Juozas Kraucevičius

Juozas Kraucevičius (Russian: Осип Осипович Кравцевич; 31 March 1879 – 4 March 1964) was a military pilot and officer in the Russian Imperial Army, Volunteer Army, and later the Lithuanian Army. He was the acting supreme commander of the Lithuanian Army from 29 May 1921 to 11 February 1922.

After two years of study at the Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, Kraucevičius dropped out and joined the Russian Imperial Army. He graduated from the Vilnius Military School in 1901. He participated in the Russo-Japanese War and fought in the Battle of Mukden. In 1912, he transferred to the newly formed Imperial Russian Air Service. He flew combat missions during World War I and rose to the rank of polkovnik. In 1916, he was appointed aviation inspector of the Northern Front but left the army after the February Revolution and joined the White movement. He commanded aviation in the Volunteer Army of Anton Denikin and was promoted to major general in 1919.

In June 1920, Kraucevičius joined the Lithuanian Army and quickly became commander of its aviation unit. Later that year, the unit participated in the Polish–Lithuanian War and the Żeligowski's Mutiny; Kraucevičius personally flew six missions. In addition to his command of the aviation unit, Kraucevičius was the acting supreme commander of the Lithuanian Army from May 1921 to February 1922. Kraucevičius worked to reorganize, strengthen, and enlarge the aviation unit. He worked to increase prestige of the unit, increase pilots pay and benefits, purchase new planes, and enlarge the Aleksotas Airport. However, Lithuanian officers accused him of nepotism and discrimination in favor of Russian pilots. He retired to the reserves in February 1927.

Kraucevičius worked as a representative of Škoda. This allowed him to escape to Prague when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. He returned to Lithuania and was arrested by the NKVD in 1946 and sentenced to ten years in Gulag. He was released in 1954 and returned to Lithuania.