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Men-at-Arms
World War II Croatian
Legionaries
Croatian Troops under Axis Command 1941–45
Vladimir Brnardic • Illustrated by Viseslav Aralica
VLADIMIR BRNARDIC was
born in Zagreb in 1973.
After graduating from
the University of Zagreb
with a History degree, he
trained as a journalist in the
Documentary Program of
Croatian Television. He has a
keen interest in the history of
Central and Eastern European
military organizations from
the 15th to 19th century,
especially those of the
Napoleonic period. He is
married and currently lives
and works in Zagreb, Croatia.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
LEGIONARY UNITS
• Croatian Legion or 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment
• Italian-Croatian Legion or Light Motorized Battalion –
2nd Croatian Legion
• Croatian Air Force Legion – 17th Air Force Company
• Croatian Naval Legion
• Croatian Anti-Aircraft Legions
• Voluntary Anti-Communist Militia
3
4
VISESLAV ARALICA was born
in 1972, and holds a PhD in
History from the University
of Zagreb. He participated as
a soldier in the Croatian War
of Independence (1993–95).
Currently he teaches modern
Croatian history in Zagreb
University's Faculty of
Humanities & Social Sciences.
He has illustrated four books
in the
Croatian Warriors
through the Centuries
series,
from medieval to World War
II subjects; some of these
150-plus illustrations were
exhibited at the Bologna
Illustration Exhibition (2001 &
2002), and at the IV Florence
Biennale (2003).
LEGIONARY DIVISIONS
• 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division
• 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division
• 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division
16
WAFFEN-SS DIVISIONS
• 13th Mountain Division 'Handschar' (Croatian No. 1)
• 23rd Mountain Division 'Kama' (Croatian No. 2)
36
GERMAN-CROATIAN POLICE UNITS
FURTHER READING
PLATE COMMENTARIES
INDEX
39
40
42
48
Men-at-Arms • 508
World War II Croatian
Legionaries
Croatian Troops under Axis Command
1941–45
Vladimir Brnardic
•
Illustrated by Višeslav Aralica
´
Series editor
Mar tin Windrow
This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Osprey Publishing
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK
1385 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Print ISBN: 978 1 4728 1767 9
PDF ebook ISBN: 978 1 4728 1768 6
ePub ebook ISBN: 978 1 4728 1 769 3
Editor: Martin Windrow
Index by Alison Worthington
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De d i c a ti o n
To my family: Teodora, Helena, Lea, Lara, Dorotea and Teodor
Ac k n o wl e dg e m e n ts
Many people helped me to prepare this book. I would like to thank Amir
Obhoᵭaš of the Croatian State Archive (Hrvatski državni arhiv – HR HDA), for
access to many of the photographs reproduced here; to Mario Raguž, Tomislav
Aralica, Dinko Neskusil (KAFOTKA.NET), and Darko Teodor Mažuranić. All
statements and opinions in this text are the author's own.
I should also like to thank my parents and parents-in-law, particularly my
mother-in-law Vera; but my greatest gratitude goes to my wife Teodora, for all
her love, support, help and understanding.
Arti st’s Not e
Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the colour
plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. All reproduction
copyright whatsoever is retained by the Publishers. All enquiries should be
addressed to:
viseslav.aralica@zg.ht.hr
The Publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence upon this
matter.
Abbreviations used in this text:
CAFL
CFL
CNL
I/, etc
ISC
LMB
PLAY
RIR
Croatian Air Force Legion  
Croatian Flak Legions  
Croatian Naval Legion  
1st, etc, Battalions of a numbered regiment  
Independent State of Croatia  
Light Motorized Battalion (Italian-Croatian Legion)  
Peoples’ Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (formerly, Partisans)  
Reinforced Infantry Regiment
WORLD WAR II CROATIAN
LEGIONARIES
An unidentified
Oberfeldwebel
(equivalent to a staff sergeant or
warrant officer 2nd Class) of
369th Infantry Division (Croatian),
photographed at his ease. Note
the national shield patch on the
upper right sleeve of his German
tunic, which is of the M1940
pattern with a
feldgrau
collar,
though with dark green shoulder
straps. On the left breast pocket
he displays the General Assault
Badge, Iron Cross 1st Class, and
a Wound Badge. German Army
national insignia are sewn on his
German M1941 tropical field cap
and above his right breast
pocket. (HR HDA NL02000)
INTRODUCTION
T
hroughout the Eastern phase of World War II, from June 1941 to
May 1945, Croatian 'legionaries' (that is, Croats willing to fight
outside their homeland under German or Italian command)
served in all branches of the Wehrmacht including the Waffen-SS, and
in the Police. This book is concerned only with these troops who served
under direct Axis command – not the Croatian Defence Force
(Hrvatsko
domobranstvo)
or the Ustasha militia
(Ustaška vojnica).
1
On 10 April 1941, just four days after Hitler invaded the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia, the breakaway Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia
(ISC) –
Nezavisna Država Hrvatska (NDH)
– was proclaimed. The new
state's population was majority Croatian and Roman Catholic, but with
large Serbian (Eastern Orthodox), Muslim, ethnic German and other
minorities within its territory. Its new government, led by Ante Pavelić,
was strongly Catholic, nationalistic, anti-Serbian,
anti-semitic and anti-Communist. Three months
later the first Croatian legionary troops were
enlisted for service with the Axis powers. The
numbers of such troops raised in Croatia would
increase during the war, finally totalling some
200,000; many were motivated to volunteer for
ideological reasons or by propaganda, others
were attracted by better conditions of service
and unit
esprit de corps,
but still more were simply
conscripted, or transferred from other units.
The units and formations known to have been
composed of Croat volunteers under German
command were the original Croatian Legion or
369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment, and its
successor 369th
Vražja
('Devil’s') Division; 373rd
Tigar
('Tiger') Div; 392nd
Plava
('Blue') Div; the
Croatian Air Force Legion (CAFL), including
AA Flak units; and the Croatian Naval Legion
(CNL). In the Waffen-SS, Croatians served in the
13. Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS
'Handschar’
and the largely abortive 23. Waffen-Gebirgs Div
der SS ‘Kama’. The German-Croatian Police
included Police Volunteer Regiments (Croatian)
1–5; the Police Anti-Tank Company ‘Croatia’
1 For general information on the Croatian armed forces, including insignia charts, see Men-at-Arms 282
Axis
Forces in Yugoslavia 1941–45.
3

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