All Alone: A Lithuanian AAR

March, 1939. Thunderclouds.

Surprisingly, the renewed diplomatic ties and relationships with Poland in general, reduced some internal tensions in the society. While the question of Vilnius remained a sore spot, it was felt by many that compromises have to be made, if we are to survive living between the giants. Many were quite disappointed with the cowardly stance of the Soviet Union, and only a few, most of them, of course, in Klaipeda region, had their hopes turned to Germany, after the Anschluss of Austria.

Just 6 months later, Germany pushed for Sudet region of Czechoslovakia at the summit of Munchen. Despite the assurance of peace by all the leaders, this was met with serious concern in Kaunas, resulting in tightened control of opposition press and increased monitoring of German organizations in Klaipeda.

Out of fear of potential hostilities, the 2 year draft was enacted, expanding the mobilisation reserve and significantly enhancing military training. Jonas Galvydis - Bykauskas, our most prominent military commander, then already 74 years old veteran of independence wars with bolsheviks and Polish in the 20's, has been called into active duty as the Chief of the Army.

While Christmas that year was very peaceful, just a short while into the new year, a thunder rolled throughout the Europe - Germany issued an ultimatum to Czechoslovakia and, subsequently, annexed it, releasing only Slovakia as their client country. At the same time, Italy has annexed Albania. The very same evening, the British and French governments have declared their guarantees of independence and inviolability of the borders of Poland. Britain even extended these safety guarantees to Lithuania as well.

It has just even more shocking, when just two days later Ribentropp met with Urbsys, Lithuanian Foreign minister at that time, travelling then from Rome through Berlin, and delivered him the verbal ultimatum to hand over the Klaipeda region under the threat of military intervention. According to my brother, who was in the delegation of the minister, it was made clear that any German losses would only worsen the situation and could mean the loss of independence.

However frightening that was, seeing the fate of Czechoslovakia just several days ago, our Leader has decided to decline the ultimatum. It was hoped in Kaunas, that even though Hitler was acting quite bold in the face of the guarantees by British and French, he would not dare risking a war, which could involve Poland, France and Great Britain at the same time. However, in case such happened, Lithuanian Army commanders had a prepared plan for defence - "Plan 'V' (lith. Vokietija - Germany).

In addition to that, Lithuanian intelligence agents in East Prussia were certain that German army was not prepared for an immediate war, at least for a week, giving the time for mobilization of the Territorial Defence Forces, Army divisions and preparation of border/river defences. The total size with the mobilization reserve at that time already reached near 90,000 men, in 5 Infantry divisions with 4 artillery regiments and air defence regiment, a cavalry division with attached armour regiment, one wing of fighter aviation and 12 TDF regiments.

Even though Poland has started the mobilisation of their armed forces, Lithuanian Government was watching closely for Germany's reaction to the rejection of the ultimatum. It was decided, in the end, that for a time, mobilisation was not necessary, it was decided that extending the draft for three years would suffice.

Christmas, 1939. The storm.

Everyone was feeling the tension. An increased level of readiness was commanded in all border TDF regiments, and I even received my rifle to store it at home , same as other member of my regiment, whose loyalty to the Republic and the Leader was not in doubt. And German answer came.

True, it was not an ultimatum, but Germany has demanded full access, including military, to Lithuanian port in Klaipeda, as well as free use of railways and airfields, in case such be needed. There were later rumours that Germans have already had their military ships prepared to use this opportunity and station a garrison in Klaipeda, operation called "Flottenparade", under the pretext of defending a new to-be-established small ship re-supply base.

Needless to say, this was perceived in all our Government circles as unacceptable loss of sovereignty , and, even if risky, the request was declined. We will probably never know, what has convinced German Government to subside, but one thing was certain - Germany would not forget or forgive such an insult.
Time passed, and life became more or less normal. Weekly drills in TDF training camps were making progress - we have learned to interact with other regiments and became more confident, knowing that on both flanges, along the whole front there are our compatriots, ready to fight, just the same as we are, in case of need.

Another important development was the significant improvement of relationships with Poland in May. Our Government, seeking allies wherever they could be found, were making big steps in bringing the nations together and healing the wounds of the past. It could be best illustrated by the visit of the Chief Commander of Lithuanian Armed forces Stasys Rastikis to Poland for inspection of Polish military and exchange of views on modern tactics and equipment on the battlefield. The photos were all over the press, especially in a popular military magazine "Kardas" ("Sword").


