Russian Empire Ladiga was born on in near
Biržai to a family of farmers. After graduating from a four-year primary school in Biržai, he enrolled at a private gymnasium of Michail Pavlovsky in Vilnius in 1909. As a student he joined
Aušrininkai, a semi-formal Lithuanian student society. He planned to study agronomy at the
Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, but after the outbreak of
World War I he enrolled at the
Military Academy in Vilnius. He graduated in December 1914 as
praporshchik and was assigned to the of the
18th Infantry Division. He served in intelligence units deployed near
Daugavpils. He earned promotion to captains and was awarded seven orders. He was seriously injured twice. Ladiga was captured by the Germans during the
Operation Faustschlag in early 1918. He spent eight months in various POW camps. In late 1918, the camp was visited by
Konstantinas Olšauskas who tries to recruit Lithuanian POWs to join the newly established
Lithuanian Army. Ladiga was one of the first volunteers.
Lithuanian Wars of Independence In November 1918, Ladiga returned to his native village and organized a group of about 150 local men to protect against various roaming gangs of demobilized soldiers. On 12 December 1918, Ladiga officially joined the
1st Infantry Regiment and was appointed commander of its first battalion. After the outbreak of the
Lithuanian–Soviet War, the regiment relocated to
Alytus. Several officers, including Ladiga, signed a letter asking to replace regiment's commander
Jonas Galvydis-Bykauskas with someone who showed more enthusiasm and initiative. Upon learning of this letter, Galvydis-Bykauskas attempted to replace Ladiga with and challenged them to duel when they refused to follow orders. After this conflict, Galvydis-Bykauskas was assigned as the director of the
War School of Kaunas and
Antanas Juozapavičius became the acting commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment. However, Juozapavičius was killed on 13 February 1919 becoming the first Lithuanian officer to die in the
Lithuanian Wars of Independence. Ladiga returned to the regiment and was officially appointed its commander on 6 March 1919. Under his command, the 1st Infantry Regiment participated in the first organized Lithuanian offensive on 3–8 April 1919 in hopes of capturing
Vilnius. In summer 1919, Ladiga commanded the Vilkmergė Group which attacked Bolshevik forces. This group captured
Utena on 2 June and
Zarasai on 25 August 1919. In October 1919, Ladiga was redeployed to fight in the
Lithuanian–Bermontian War. He commanded the Lithuanian units in the
Battle of Radviliškis that pushed out Bermontians from Lithuania. He was promoted to
lieutenant colonel on 18 October 1919. In January 1920, Ladiga became commander of the 1st Infantry Division. On 23 February 1920, Ladiga commanded forces loyal to the government in the attack against
soldiers who rebelled in Panemunė. The mutiny was quickly suppressed. On 17 July 1920, Ladiga commanded the division on its march into
Vilnius (then under Soviet control but recognized as Lithuania's territory in the
Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty). On 23 August 1920, Ladiga replaced
Stasys Nastopka and became the first assistant minister of defence and the acting commander of the Lithuanian Army. He led the Lithuanian forces in the
Battle of Sejny that resulted in a defeat. Ladiga resigned as the commander of the army on 1 October. On 14 October 1920, a few days after the
Żeligowski's Mutiny, he was appointed commander of the 4th Infantry Division which he commanded until 1921.
Post-war Ladiga studied at the Military Academy of
ETH Zurich in November 1921 – March 1922 and
War College (Prague) in 1922–1923. In October 1923, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. On 7 May 1925, he became the
Chief of the General Staff. A week later he was promoted to general. He continued to lead the General Staff until 22 June 1926 (with a month-long break in September–October 1925 due to disagreement with defence minister
Teodoras Daukantas). He was removed as the Chief of the General Staff after the election to the
Third Seimas was won by the left-wing
Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union and
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. He was then appointed as officer for special affairs under the Minister of Defence. Ladiga participated in organizing the
coup d'état of December 1926 against the government of President
Kazys Grinius. Three days after the coup, he became the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division. He was assigned as director of the 2nd military district in February 1927 and of the 3rd military district in May 1927. However, he sympathized with the
Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, the main opponents of the authoritarian regime of President
Antanas Smetona. Thus, disciplinary action was taken for "publicly insulting superiors" and Ladiga was released from the military on 24 August 1927. There were rumors that Ladiga said that he installed Smetona and he will remove him. For some time, Ladiga lived under house arrest.
Manor owner Ladiga lived and worked at the near
Pasvalys. The manor was nationalized from the in 1924 according to the
Lithuanian Land Reform of 1922. The manor was given to Ladiga since he volunteered for the army in 1918. He then purchased more land and created a large farm that produced meat and dairy products. The land included about of arable land, as well as a park and orchard. He improved roads, established a post office, built a windmill and a dairy. In 1936, Ladiga established a chapel. A parish was officially recognized in 1938. According to a Soviet inventory from 1940, Ladiga owned about of land. The manor had a total of 12 buildings, including a smithy and windmill. The manor owned five horses, twenty cows, and seven pigs. At other times, the manor owned 30 cows and 60 pigs. In 1937–1940, with interruptions, he worked at the
Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas. He also contributed articles to
Mūsų laikraštis and
XX amžius.
Soviet prisoner When
Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940, Ladiga was arrested by the
NKVD on 12 August 1940. He was held in prisons in
Biržai and
Panevėžys. At the start of the
German invasion of the Soviet Union, Ladiga was evacuated to Russia. He was sentenced to death on 29 October 1941 and executed in the
NKVD Prison No. 2 in
Sol-Iletsk on 19 December 1941. His place of burial is unknown. ==Personal life==