Lithuania

You may have noticed that there are no pictured Lithuanian troops on this page. That is because the concept of Lithuanian troops in any formal sense remained primarily unfulfilled fantasies throughout the Second World War. You see, Lithuania was sort of a ping-pong ball between Nazi Germany and the Soviets. Initially set to be part of the German sphere of influence, a last second change brought Lithuania into the Soviet sphere. In fact, the Soviets had much better luck creating a Lithuanian fighting force which was ultimately named the 29th Light Infantry Corps. During Barbarossa the 29th Light showed its affinity for its Soviet commanders by deserting pretty much en masse and working as partisans to free Lithuania ahead of Army Group North. The country spent much of the period of Nazi occupation negotiating how any recruited forces could be used. As the front came towards Lithuania the Germans caved in to the Lithuanian demands and some minor forces were organized and served primarily in rear areas.

This is not to say that Lithuanians would not fight for their freedom. A particularly nasty partisan war continued against the Soviets until 1955 when the last Lithuanian partisan forces were destroyed by the Soviets.