Antanas Stapulionis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Imperial Russian Army (1914–1917)
- Lithuanian Armed Forces (1919–1940)
- Rebels of the June Uprising (1941)
Antanas Stapulionis | |
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 Stapulionis with uniform of the Lithuanian Army | |
| Born | December 6, 1893 Gustoniai, Joniškėlis County |
| Died | July 3, 1978 (aged 84) Florida, United States |
| Buried | Joniškėlis, Lithuania |
| Allegiance |
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| Service years | 1914–1941 |
| Rank |
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| Awards |
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| Alma mater | War School of Irkutsk |
Antanas Stapulionis (December 6, 1893 – July 3, 1978) was a Lithuanian lieutenant colonel and chief of the Panevėžys Staff of the June Uprising in Lithuania.[1][2][3]
Stapulionis was born on December 6, 1893, in Gustoniai, Joniškėlis County, he studied at Joniškėlis Agricultural School and Kaunas Teachers' Seminary Saulė.[4][1]
World War I
Stapulionis was mobilized to the Imperial Russian Army at the outbreak of World War I and studied at the Irkutsk military school, which he graduated in December 1915.[4] Stapulionis fought on the Eastern front, especially the Daugavpils, Romanian and Austrian sectors.[4]
Lithuanian Wars of Independence and the Interwar
Following World War I, Stapulionis returned to Lithuania and on 23 November 1918 he joined the secret organization of Lithuanian partisans in Joniškėlis in which he on 5 April 1919 became the Chief of Staff and on 14 May 1919 he became the Commander of Joniškėlis Battalion.[4] The battalion together with the Panevėžys group units fought with the Bolsheviks near Vabalninkas, Pušalotas, Saločiai, Daugava.[3]
Afterwards the battalion joined the Lithuanian Armed Forces and became the Joniškėlis Battalion, Stapulionis was transferred to the 3rd Infantry Regiment as assistant commander, later also serving as assistant commander in the 6th and 7th Infantry Regiments.[4] Stapulionis was the military commandant in Tauragė (1927) and since 1930 in Ukmergė and Panevėžys.[4]
Stapulionis served in the Lithuanian Armed Forces until 1940 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis (1920), Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1929), Order of Star of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (1938), Officer's Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (1938).[1][4]