- Source: Croatian Armed Forces (Independent State of Croatia)
The Croatian Armed Forces were formed in 1944 with the uniting of the Croatian Home Guard and the Ustaše Militia in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). It was established by the fascist Ustaše regime of Ante Pavelić in the NDH an Axis puppet state in Yugoslavia during World War II.
The Croatian Armed Forces was reorganized in November 1944 to combine the units of the Ustaše and Domobrani into eighteen divisions, comprising 13 infantry, two mountain, two assault and one replacement Croatian divisions, each with its own organic artillery and other support units. There were also several armoured units, equipped in late 1944 with 20 Panzer IIIN and 15 Panzer IVF and H medium tanks. From early 1945, the Croatian divisions were allocated to various German corps and by March 1945 were holding the Southern Front. Securing the rear areas were some 32,000 men of the Croatian Gendarmerie, organised into 5 Police Volunteer Regiments plus 15 independent battalions, equipped with standard light infantry weapons, including mortars.
By the end of March 1945, it was obvious to the Army command that, although the front remained intact, they would eventually be defeated by sheer lack of ammunition. For this reason, the decision was made to retreat across the border into the Austrian part of Nazi Germany, in order to surrender to the British forces advancing north from Italy.
Croatian Home Guard
The Croatian Home Guard was formed in April 1941 a few days after the founding of the NDH itself. The task of the new Croatian armed forces was to defend the new state against both foreign and domestic enemies. By the end of 1941, the home guard forces consisted of 85,000 and the national police force of about 6,000.
During 1943, four Jäger Brigades were set up, each with four 500-man battalions in two regiments and an artillery group equipped for hilly terrain. The home guard reached its maximum size at the end of 1943, when it had 130,000 men. By 1944, the home guard had 90,000 men, though only 20,000 were front-line combat troops, organised in three mountain, four Jager and eight static garrison brigades, and the 1st Recruit Training Division.
Ustaše Militia
The Ustaše militia was created on 11 April 1941 when Marshal Slavko Kvaternik appointed a separate staff to control the various volunteer groups that had risen throughout the NDH as the Yugoslav Army collapsed in the face of the Axis invasion. On 18 March 1942, a law decree organised the armed forces into the Home Guard, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie, and the Ustaše militia. By September 1943, shortly after the Italian surrender, the Ustaše militia included 25 battalions, all of around 22,500 men with Pavelić's personal guard of about 6,000 men. In late 1944, the militia consisted of about 76,000 officers and men. In March 1945, the Ustaša Defence Brigades were incorporated into the Croatian Armed Forces.
Croatian Gendarmerie
The Croatian Gendarmerie was formed on 30 April 1941 as rural police under Major-General Milan Miesler. By September 1943, there were 18,000 men in seven regional regiments. These were divided into 23 companies (one per county plus one for Zagreb). The companies were subdivided into 142 district platoons, each with several posts. In early 1942, a three-battalion Combined Gendarmie Regiment, in July redesignated Petrinja Brigade, was established for anti-Partisan operations in Slavonia. Twelve of the independent Police Volunteer Battalions formed the Croatian Gendarmerie Division in 1945.
History
= Organization
=Marching order at end of 1944
1. Poglavnik Bodyguard Division
1. Croatian Assault Division
Commander: General Ante Moškov
Headquarters: Zagreb
2. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Mirko Gregurić
Headquarters: Zagreb
3. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Stjepan Mifek
Headquarters: Vinkovci
4. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Antun Nardelli
Headquarters: Dvor na Uni
5. Croatian Assault Division
Commander: General Rafael Boban
Headquarters: Bjelovar
6. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Vladimir Metikoš
Headquarters: Banja Luka
7. Croatian Mountain Division
Commander: General Stjepan Perčić
Headquarters: Nova Kapela, Batrina
8. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Roman Domanik
Headquarters: Sarajevo
9. Croatian Mountain Division
Commander: General Božidar Zorn
Headquarters: Mostar
10. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Ivan Tomašević
Headquarters: Bihać
11. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: Colonel Juraj Rukavina
Headquarters: Gospić
12. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: Colonel Slavko Cesarić
Headquarters: Brčko
13. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Tomislav Rolf
Headquarters: Karlovac
14. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: Colonel Jaroslav Šotola
Headquarters: Brod na Savi
15. Croatian Infantry Division
Commander: General Zorko Čudina
Headquarters: Doboj
16. Croatian Replacement Division
Commander: General Milivoj Durbešić
Headquarters: Zagreb
18. Croatian Infantry Division
Fate of Commanders
= Executed
=Ante Moškov
Mirko Gregurić
Stjepan Mifek
Antun Nardelli
Vladimir Metikoš
Roman Domanik
Božidar Zorn
Ivan Tomašević
Juraj Rukavina
Zorko Čudina
Mijo Škoro
= Unclear
=Rafael Boban
Jaroslav Šotola
Milivoj Durbešić
= Emigrated
=Stjepan Peričić
Slavko Cesarić
= Committed suicide
=Tomislav Rolf
Ranks and insignia
= Commissioned officer ranks
=The rank insignia of commissioned officers.
= Other ranks
=The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.
References
Bibliography
Dizdar, Zdravko; Grčić, Marko; Ravlić, Slaven; Stuparić, Darko (1997). Tko je tko u NDH: Hrvatska 1941.-1945 (in Croatian). Minerva. ISBN 953-6377-03-9.
Shaw, Les (1973). Trial by slander; a background to the Independent State of Croatia, and an account of the Anti-Croatian Campaign in Australia. Canberra: Harp Books. ISBN 0-909432-00-7.
Thomas, Nigel (1983). Partisan warfare 1941-45. Osprey. ISBN 0-85045-513-8.
Thomas, Nigel (1995). Axis forces in Yugoslavia, 1941-5. London: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-473-3.
Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Vol. 2. San Francisco: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3615-4.
Zaloga, Steve (2013). Tanks of Hitler's eastern allies 1941-45. Oxford. ISBN 978-1-78096-022-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Negara Islam Irak dan Syam
- Pavle Đurišić
- Perang Kroasia-Bosnia
- Croatian Armed Forces (Independent State of Croatia)
- Independent State of Croatia
- Armed Forces of Croatia
- General Staff of the Armed Forces (Croatia)
- The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia
- Croatian Defence Forces
- Croatian Home Guard (World War II)
- Croatian Armed Forces (disambiguation)
- Military ranks of the Independent State of Croatia
- Croatian Air Force
