Raguva is a township in Aukštaitija, ca. 30 km south-east of Panevėžys. In World War One, during the battle of Kupiškis, it was taken by Division Beckmann on August 2, 1915.
During the German withdrawal from the East at the end of 1918, troops of the Red Army appeared in Raguva area in early January 1919 and were evicted on May 19 by a task force led by Capt. Spranger of Saxonian Frw. Regiment 18 which was supporting Lithuanian troops.
In the czarist period, Raguva had had a post office (Rogovo) but none during the German occupation. A Soviet postal facility was opened during the brief Bolshevik period but there is no surviving evidence of its services. In charge was a professional G. Bedorf who (Jurgis Bedarfas) later was appointed by Pašto Valdyba to establish a post office in Ukmergė.
A mandate, as įgaliotinis, to set up a Lithuanian post office in Raguva, as from September 1, 1919, was issued to Mykolas Čereška. In the czarist period he had been postmaster of Joniškis. As of December 1 of the same year Mykolas Čereška changed places with Juozas Lapienis from Kupiškis, who continued on as postmaster of Raguva till mid-1923 when in turn he was replaced by Antanas Žalga who stayed on till at least 1941. Mykolas Čereška continued on as postmaster of Kupiškis until his death in 1933.
For stamps, Raguva was supplied with Fourth Berlin Issue, followed by the Sėjėjas Issue etc. In the absence of a regular postmarker, early cancelling at Raguva was done in manuscript, showing place and date. So far, no other provisional markings have been recorded.
A standard calendar-type postmarker was supplied in 1921 or 1922.
Known provisional markings:
Cancelling in manuscript:
12 – XI – 19 single, Berlin IV 30 [formerly Norton]
21 – … single, Berlin IV 10 [colln. Doniela]