11. 1915 USA to Croatian Soldier in K.u.K army

 

 22.11.1915 registered letter from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA to a Croatian soldier serving with Brigade Gericht (Brigade Military court) Tuzla , Bosnia. Lovely cover was used with logo "Croatian greeting from America" written above Croatian national emblem sided by USA and Croatian flags.

Interestingly 15 cent USA stamp was cancelled by black dot. At the back of the cover are Harrisburg and New York transit cancels.

There isnt any arrival cancel but multiple K.u.K Sarajevo Censor (Uberpruft)  cancels  are seen on a tape used to seal the letter after censorship, also a cancel was placed on the front.

This type of K.u.K Sarajevo censor cancel was used from 9.1915 till 05.1916.

Mail from USA to Croatian soldiers is very rare and completely stopped when USA entered the war on 6th. April 1917.

5.1944 - Art.Regiment 668. 118. Jäger-Division - Slovenes in Wehrmacht

 

13.05.1944 Feldpost letter from Fp.35400 to Fp.42770B .

Fp.35400 - was used by Regimentsstab u. Stabsbatterie Artillerie-Regiment 668.

Fp.42770B was used by  1.Abteilung ,  1. Batterie Artillerie-Regiment 668.

Artillery Regiment 668 was part of 118. Jäger-Division, regiment was formed on 1st.April 1943 in Croatia , and was stationed in Croatia until the end of 1944.

This letter was mailed between same regiment and such mail is rare . Very interesting thing is that letter is written in Slovenian language, this was mail between two Slovenes in Wehrmacht.

1941 military mail to Oružništvo in Prijepolje, Sandžak

 01.07.1941 a letter mailed to Ltn.Rudolf Kokot of Oružništvo(Gendarmerie) stationed in Prijepolje , Sanđak-Bosnia as written on envelope. Mailed via  mobile(train) post office No.26 that was used on train line Varaždin-Zagreb. Rudolf Kokot was commander of Oružništvo in Prijepolje

prof.Ercegović Certificate

Sandžak was partialy controlled by NDH from April-September 1941. In  counties of Priboj, Prijepolje, Nova Varoš and Sjenica units of Oružništvo and Domobranstvo were stationed. Mail to and from this units is extremely rare as units were small in numbers, stationed there for only 4 months and postal services were poor or nonexistent. 

This event was  poory recorded by historians and only recently a book about it was published by Serbian historian Milutin Živković.  I have a 2020 Croatian edition of the book .  Although I dont agree with many  political views written by the Author in the book, i  still think this is a great history book that i can highly recommend to everyone interested in the subject.

3.1944 III.Obkoparska bojna to Kloštar

 

02.03.1944 letter to Kloštar from  1.Sat III.Obkoparska bojna (1.comapny. III. Pionire battalion.) Lovely units cancel is seen . Most probably letter wasnt sent by mail but delivered by a person. Writer says in text that he was moving with the army to Virovitica and is now returning to Osijek. Date 02.03 is mentioned in text , there is no year written on the card , but this rare type of military card wasnt used before june 1943 so the year can be 1944 or unlikely 1945 (as there was fighting around Virovitica)

 III.Obkoparska bojna was stationed first in Karlovac but during 1943 it was moved to Osijek.

9.1917 - K.u.K Inf.Rgt. 78 to Osijek

 

09.09.1917 letter with content from K.u.K IR.78 of 36.Inf.Division to Osijek, Croatia. Mailed via Fp.634 that served 36.ID sationed on Russian front at the time.

11.1941 - ORGANISATION TODT AGRAM(ZAGREB) TO REICH

 

 28.11.1941 official registered letter from Fp.46512 - Organisation Todt Oberbauleitung Agram(Zagreb) to Worms in Reich. Mailed via Feldpostamt 530 that used Kenn number 176 and served OAK 12 . Arrival cancel 30.11.1941 , just 2 days later, today it takes longer for a letter from Germany to arrive in Croatia.

