9.1943 registered cover mailed from Zagreb to a member of 1.bitnica topničkog sklopa (1.section of artillery battery) in Varaždin. He is titled Domobran-djak, meaning Soldier-student. What isnt written is that battery was part of Središnja domobranska škola(Central army school) that trained reserve officers. In the middle of 1943 school had 2 infantry batallions and 1 artillery battery( topnički sklop), with a total of 720 men with 6 guns.
I made my first post on this blog on 17.08.2019 , now 3 years later this blog reached 10.000 visitors ... in my opinion its a solid result for such an specific blog. I will publish a note when we reach 20.000 visits..
Last weeks i didnt publish new posts but i hope to resume usual scheme of 1 post a week from September.
In July 2022 new ACTA PHILATELICA NOVA 2021 was published , my article about K.u.K Feldpost mailed from Middle east by Croatian soldiers was published in the magazine.
Magazine can be ordered from http://www.markanova.hr/ all articles are written in Croatian and English language
Pics of Croatian K.u.K Feldpost from the Middle east :
Lako Prevozni Zdrug Hrvatske Legije(LPZHL) - Light Transport Brigade was Croatian legionnaire unit fighting in Russia as part of Italian army.
I acquired 2 cards sent from LPZHL , both mailed by same person, lieutenant Stjepan Strnečki . He signed both cards as tenetne(lieutenant) S.S. and he is the only lieutenent in Brigade with those initials. Card from Riva del Garda is aditionally signed Pišta which is common nickname for people called Stjepan .
Card pictured above was mailed from Riva del Garde where Brigade was in training. Date in text 06.02.1942 , Zagreb cancel 13.02.1942
Card reads " Im in Italy in Croatian Legion, i m here already for a month. We will stay here for at least a month or maybe more. Latter we will go to Russia. Such is a soldiers destiny .."
LPZHL mail from Riva del Garda was transported by couriers to Zagreb Croatia and then mailed by local postal services. Only a few such cards exist.
Feldpost card mailed 01.06.1942 from LPZHL fighting in Russia .
In Acta Nova Philatelica 2015 , mr.Pervan wrote that there are only 4 known cards mailed from LPZHL, there is also one pictured in book Kroatien by Wieneke-Kruse (5th card).
This is then 6th known card in philatelic circles!
A couple of such cards are kept in Croatian state Archive but are off limit to collectors.
Card was mailed via Posta militare PM40 used by Divisio celere Amedeo Duca d'Aosta ,whose part was Brigade at that time .Sender notes his post address PM88 used by Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia- CSIR (Corpo di Spedizione Russia)
Rare cancel in red LEGIONE CROATA AUTOTRANSPORTABILE - which was official Italian name for LPZHL
Ltn.Strnečki returned to Croatia sometime before Russian operation Little Saturn that destroyed completely LPZHL on 20.12.1942 (along with most of Italian Army in Russia). He was later member of II.Croatian Legion that was training in Riva del Garda when Italy capitulated in 9.1943 , his latter fate is unknown to me.
Strnečki received 2 medals for his actions on the eastern front , one medal was awarded to him on 20.09.1942 on the front line therefore he returned to Croatia after 20.09.1942 but before 16.12.1942 when Little Saturn operation started.
During and after fighting in Operation Little Saturn (battle on Don river) only 4 soldiers of LPZHL made it back home to Croatia out of 1100 strong Brigade.
4 soldiers were:
Ltn. Vincenzo Smolčić - a Croat serving in Italian Army that served as a liason officer attached to Brigade, made it to friendly lines during chaotic fighting on Don
Domobran Vinko Tutavac - escaped with Ltn Smolčić
Sargent Marko Begić - captured by Russians, escaped to friendly lines and reached Chertkovo ( this town was surrounded by Soviets and become known as small Stalingrad , but later Germans and Italians stationed there broke through this siege and reached friendly lines on 15.01.1943, Begić escaped with them)
Domobran Jožef Vilk -captured by Soviets , escaped on 03.02.1943 to friendly lines.
Excellent books on the topic that i highly recommend:
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| Amir Obhođaš LPZHL, book in Croatian about the Brigade, the best book on the topic. |
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| Eugenio Corti : A Few Returned , memoirs of a young artillery officer in Pasubio division, describes horrors on Don front and break from the siege of Chertkovo, book in English |
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| Hope Hamilton :Sacrifice on the Steppe : excellent book about Alpini Corps fighting on the Don front , describes realistically the conditions on the Don front. Alpini Corps was also on the Don river front some 70km Northwest from LPZHL. |
26.01.1917 feldpost card from IV. Battalion 53.IR of K.u.K common army to Bjelovar via Fp85. Regiment recruited around Zagreb area. Fp.85 was used by 7.Gebirgs brigade, IV. battalion was displaced from Regiment and fought on Italian front.
In 1941 in Sarajevo was formed 5.anti-aircraft group , while 3.anti-aircraft group was formed later, in 1943 in Brod N/S. Writer probably made a mistake by writing 3.anti-aircraft group. Each anti-aircraft group consisted of three heavy and one light battery.
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.
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.
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| 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.
III.Obkoparska bojna was stationed first in Karlovac but during 1943 it was moved to Osijek.
