1st (4th) Valmiera Infantry Regiment
I Wars of Independence
On the basis of an agreement concluded between the representatives of the governments of Latvia and Estonia on February 18, 1919 in Tallinn (Revele), the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army, Major General Johan Laidoner, authorized the formation of one infantry battalion and one wire artillery. The place of formation was determined to be Tartu (Tartu), where on February 18 Lieutenant Colonel Jūlijs Jansons started the formation of the Latvian army. In the northern part of Latvia and Estonia, which had been liberated from the Bolsheviks, mobilizations of Latvian citizens were announced, which allowed the formation of a regiment called the 1st (Latvian) Valmiera Infantry Regiment in a short time.
The regiment formed on March 27 (800 bayonets, 5 machine guns, 8 self-propelled guns) was sent to the Alūksne front of the Estonian Army and Latvian Bolshevik Army, Ape station, where after an unsuccessful first battle they were forced to retreat to the right bank of Melnupe to defend against the 4th Latvian attempts by the Soviet regiment to force the river. When the Bolsheviks retreated, the regiment occupied Api (27.05.), Vecgulbeni (31.05.), Lubāna, and until 5 June they reached Krustpils and Jēkabpils. The regiment of the regiment stretched from Kaldabruuna on the right bank of the Daugava to Balvi. The 3rd Battalion, an engineering company, was formed in Laudona during the mobilization round. The regiment's artillery battery took part in the battles of Cēsis. After the battles of Cēsis, the regiment was included in the Vidzeme Division of the Latvian Army and renamed the 4th Valmiera Infantry Regiment.
At the end of the summer, the regiment occupied the front line on the Līvāni-Atašiene-Barkava line, being in constant fighting against the Bolshevik Red Army, but at the end of September it was redeployed to Riga. From October 4, 1919, the Valmiera Infantry Regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel Kārlis Bojārs, took part in the defeat of the Bermont troops. After that, the fighting against the Bolsheviks in Latgale continued until the end of the War of Independence. 70 soldiers of the regiment fell in the Latvian War of Independence. 178 soldiers of the regiment were awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order.
After the Latvian War of Independence in October 1920, the 4th Valmiera Infantry Regiment was transferred to Riga, where it existed as part of the Vidzeme Infantry Division until the occupation of Latvia in 1940, when it was enlisted in the People's Army.
More information sources
History of Valmiera Infantry Regiment. 1919-1929 Riga, pp. 1929 - 465, partly included in the collection of articles: Ziemeļnieki II., 1974. http://www.periodika.lv/periodika2-viewer/view/index-dev.html#panel:pp|issue:/ g_001_0306121295 | article: DIVL118 | issueType: undefined
Valmiera Infantry Regiment. Art Encyclopaedic Dictionary of History. https://vesture.eu/Valmieras_k%C4%81jnieku_pulks
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A monument to 30 soldiers of the 1st (4th) Valmiera Infantry Regiment who died in the Latvian War of Independence can be seen.
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Monument "To those who fell for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920."
It is located on the edge of Riga Street, opposite the Krustpils Palace.
In Jēkabpils, on the right bank of the Daugava, the proposal for erecting a monument to the fallen soldiers of the Freedom Struggle for the monument "Fallen for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920" was made by the Krustpils branch of the Latvian Brothers' Graves Committee on June 12, 1923. For the creation of the monument, on November 12, 1923, the Krustpils Parish Board handed over the stone part of the Tsar Alexander II monument at the parish board building, where the monument was installed in honor of the abolition of serfdom, to the disposal of the Fraternal Graves Committee. The Ministry of the Interior of Latvia allowed the Krustpils branch of the Fraternal Graves Committee to collect donations. In total, 2,400 lats were donated, 1,200 were missing. It was hoped to get them from the bazaar and social evening organized on the opening day of the monument.
