About Pranas Beleckas-Milner and the fateful battle at Gudai Mill
Pranas Beleckas-Malūnininkas, a former non-commissioned officer of the Lithuanian Army, became famous as the brave commander of the Vytis detachment of the Šatrija detachment of the Samogitian region, under whose leadership the partisans organized a brave attack near the Gudai mill.
Pranas Beleckas was a non-commissioned officer in the Lithuanian army, a brave and determined fighter. His nephew Zigmas remembers a touching meeting on Easter night in the Akmenė church: "Someone put a heavy hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Uncle Pranas with Jonas Šiuša. 'How are you, Žebenkščiuk?', I heard a gentle question." This is how the partisans called the thirteen-year-old boy who brought them food and medicine.
Pranas and his closest comrade Jonas Šiuša were known as extremely brave fighters. Together they dared to do what others avoided - they even visited the towns of Akmenė and Viekšniai at night, right under the noses of Soviet officers. However, Pranas became most famous after the clash at Gudai mill, where Vytis's squad led by him killed four Chekists, including Lieutenant Pozdniakov.
This event became fatal - the Soviet security began to especially persecute the unit. Pranas always carried a revolver on his belt and even kept his hand on the weapon while sleeping. This helped him more than once, but even such constant readiness did not protect him from the last battle, when in June 1949, after Pentecost, he and his comrades were killed near the Venta River.
Related objects
Gudai Water Mill (battle site)
The wooden Gudų water mill stands on the bank of the Virvytė River. It was built in 1922 by the Latvian family of Vilis and Alvina Jungas. The Gudų mill was famous for its power, customers came from as far as Telšiai to grind grain. At the end of World War II, the mill owners left Lithuania.
At the end of World War II, the mill owners left Lithuania. On September 30, 1946, the mill also became part of the history of the Freedom Struggles: an armed clash between the partisans of the Vytis unit and soldiers and militiamen took place near it, which ended in a partisan victory. During the battle, the partisans, disguised as Soviet militiamen, set fire to a barn where Soviet officers were hiding at the time. When they started to flee from the burning barn, 4 officers of Soviet structures were killed. The unit was led by Pranas Beleckis-Milnikas.
Currently, a hydroelectric power plant operates at the mill.
