine at Kleve/Emerich and Reese already during operation Veritable and liberation of Cologne, Ruhr Triangle - the industrial heartland of Germany - was ripe for the taking.

Last natural defence line – the mighty Rhein – has fallen. March, 1944​

After being summoned to our HQ for a briefing early in the morning on the 23rd, I learned that our whole Lithuanian Army was assigned to cover the left flank of the thrust to Ruhr by Brits and Australians from 1st and 10th Armies, drive north, complete liberation of Holland and enable additional supply routes as we go along the coast of Northern sea. Our whole task force amounted now to just over 50,000 men. A multinational bunch, about one third consisting of Brits, Dutch and Greeks that joined our ranks during these past few years and survived.

Operation Cannonshot. German defences in our sector were spotty at best, but when they stayed, however, they fought to the last. One of such spots remaining in the Netherlands was Deventer – a town overlooking river Ijsel and a railway bridge over it. Nearly 13,000 of reserve troops, a mix of German, Dutch and Belgian men, hastily organized into two divisions that have never been in combat before.

Guys from 3rd Volunteer Division in action in the suburbs of Deventer on the West bank of Ijsel, just before the bridge was blown by German troops. March 24, 1944​

As the bridge at Zwolle was in our hands, the only remaining way to root them out was to encircle Germans from the north, by securing the roads leading from Deventer to Steenwijk, Hoogeween and, finally, Enschede, linking up with Australians coming from Winterswijk.

After several attempts to stall the advance of our guys led by Gen.Karvelis that were easily brushed away with few to none casualties on our side, Germans attempted a break-through through Enschede in early morning of the 27th.

Mortar shelling soon turned into an all-out assault on our positions. March 27, 1944​

My division, having just arrived to Zwolle was rushed into battle from the north during the night of 28th, with all other surrounding forces stepping in. Such rush did not really bode well for us, as even myself was only very vaguely aware of possible German strongpoints along the way, not to mention my men. This was painfully learned after we ran into several machinegun blasting blindly into the dark and mined approaches to waterway crossings, which made a 10 kilometer stretch into a bloody 6 hour march.

Within 30 hours of fierce fighting, the 12,000 strong German garrison surrendered. March 28, 1944​

Next few days were just for mopping up the remaining resistance and moving further north. By March 30 the Marines liberated Emmen and crossed Ems the next day in the port city of Emden, already abandoned of hastily retreating German troops.

The goal of our whole operation was within reach already – Wilhelmshafen, the home based of the feared Kriegsmarine, or the remainder of it. On April 2, Marines and Infantry from the 3rd Volunteer rushed against defences around the city centre, set up by single German division of security forces.

It took 10 hours and several hundred men lost for Germans to realize that resistance is futile and raise a white flag. April 2, 1944​

My regiment reached Wilhelmshaven and its harbour on April 4, right at the moment when a fleet of British transports dropped their anchors in the roadstead. 6 British divisions (and one Danish!) have come to relieve us, while we were to sail out to Dover within the next few days for R&R. My men did. But I stayed, after receiving a late night visit form a British and a Lithuanian intelligence officers with an offer I could not refuse.

Lithuanian Tricolor and Britain’s Union Jack at the entrance of the Town hall. April 5, 1944.​

 

[Ilaruum]

Apart. April – May, 1944

As we found out during our late night briefing (there were seven more guys from the LLA, three of them from my division as well), by two intelligence officers – a Lithuanian and a Brit – it was thought that the time is ripe for the preparation for the inevitable German defeat and occupation by the Soviets. The troops that did not leave Lithuania four years ago still had weapons safely stashed, and were just waiting for the opportunity, when a successful resurrection would be feasible. How much would be left after the frontline passed twice – in 1941 and now, was difficult to tell.

Poles chose the armed path, however, none of their uprisings starting in Warsaw have been successful so far. April, 1944​

Despite of uneasy Polish – Lithuanian relationships, it was thought that it would be best to use current setup and facilities used for training Polish resistance fighters, the Cichociemny, a programme for which was well underway under the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Essex.

With Eastern front still moving back and forth, I had little time to prepare – only six weeks were allowed before our drop-off in the end of May.

A School for Danger, as it was called by our instructors. We had to go through a number of crash courses – from parachuting and handling portable radio to demolition and sabotage. April-May, 1944​

With underground Lithuanian resistance organization caught now between two enemies, we were to return to my homeland and help create a network for gathering the intelligence on the situation under Soviet occupation, establish radio communication links with the British SOE officers.

As much as I managed to gather from my brief contacts with the guys from my (former) regiment, their rest was uneventful and ended quite quickly – too quickly, as always.

A postcard received from one of my mates. All he wrote on the other side was about his first encounter with the elephants - and nothing else. May, 1944​

 

[Ilaruum]

Blind Shot. May-June, 1944

I felt for several days that the fatal night was coming soon – and both dreaded and waited for it. And it came, in the form of my brother, visiting unannounced.

