In WWI, Jeznas, presently Jieznas, (Jezno, Ezno) was passed through by German troops late in August 1915, when after the fall of the Kaunas fortress on August 18, their 21st Infantry Corps (XXI. Armeekorps) led by Gen. Ltn. von Hutier crossed  the river Nemunas (Njemen) south of Kaunas and pressed east to carry out a [...]

Šakiai (Shaki, Schaki) was briefly entered by German troops in 1914 at an early stage of the war with Russia, then in February 1915 by reco troups of Ersatz-Brigade Esebeck, then finally and more permanently during the German preparations to storm the formidable Kaunas fortress which fell on August 18, 1915.
 Though Šakiai had had a [...]

In WWI, after the Germans had taken the Kaunas fortress on August 18,1915 and were anxious to take the communications centre Vilnius by outflanking, the river Nemunas (Njemen) had to be negotiated at several other points as well. At Prienai (Preny), the river was crosssed on August 22 by 31. Infanterie-Division, led by Gen.Ltn. von [...]

In WWI, Vilkija (Vilki, Wilki) was taken by German troops during their preparations in the summer of 1915 to storm Kaunas (Kovna, Kovno, Kowno) whose formidable fortress endangered the German advance further east. At Vilkija, a bridge across the river Nemunas (Njemen) was built in late July to facilitate the movement of troops. The fortress [...]

In WWI, being on the border and thus in a kind of no man’s land, the town of Kretinga (Kretingen, Krottingen) was immediately passed through by German troops when the push into Žemaitija and Courland started on April 27, 1915. By 2.30 a.m. that morning cavalrymen of 6. Kavallerie-Division rushed through Kretinga in the direction [...]

In WWI, Rietavas (Retovo, Retowo) after a brief fire-fight was passed through by German infantry units of the 12th res. brig. (6. Reserve-Division) at about midday on April 28, 1915 , that is, the day after the Germans embarked on a push into Žemaitija and Courland. Though Rietavas already had had a post office during [...]

One of the least known episodes in early Lithuanian postal history is the endeavour of the Lithuanian Pašto Valdyba to open, in the summer of 1920, Lithuanian post offices in in some localities in the Vilnius area which since April 1919 had been under Polish rule.
 After the end of WWI, as a result of unresolved [...]

In WWI, Utena (Uciany, Uzjany) was taken on September 11, 1915 by units of Kavallerie-Korps Garnier and Division Beckmann during the German flanking advance on Vilnius. As the front line against the Russian fortress of Daugavpils (Dünaburg, Dvinsk) hardened, to Utena came the HQs of Armeeabteilung von Scholtz, renamed in January 1917 Armeeabteilung D. There [...]

In WWI, Tytuvėnai (Tytavėnai, Cytowiany, Citovjany) was passed through by Bavarian cavalry the following day after the German push into Žemaitija began on April 27, 1915. The cavalrymen were from the reco Abteilung Gonnermann of the Bayerische Kavallerie-Division which was speeding to flank Šiauliai from the south. During the German occupation Tytuvėnai acquired some importance [...]

In WWI, after repeated and final capture of the important communications hub Šiauliai (Schaulen) on July 21, 1915, the German forces in northern Lithuania (Njemen-Armee) were given a double task: to secure the left flank against Daugavpils (Dunaburg, Dvinsk) and to provide a base for a major flanking offensive against Vilnius. Pasvalys (Poswol, Posvol) was [...]