Šeštasis pėstininkų Pilėnų kunigaikščio Margio pulkas

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: 20 amžius; Kariuomenė; Mūšiai; Karininkai; Biografijos; The Lithuanian XX c. history; Military; Battles; Officers; Biografies.

ENThe history of every armed forces consists of different parts together forming a coherent whole. This monograph is published in a monographic series The History of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and is dedicated to the history of Pilėnai Duke Margiris 6th Infantry Regiment, an inter-war military unit of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, of the period of 1919–1940. The history of the 6th Infantry Regiment differs from those of other interwar Lithuanian infantry regiments. Nevertheless, it resembles the history of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas Regiment as both histories were broken. When in 1926 the Lithuanian Armed Forces were reduced, the 6th Infantry Regiment was eliminated, to be restored in 1934. The formation of the regiment was unusual as it was not started from scratch. On 15 June 1919, by the military authorities’ decision, the 1st Battalion was detached from the 2nd Infantry Regiment, announced a separate military unit and titled Marijampolė Separate Battalion. On November 20 of the same year, it was reorganized into the 6th Infantry Regiment. Due to several transformations, neither pre-war nor modern historiography agrees on the date of the regiment’s establishment; therefore, it is considered to be 5 December 1918 when the 2nd Infantry Regiment was formed. However, in the opinion of the author, the regiment was established on 15 June 1919 when the 6th Infantry Regiment became a separate military unit. The period when Marijampolė Separate Battalion became a detached military unit was very intense and difficult. The Red Army attacked in the direction of Suvieko–Kukliai and both sides of Eglainė railway line. Panevėžys Detachment, including the battalion, mounted strong counterattacks. Later, when offensive attacks were launched against the Red Army, the battalion made a great contribution to expelling Russians from Lithuanian and Latvian territories up to the river Daugava.When the front against the Bermontians was formed, at the beginning of September 1919, the battalion was moved there with a very important mission, i.e. to defend Linkaičiai area. When the decisive battles were over, on September 25, the battalion was transferred to Kėdainiai and Kaunas where on November 20 it was reorganized into the 6th Infantry Regiment. On 24 December 1919, the regiment left one battalion in Kaunas and was transferred to Daugava front again to fight the Red Army. Although the fights were not as fierce, the regiment got involved in serious clashes with the Latvian Army in August and September. When deployed in Kaunas, it suppressed the soldiers’ uprising that sparked on 22–23 February 1920. At the end of July, the 1st Battalion of the regiment was moved from Kaunas to the Polish front where they led fierce fights later joined by the whole regiment. It had to withstand severe fights with the Polish Army and later with the troops of the “rebel” General Lucjan Żeligowski. In the fights for freedom, Lithuania lost 215 servicemen, 226 were wounded. When the fights for independence ended, the regiment had to protect a neutral area with Poland. It was a difficult period for the regiment as it operated in mixed circumstances, both war and peace. The 1st Battalion guarded the demarcation line in front conditions, whereas other two battalions functioned in a more peaceful environment. Nevertheless, the tension was high and in February 1923 the regiment suffered from the major Polish attack seeking to occupy Lithuanian territory by Valkininkai–Rūdninkai railway line. The enemy was defeated and pushed out from the territory of Lithuania with slight losses. Although guarded by the regiment, quite a few Polish soldiers, mobilized Lithuanians in the Polish Army and Poles who used to live in the Lithuanian territory managed to cross the neutral zone.Some of the refugees were of other nationalities coming from the territories that were annexed to Poland. On 1 May 1923, the regiment was deployed in Alytus where it returned to a peacetime day-to-day routine with a task to educate and train conscripts for reserve. Over time, it developed standard operating procedures involving regular control for troubleshooting, annual spring and autumn manoeuvres, sports events and celebrations. In September 1926, when the Lithuanian government announced the reduction of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the 3rd and 6th regiments were disbanded. A new stage of the regiment’s existence began in March 1934 when the government of the Republic of Lithuania decided to restore the regiment in Klaipėda. The 2nd Regiment was later deployed in Plungė. The core of the restored regiment was made up of the 7th Infantry Regiment’s battalion. Nearly from the very first days of its restoration, the regiment lived in severe and intense conditions in Klaipėda where the majority of residents were hostile to Lithuanian soldiers and the state and openly sought for annexation to Germany. Despite the tension, the regiment trained soldiers devoting considerable attention to refresher training, made every effort possible to keep up national spirit in Klaipėda and prepared soldiers to defend Lithuania in case of emergency. However, the situation took a different turn when in March 1939 the Lithuanian government agreed to surrender Klaipėda region to Germany on its demand. The regiment had to leave Klaipėda under very difficult and hostile conditions. Due to the commander’s decisive actions, the retreat was smooth, the regiment was successfully withdrawn and took over the guard of the new border with Germany. [...]. [From the publication]

• Aštuntasis pėstininkų Kauno kunigaikščio Vaidoto pulkas / Gintautas Surgailis. Vilnius : Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija, 2022. 301 p.
• Lietuvos kariuomenės lygmens ryšių vienetai 1935-1940 m / Edvardas Vasiliauskas. Karo archyvas. 2022, 37, p. 91-157.