I also knew this was perhaps the last time I will see my brother, but there was no way to make proper goodbye, as he was to board a plane and leave for Marseilles – on his way to India – later the same night. LLA was getting ready there for a big operation in the Asian theatre, named Dracula, but I did not get any more details.

What I learned, though, was that my time has come indeed – now, or it would be too late.

The last radio message from our resistance cell in Marijampole, received on June 1, said that the Germans were massing several armour divisions around Vilkaviskis, for a counter-attack, but they were severely undermanned, and it was not expected to keep the Soviets away for long.

We just hugged, wished each other luck and he disappeared into twilight fog.

There were no further transmissions made during next several contact windows, our underground cell most likely exposed or dispersed. June 4, 1944​

After several false alarms due to bad weather over the Baltic sea, the night of June 6 was finally THE night – two groups of 6 men each boarded a pair of C-47 planes, with a strange calm on our faces, lips pressed tightly, fingers running triple-checking the backpacks and belts. Like men, prepared to die, but not entirely yet. Our plane went roaring into the sky first. I never learned what happened to the second plane and the guys there – only rumours that they only reached as far as the skies over Denmark.

Our drop point was to be near a small village of Nemajunai – just to the east from Prienai, behind Nemunas river. Close enough to the place where I was born, for me to know the massive pine forests on both sides of the river my five fingers, and far enough, so that people would not recognize me on the spot.

Even though we missed our drop point by nearly a kilometer, we have managed to reach our intended hideout just before the sunrise. June 7, 1944​

Next several days were quite worrisome, as we were not sure no one reported seeing us land the other night. Finally, on June 10 our contact arrived from Simnas group, with some food and local news. Luckily, no one alerted the Germans of our arrival, perhaps due to the overcast night and almost direct landing.

Maybe they had more things to worry about in the ensuing confusion - the Soviets have been making a steady progress –Vilnius garrison has surrendered back on June 3, despite German desperate efforts to relieve the surrounded troops.

The Russians were already engaging German lines in the lake country to the west of Trakai and Ukmerge. June 9, 1944​

 

[Ilaruum]

We brought some hope. Small fickle spark of it, but hope nonetheless. For many of the men and women we met during the next few weeks it was a single thing to grasp and cling on. Hope for peace, hope for freedom, hope for all the horrible things the war has brought till then to just stop one day. All of them have lost someone close already, or was about to lose them – with the thunder of war closing-in from the East, troves of planes overhead, some of them falling down with trailing smokes, bringing vivid recollections of burning homes and destruction from 3 years ago.

June – high time for haymaking. But that is not the only way to prepare for the coming winter. June, 1944​

With Soviets eventually coming, there was only that much most men could do – survive somehow, and be ready when the time comes to take their homeland back. Or die trying.

I remember my first two days (or, rather nights) after the arrival only through haze and dusk – we moved only in darkness, by boat, horse cart and, mostly, on foot, through the thick of the woods, till we reached one of the partisan camps in the middle of the forest, across the river from a small town of Punia. This is where I got to know the leader of the local squad – a man in his fifties, bright eyes, greyish hair – with a call sign Viesulas – a Whirlwind. In time, he briefed me on some of the local details – German troop movement routes, reliable peasants for hideouts and arm caches, retreat routes from the camp and current moods.

His current squad consisted of not more than 10 people, while local men were ready to join us upon a call – not only those few former Riflemen Union members but also those who never considered themselves as fighters. To the knowledge of Viesulas, there were at least five other similar squads in the woods near Marijampole and Kaunas under the single command of a partisan called Zhvejys (a Fisherman), while another group was on the right bank of Nemunas – and closer to the frontline – was headed by partisan Vanagas (Hawk). Apparently, similar arrangements were put in place all across Lithuania – lying low for now, preparing for the fight later. It was achieved with varying effort, however, as Germans were looking for Soviet saboteurs working behind the frontline, and handled this accordingly.

Our main area of activities was the left bank of Nemunas river. For now – only surveillance of the road from Kaunas and railway Alytus – Marijampole. June – July, 1944​

The beginning of August did not bring any significant changes – Germans and Soviets clashed in a pitched fighting, with burned land changing hands several times. Russians tried to establish a foothold close to Marijampole, but they were time and again pushed back by German forces. By late August, the they even managed to counterattack and make some advances on the right bank of Nemunas, but got bloodied and routed soon after.

Soviets have cleared all of Estonia and Latvia up to Daugava river from resisting Germans by mid- August, but were stopped from crossing it by a strong German force in Courland.

As much as we heard from our infrequent radio broadcasts, the fighting in the West has stalled for some time. Apparently, breaking through the Rhine and, later, through German lines near Hamburg spread the Allied forces too thin and supply lines too long. Denmark was liberated back at the end of July, and all the harbour facilities in northern Germany have to be rebuilt, to support the advancing armies.

As Allies have been trying consolidating their forces for the assault on Berlin, they were occasionally pushed back by German irregulars – hastily assembled Volkssturm divisions. August, 1944​