12.1916 K.u.K feldpost card 'Kreiskommando Kragujevac' to Zagreb, Croatia

 02.12.1916 K.u.K feldpost card from 'Kreiskommando Kragujevac' in occupied Serbia to Zagreb, Croatia. Kreiskommando was kuk military command of an occupied city.  Trilingual feldpost printed card in Croatian, Hungarian and German was used. Card was mailed via K.u.K Etappenpostamt Kragujevac. 

What's  unique with this feldpost card is that it was mailed by a WOMAN ! This is the first card I have seen written by an Croatian woman serving with K.u.k army. She states her name Ljubica Hercezi  and she is "K.u.k Lehrerin in Kragujevac Krieskommando", while official purple cancel reads Ökonomieamt, hence she is a teacher working in a economic office of the K.u.K. command

Text is in Croatian, she sends greetings to a lady friend in Zagreb, and writes she had appendicitis, and maybe she will return home for a recovery.

6.1943- SS feldpost, postal card to Cernik Slavonia (7.SS Prinz Eugen)

 14.06.1943 feldpost card mailed  from a Croatian soldier to home in Cernik near  Nova Gradiška in Slavonia, Croatia. Card is written in Croatian, text is usual greetings, ordinary Croatian postal card was used, clear arrival cancel Cernik is from 12.07.1943. Soldier hasn't written his feldpost address and units cancel is illegible hence it is impossible to find out from which unit it was mailed. The only clue is a red censor cancel , SS-Gepruft used by the SS. The sole SS unit active in Croatia in June 1943 was 7.SS division Prinz Eugen and this card was almost certainly mailed from it, other SS units like 13. Handzar and SS police were still in formation then.

10.1943 official Domobranstvo letter, Hr.Mitrovica to Zagreb

 16.10.1943 official military registered letter from DOMOBRANSKO POPUNIDBENO ZAPOVJEDNIČTVO U HRVATSKOJ MITROVICI (Domobran recruitment command in Hrvatska Mitrovica) to Ministarstvo Oružanih Snaga - ured vojnog duhovničtva ( Ministry of defence forces - office of military ordinariate) in Zagreb. Interestingly letter was sealed  at the back with red wax seal, such Croatian feldpost letters are quite rare. Three different arrival cancels Zagreb 2 and Zagreb 4 are present. Letter was franked with official stamps totaling 12,50 kuna, letter charge was 3,50 kn and registration 9 kn.

4.1915 - SMS K.u.K Maria Theresia to Bakar Croatia.

 24.04.1915 postcard mailed from SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia to Bakar in Croatian littoral. Only ships official cancel(Boardstempel) is present while text in Croatian is usual greetings. SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was armoured cruiser completed in 1895. In WW1 she was used as a harbor guard ship in Šibenik. In January 1917 ship was disarmed and used as a barracks ship for German U-boat crews in naval base Pula(Pola).

2.1944 - LXIX. Reservekorps to Vukovar, Croatia.

18.02.1944 cover mailed from Command of LXIX.(69) Reservekorps  Fp.57500 to Vukovar Croatia. The LXIX Reserve Corps was formed on 8 July 1943 and deployed in Croatia, it was part of the 2nd Panzer Army under Army Group F.  Corps units in June 1944 were 1st Cossack Cavalry Division and 373rd Croatian Infantry Division.  Cover has usual Feldpost, unit and censorship markings.

9.1942 parcel card to POSADNI SAT KNIN

 04.09.1942 parcel card for packet containing 5 books, mailed from ZAPOVJEDNIČTVO I. VOJNO-ZBORNOG PODRUČJA PETRINJA(Command of I.military-corps in PETRINJA) to POSADNI SAT KNIN (Garrison company KNIN). Official cancels from these units are on the front and on the back of the card. Postal cancels Petrinja 04.09.42 and arrival cancel Knin 17.09.42 are also present. Kninski POSADNI bataljun (Knin Garrison battalion) was formed in June 1941, it became 3. battalion of 15.Infantry Regiment in July 1941 and was stationed in Knin. Maybe 'Kninski posadni sat' was part of it, I couldn't find any data about this sat(company). 

6.1916 K.u.K 53.Inf. Regiment to Zagreb

 19.06.1915 KuK Feldpost card mailed from III. battalion 53.Infantry Regiment Dankl (an Croatian regiment) to Zagreb. Mailed via Fp.92 used by 15.Inf.Division, sender notes his Fp. number as Fp.44 - of 36.Inf.division. Hungarian Feldpost card was used , text is in Croatian. Present is units cancel 'KuK Div. park No.15, Haubitz Munitions kolone 2/1', from 15. Inf.Division. At that time  15.inf.div. and  part of 36.inf.div were part of Korps Czibulka of Amee Group Pflanzer-Baltin (7.ARMEE), hence  this Croatian soldier mailed card from nearest Feldpost office Fp.92 of 15.inf.div. Content is interesting soldier writes he was wounded in left hand index finger and is in a field hospital, as he is medical cadet he wonders weather he will return to the battle lines ( u rojnu prugu) or he might stay and serve with the field hospital.