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20th century In the 1950s, the monument "Fallen for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920" was partially destroyed - the upper part was demolished - the mask of ancient Latvian soldiers, smeared inscriptions, destroyed fire cross sign. On the other hand, already at the beginning of the Third Awakening, the activists of the Krustpils branch of the Latvian People's Front (LTF) in the first regional conferences of the LTF wrote in the resolution the demand to restore the monument in Krustpils. Already on November 11, 1989, at the place where the monument was located, a commemoration was held in which the people of Jēkabpils remembered their Lāčplēši.
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Opened in Krustpilis on September 27, 1925. The monument was designed by the architect Aleksandar Birzeniek. The inscription "Fallen even for the Fatherland 1918-1920" is carved into the monument. The monument was partially demolished by the Soviet occupation power in 1941, it was completely destroyed around 1950. The monument was renovated on November 18, 1992.
Monument to the soldiers of the 4th Valmiera infantry regiment who fell in the battles of the Liberation of Latvia
It is located in the Kapele cemetery, on the outskirts of the Z part of Krustpils on the right side of the city of Jēkabpils, behind the Krustpils railway station at Zņuņu iela.
The monument is dedicated to the soldiers of the 4th Valmiera Infantry Regiment - Corporal Fridrich Gagnus and the soldiers - Jēkabs Lutcs, Jānis Miķelsons, Mārtiņas Pabērzas, Jānis Statāns and Gustas Līcis, who participated in the liberation of Krustpils and Jēkabpils from the German invaders and died on 26th of 1919. in August, who were laid to rest in a common grave on August 29, 1919.
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Monument to the Liberation of Livani
The monument is located at the intersection of Fabrikas and Stacias streets, where it was opened on June 9, 1935 by General Rudolfs Bangerskis, honoring the memory of the soldiers who fell in the battles for the liberation of Lebanon in 1919.
Its main element is a 15-ton, vertically placed cannon barrel. In 1958, the Soviet power dismantled the symbol of the freedom of Lebanon, cutting the barrel of the cannon into scrap metal. The inhabitants of the cannon ball remained throughout the Soviet years, and they returned to their previous place after half a century. The idea of restoring the monument was alive in the people all these years. The Līvāni County Council, together with the residents, was actively involved in the restoration of the monument. Public donations were collected, and on October 3, 2004, the restored Livani Liberation Monument was unveiled in its historic location in the city park.
The inscription on the monument: "Soldiers of the Jelgava infantry regiment fell for Latvia near Līvānii and the liberation of the surrounding area in 1919. Soldiers of the former North Latvian partisan regiment."
The names of soldiers and partisans follow.
Commemorative plaques for the knights of the Lāčplēš War Order in Līvāni district are installed next to it.
The author of the monument was architect Pāvils Dreimanis.
3-5 of 1919 October. Battle of Livani
On October 3, 1919, the big men received a strong blow at the front near Livani. Units of the 3rd Jelgava and 4th Valmiera infantry regiments, as well as units of the Latvian German Land Guard (former Landeswehr) took part in the attack on Līvāni. Units of the 3rd Jelgava Infantry Regiment moved across the Daugava with artillery support. After the successful move, the battles for Livani began, which lasted throughout the day. Around At 17:30, the Livani station was captured, but an hour later the bridges over the Dubna river were crossed. Joint forces managed to expel the bigots from Livani, at At 19:00 the city was completely freed. On October 5, 1919, the big men tried to recover Livani by attacking the new positions of the 3rd Jelgava and 4th Valmiera infantry regiments. The Latvians held their positions with difficulty. This was the first serious and successful attack on the Eastern Front between July and October 1919.
Treasure House of the Free State
A unique exposition on the history of military and civil awards of the first free state of Latvia, as well as various organizations related to the activities of state and civil organizations in the period from the Latvian War of Independence to the Second World War.
Several hundred different historical evidences from Latvian and foreign private collections are exhibited in the exhibition house, covering the period from 1918 to 1940, revealing the pages of the history of Latgale and Rēzekne.
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