Development of Yugoslav Partisans
Belgrade operation - Allied - Order of Battle
Belgrade operation
18th (Croatian) Eastern Bosnian brigade
Operation ZIETHEN
Sava Momcilovic (Momčilović)
( 1904 - 1974 )
Biography
Born on 29 September 1904 in Belgrade. Father Milivoje, wife Zora and had three sons Milovoj, Zoran and Momcilo.
Briefly Sava was a cadet in the Royal Yugoslav Airforce and received scholarships to study Aeronautical Engineering in France and Germany. He designed "Ikarus Orkan" in 1937 and received much praise for his design in Berlin airshow 1938. 2 prototypes were built, 1 was captured by the Germans and 1 was shot down bombing Vienna in 1941.
Sava held the rank of Major with the RYA until April war and occupation of Yugoslavia. He served under General Draza Mihailovic's chetnik forces in and around Kotor, Herzegovina. During this time he was in command of a chetnik group and in 1943 captured two battalions of Italians in Bosnia which were later freed minus their guns and boots. Tito's partisans recaptured these Italian battalions and used them to build roads. He was captured as prisoner of war 3 times but was able to escape every time.
At the end of WW2 he was arrested by Tito's forces and was one of 11 chetnik officers not executed. He was recommisioned in the Yugoslav Airforce and attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was sent to Hungary to meet with a Soviet delegation to gain MIG fighter planes. The story is that he got on very well with the Soviet Air Marshall and gained the planes without the Soviet pilots. Upon returning to Yugoslavia he was arrested for disobeying orders.
In 1946 he managed to gain a position with the diplomatic corp as Chief of War Repatriation Commission for the Yugoslav government in Germany, where he supervised factories being dismantled and shipped to Yugoslavia until 1949. He organized his immediate family - wife and 3 sons to be with him in Berlin during this time. In late 1949 he sought political asylum with the British high commission in west Berlin and in 1950 emigrated to Australia with his family onboard SS General M L Hershey.
In 1960 he retired from the Australian Patents Office and in 1965 registered a patent with the Australian Patents Office for a formula for solid Rocket Fuel. He was a recognized and respected consulting engineer until his death on 20 August 1974 in Canberra, Australia.
Rank
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
Decorations
Duties:
Died
On 20 August 1974 in Canberra, Australia.
References
- Mihailo Jovan Momcilovic (Misha), grandson of Sava Momcilovic
- ISTG Vol 5 - SS General M L Hersey
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