6.1944 card from Polizei Freiwilligen Rgt. (Kroatien) to Samobor

 12.06.1944 Feldpost card from Fp.00691 - 'Regiments stab Polizei Freiwilligen Regiment (Kroatien)' (Rgt.3) to Ivan Sudnik in Samobor, Croatia. Nice unit, feldpost and green censor AS3 cancels. Text in German is inquiry about Fountain pen left for repair with watchmaker Ivan Sudnik and casual greetings.

Ivan (Ivica) Sudnik 1910-2002 was founder of local museum in Samobor, by profession he was watchmaker. He was at first a photographer later collector of old items and from his collection a Samobor museum was formed. He is still the only person named honorary Mayor of Samobor.

10.1943 - XVII ŽESTRA BOJNA

 12.10.1943 official letter from 2.Sat XVII. ŽESTRA BOJNA (2.company of 17.Railway protection battalion) stationed in Semizovac to Donja Stubica. Franked with a mix of Regular and Porto stamps canceled at Semizovac postal office, on the back is a round units cancel. HQ of XVII. ŽESTRA BOJNA was in Zenica, battalion had 5 rifle companies and was tasked with protection of railway from Brod N/S to Sarajevo. Semizovac is around 14km away from Sarajevo. Info about ŽESTRA units is very scarce, only data about XVII. ŽESTRA BOJNA is that in late 1944 it became part of 16. infantry brigade of  15.Croatian infantry division.

2.1917 Feldpost card from the Ottoman empire to Zagreb Croatia

 12.02.1917 feldpost card from Constantinople to an officer of K.u.K  23. Landwehrinfanterie regiment Zara, addressed to Zagreb Croatia, card was then rerouted to Fp.420. Card was mailed via German feldpost services in Ottoman empire. It was mailed by an Ottoman officer, text is a New Year greeting written in German. LIR-23 ZARA was then part of 5.Gebirgs Brigade and used Feldpost 420 of 58.Inf.division.

10.1943 Croat in Luftwaffe, Flugzeugführerschule A/B 123

 28.10.1943 postcard mailed from Croatian pilot in training from Flugzeugführerschule C 19 in Gleiwitz to his former instructor in Flugzeugführerschule A/B 123 (FFS A/B 123)  in Graz-Thalerhof airport.

Marked as feldpost, card was mailed via civilian post office Gleiwitz, text is in Croatian. Cadet writes that other Croats will arrive for further training in FFS C 19 but lessons haven't started because they are waiting for a translator to arrive.

FFS A/B 123 was first Luftwaffe pilot school formed in Croatia that trained German and Croatian pilots, Croat cadets formed a separate detachment and were trained by Croatian and German instructors. Receiver of this card Captain Pažameta was one of the Croatian instructors.

FFS A/B 123 was stationed on Borongaj airport, Zagreb from 10.05.1941 to 06.05.1943 when it  was transfered to Graz due to war conditions in Croatia. In this school many Croatian pilots were trained. 

FFS C 19 was located  13.9.41 - 26.6.44 in Ohlau with satellite airfields in  Woisselsdorf, Gleiwitz and Märzdorf. 

FFS A/B offered  basic pilot training

FFS C offered advanced pilot training  for multi-engine aircraft (bomber and reconnaissance airplanes)

Best book about Croatian airforce that also mentiones Captain Pažameta in FFS A/B 123 is

2.1944 - Croatian 'Flak' unit in Brod n/s to Osijek

 

17.02.1944 letter mailed from an pz. vodnik, 1. laka bitnica, 3.p.z skupina Brod n/s ( Antiaircraft(flak) Sergeant, 1.light battery of 3.anti-aircraft group(p.z skupina = flak abteilung) in Brod n/s, today Slavonski Brod).

  3.anti-aircraft group was formed in 1943 in Brod N/S. Each anti-aircraft group consisted of  three heavy and one light battery. 

In April 1944 heavy bombing of Brod n/s started, by the end of the war a greater part of the city was destroyed with 4000 tons of aircraft bombs.

Letter was correctly franked with 3,5kn stamp with 2 kuna war tax  paid. Arrival cancel Osijek is on the back side as well as red censor mark CENZURA Br.17 of Osijek censorship office. Letter content is present, text is usually greetings.

12.1916 - K.u.K 53.Inf.Rgt von Dankl to Zagreb

 22.12.1916 K.u.K feldpost card mailed to Zagreb by an officer, Major Edmund Von Mihalović (Feričanci, 1866. – Zagreb, 1950.), Mihalovićs were Slavonian nobility. Sender writes that he was transferred from 53.Inf.Regt von Dankl (mostly croatian) to 5.Inf.Rtg but still names Fp.44 as his address. Fp.44 was used by 36.Inf.Division, and 53.Inf.Rgt was part of it during the whole war. Feldpost cancel is unreadable probably Tabori Postahivatal 44. Text is written in German and interestingly a charity stamp for invalides, widows and orphans of 53.Inf Rgt Von Dankl was added.