And then came the summer of 1939. Italy, then Hungary joined the Axis. As a complete shock to everyone, it was announced in early August that Germany and Soviet Union have signed a non-aggression treaty.


Even more worrisome was the announcement of mobilisation in Germany, and, few days later, in Finland. It looked like Europe is gearing for war. And there was not much for us to do, than to watch and hope that everything would somehow pass without touching us.

Our hopes were in vain. On September 3, at 17:00, Germany declared war on Poland. The Allies responded with declarations of their own. German envoy in Kaunas has approached our Government with suggestion to fight along the Germans and reclaim the lost region of Vilnius for Lithuania. British, still unsure about the position of Lithuanian government regarding this, warned that any support to Germany on their attack on Poland, would lead to declaration of war on Lithuania by Britain as well.

Lithuania declared partial mobilisation, but stayed out of the fight. On the contrary to the suggestions by Germans, it was even considered to strike them at Koenigsberg, but Nemunas river, our main line of defence against Germans, was the same line for Germans as well. Besides, seeing how Germans were smashing the Polish with their armoured fists, and the destruction brought by Luftwaffe, it was decided that 5 Lithuanian divisions would neither be able to capture Koenigsberg, nor divert enough of German forces for the Polish to recover and be able to hold the line.

After the Soviet Union stepped-in in the end of September, and the defence of Poland was no more possible, more than 13 000 Polish troops and policemen have crossed the border into Lithuania. According to International Law, they were disarmed and placed in internment camps (mostly in empty sanatoriums in various resort towns, all across Lithuania). While the regime in the camps was not very strict and fugitives were not prosecuted, many Polish left by sea to Sweden and, later, to Great Britain, to join the fight against Germany.

The horror continued. Poland has surrendered on 23th of September. Only 5 days later, Germany declared war on Denmark, and it took them two weeks to force the surrender.
Back at home, Lithuanian Army was watching closely the developments in the new ways to wage war, and adjustments to the tactics and communication were implemented to increase organization of our infantry significantly.

Just before start of the winter, Soviet Union has declared war on Finland. It came as a total surprise to many, as no one doubted that Russians knew how harsh winters can be. Of course, this made the situation of Finland not less grave, and no one dared to think what would happen in case such happened to us.

April, 1940. Europe in Flames.

All winter we were watching as Europe was being engulfed by fire. In the North, the Finns fought valiantly a losing battle against Soviet Union, which was trying to punch through the "window to Atlantic". Helsinki fell in the second half of February, after almost three months of blood-and-snow-coloured struggle.

In the West, air battle raged from the peaks of Swiss Alps to the gray shores of North Sea, with reports reaching the press everyday about skirmishes between French and Germans. Brits were trying to get through Luftwaffe to bomb German ships in Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven and Royal Navy was in constant pursuit of German subs and merchant ships along Norvegian coast. All remaining small nearby countries - the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway - were watching with unease, with their forces mobilized (Norway joined Allies just after New Year). In mid January, newspapers reported about massing of German troops starting along Belgian and Dutch borders.


In the South, Italians and British were playing hide and seek in the Mediterranean Sea and on the shores of Northern Africa, but neither side was willing to cross the borders yet.

There was an eerie silence on our Eastern borders. Only the news from the Far East came about imminent defeat of the Chinese to the onslaught of Japanese. Chinese surrendered in the middle of March.

Back at home, we were learning from every source we could. Our riflemen regiment conducted drill every week now - air defence, civilian protection, guerrilla warfare, explosive training - everyone knew that they should be ready if, or when this would be needed to protect the homeland. Our regular army was also always in some kind of exercise - shooting on skis, manoeuvring under wood cover, artillery practice, trench warfare, anti-tank warfare, or just good old shooting practice.
In January, new model semi-automatic rifles and light machine guns started reaching the troops and replacing outdated Mauser rifles and older Czech made ZB-26s.

Another big-scale military exercise in assaulting techniques took place mid March, and was subject to talks for several weeks around the tables in local taverns. The morale of our troops was so high, that they almost thought themselves to be invincible.