Unlike her Estonian and Latvian neighbors, Lithuania never provided Germany with a National Legion during WWII, although from the very start of the German occupation quite a few volunteers came forward. It is estimated that as many as 50,000 eventually served in German sponsered units during 1941-45. In fact, many volunteers were initially deserters from the Soviet 29th light Infantry Corps - a unit which the Soviets formed enmasse from the entire Lithuanian ground forces after their occupation of the country in 1939. The other major source of volunteers and conscripts during the initial stage of German occupation were the numerous ad-hoc units formed as the Soviets were fleeing. For the most part, as in the other Baltic nations, these Lithuanian ad-hoc units were disbanded once the German occupation was complete. In some case though select units provided the basis for new self defense formations formed by the Germans for security operations. It is from these origins that the organizational history of Lithuanian units under Axis occupation began.