Lietuvos kariuomenės Varėnos poligonas XX a. 3-iajame dešimtmetyje

ENIn 1925, the Lithuanian army began using the Varėna Polygon located at the southern Lithuanian-Polish border for exercises. The Polygon was built in the second half of the nineteenth century by the Tsarist Russia Army. The use of this polygon was intended to be temporary as it had some significant deficiencies, i.e. it was close to the Lithuanian-Polish demarcation line, the size of the area did not meet the requirements for efficient shooting, and most of the surviving buildings had passed into the ownership of the Ministry of National Defence in 1922. Alytus, Jonava, Kaunas and Varėna were more suitable areas for the military polygon of the Lithuanian army, but financial resources determined the selection of the Varėna Polygon. Therefore, in 1924, the Varėna Polygon was chosen after efforts to find a more suitable location or to improve the selected polygon failed. Because of the location of the Varėna Polygon it was not considered suitable for financial investment, and it was decided not to improve it. An alternative site was selected in Jonava neighbourhood where the Gaižiūnai Polygon was established in 1931 and the Varėna Polygon was finally abandoned. The former infrastructure of the Varėna Polygon was not improved and there was no suitable training ground. Due to the lack of financial resources to improve the area, buildings belonging to the Ministry of National Defence were not used. The soldiers stayed in the premises of the local population, i.e. barns, villages and later in Daugai settlement where necessary supplies were brought from the army warehouses in Alytus. Additional camps were equipped in 1929 due to the large number of soldiers living in tents, and by 1930, soldiers no longer used premises of the local population for accommodation. The camps had their own internal rules and procedures. Shooting took place in two shooting ranges where the longest possible distances were 5.5 km and 4 km.Only mobile targets were used. In 1927, a location was found in the training ground for an aerodrome, which allowed the participation of military aviation in training. The management of Varėna Polygon was formed on an annual basis and held exercises in the training ground, which included a commander who had the rights of a division commander and who independently managed the security, training and household areas of the training camp, issued individual orders related to personnel training, discipline, supply, and evacuation issues. Other personnel were responsible for organising the exercises, controlling the life of the camps, provision and supply of tools, sanitary and veterinary care. Exercises were conducted only during the warm season, the key participants were artillery units together with trained armoured personnel and military aviation; heavy machine gun units usually conducted separate exercises. Many problems that occurred during training could be explained by the lack of field practice, which only highlighted the importance of the training ground. Given the many limitations of the Varėna ground for effective practice, the lack of time spent on exercises, and wanting to improve the combat readiness of troops it was necessary to find a new area. The protection rules of the training ground were established after exercises in the Varėna training ground had started. Soldiers were assigned as guards and patrolled in five security posts. Red flags were raised at the beginning of military training. Local residents were warned about the exercises to be held and were instructed how to behave. Nevertheless, the training ground management had to deal with the malicious activities of the population who still remembered the habits, which had been formed during the times when the Tsarist Russia army camped in the Varėna training ground, of profiting from the army. [From the publication]