5.1944 Zagreb to Kroatische Schnelle brigade in Dollersheim

 

24.05.1944 registered letter from Zagreb to "Kroatische schnelle brigade" located in Lager Dollersheim in Reich today in Austria. "Kroatische schnelle brigade" or in Croatian "Brzi Zdrug" or "Fast Brigade" in English  was formed on 01.04.1944 from 3 cavalry companies(konjanički sklop) and from 1st and 2nd bicycle battalion ( 1. i 2. koturaška bojna). On 21.12.1944  Brzi Zdrug was dismissed from Domobranstvo and become part of Ustaška vojnica. This Unit was to be equipped with motorised and armoured vehicles but this was only partially realised. 

I havent found any reference of Brzi Zdrug  training in Dollersheim with Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade but this letter proves it. 

Correct postage 23kn was paid , 4kn letter+ 9kn registration + 10kn special delivery (Žurno)

5.1918 - 70.Peterwardein Inf.Rgt to Ivankovo, Slavonia.

 

 5.1918 card from Peterwardein 70.Inf.Rgt  to Ivankovo in Slavonia, Syrmian county, Croatia . Text in Croatian. Mailed via Fp.632 used by 32.Inf.Div fighting on Italian front at the time.

11.1943. Fp.59735 - Gendarmerie-Hauptmannschaft Banja-Luka

 

 08.11.1943 Feldpost letter from Fp.59735 - Gendarmerie-Hauptmannschaft Banja-Luka to Mertingen bei Augsburg , Reich. Text in German . This is the second card i have ever seen mailed from Gendarmerie-Hauptmannschaft Banja-Luka, first and this second card were mailed by same sender. This card has Dienststelle cancel with Fp. number inserted sideway ,this is probably improvised canceller as i have never seen German Fp. cancel with such sideway number inserted. SS censor cancel As in green.

2.1942 - Erdut to 2.pioneer battalion in Brčko.

 

 26.02.1942 card from Erdut to 4.company of 2.pioneer battalion (2.pionirska bojna) in Brčko. In 1941 4.pioneer battalions were formed, sometime in early 1942 they were renamed from pioniri to obkopari , meaning stayed the same: combat engineer.

1916 K.u.K Feldpost Zagreb hospital to Rijeka(Fiume)

 3.1916  card mailed from Zagreb hospital Sisters of Charity( Bolnica Sestara Milosrdnica ) to Rijeka(Fiume). Marked as Feldpost and mailed from wounded soldier in hospital. All mail from wounded soldiers was free of charge when marked as Feldpost and canceled by Hospital stamp, here that is purple cancel in the middle of the card. Zagreb Censor cancel in red.  Text is in Italian although recipients name is Croatian , and sender can write Croatian language(look at his writing of hospitals adrress.)

During the Great War many improvised hospitals were formed in Croatia, i dont know how many regular and reserve army hospitals were formed, but i know that just a Red Cross organised 35 improvised hospitals. Amount of Feldpost mail from these hospitals was big and a lot of it is preserved untill this day.

5.1944 - Flak Regiment 6. to Berlin

 

 

 23.05.1944 official registered letter from Fp.L55438 to Deutsche Lufthansa AG in Berlin. Fp.55438 was used by Stab 1. Flak Regiment 6. stationed in Balkan, including Croatia. Mailed via Feldpostamt 530, Kenn number 176 , located in Zagreb, Croatia that served Hgr.F  

10.1943 official letter to MINORS - dušobrižnički odjel (army chaplains department)

 

10.1943 official letter from Roman-Catholic parish of Nova Gradiška to Ministry of Armed forces (Ministarstvo oružanih snaga-MINORS) Army chaplains department( dušobrižnički odjel). Correct postage 3,5 kn was paid , arrival cancel Zagreb at the back . Prof.Ercegović certificate pictured.

MINORS-Army chaplains department was formed in 1941 as the army was formed, it changed its name several times as army (domobranstvo) was reformed.