Kroatische Ausbildung brigade - Fp.41700G (Kroatische Ersatz Regiment 369.)

 

 

 04.12.1942 card to Zagreb from Fp.41700G , Kroatische Ersatz Regiment 369. 

Three things are very interesting abut this card:

 It uses feldpost cancel(Briefstempel) with text 1.battalion Kroat.Ersatz Regiment 369.  although Fp cancels with number Fp.41700 were already in use at that time.

Text in Croatian is very interesting, soldier describes in detail to his family how to mail him a special Christmas parcel . A special card and parcels were issued in 1942 and 1943 to be mailed to soldiers for christmas , they are extremely rare.

Arrival cancel 08.12.1942 Zagreb ,this means that card passed through Feldpost cancel without being censored, which is very rare, also  it gives us time it took for mail to arrive from Stockerau, around 4 days.

 

Fight against Bolshevism card - Fp.56756 Kroat.Ausbild.Brig.

21.08.1944 card to Osijek, NDH  from Fp.56756 B,   Artillerie Ausbildungs Abteilung,  Kroat. Ausb-Brigade. Censor marks at the back. This card was issued in Stockerau to Croatian soldiers  stationed there .  The card is extremely rare, postally used cards are rarer then blank cards.

Card was made from a single piece of paper to be written inside  and then folded for mailing,  on the outside one side  was printed for filling mailing details,  on the other side was anti Bolshevik emblem.

Emblem has a message:

 " EUROPA POZNAJE BOLJŠEVIZAM I BORI SE PROTIV NJEGA DO KONAČNE POBJEDE"

" EUROPE KNOWS BOLSHEVISM AND FIGHTS AGAINST IT UNTIL THE FINAL VICTORY"

Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade - Fp.41700 B

 

04.03.1942 letter from Fp.41700B -  1.company Kroat.Infanterie Ersatz Battalion 369. in Stockerau to a Croatian soldier(officer) who was training with Academy of infantry, Modena Italy (Accademia di fanteria).  Some Croatian soldier were trained in Italy but their number is much smaller then those trained in the Reich. At the time of Italian surrender there were 30 Croats in Academia di fenteria in Modena, while at the same time there were hundreds of soldiers in Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade in Stockerau (one source states that up to 100 000 Croats were trained in Stockerau during the whole war). 

Mail from Croatia to Italian military schools  is very rare due to a small number of Croats in those schools, but mail from Kroat.Ausbil.Brig. to those soldiers is exceptionally rare. 

II. Croatian Legion

  

03.08.1943 card mailed to a member of  II.Croatian Legion that was being trained in Italy at the time. Censor mark of Italian censorship office for mail from abroad . Croatian civilian postal card but without any Croatian postal cancels.

 

 

 

 

Hrvatska krila - Croatian wings.

 

 

24.04.1942 an interesting letter from the management of magazine Hrvatska krila (Croatian wings) . Magazine was issued fortnightly by Command of Air force of NDH . Beautiful blue cancel Hrvatska krila, Zapovjedništvo Zračnih snaga(Command of Air force) Magazine covered many topics about air force , current battlefield situation, and had regular reports from Croatian Air force Legion fighting on eastern front. Mailed via civilian postal service.

7.SS divison Prinz Eugen(Fp.16538) -letter

 

  Letter from Fp.16538  1.Kompanie SS-Panzerjager-Abteilung 7.SS divison Prinz Eugen to Zagreb NDH. Posted via Croatian civilian postal office in Ljubuški. Date is unclear but parts of Prinz Eugen were stationed in Ljubuški in August 1943. (see "Vorwärts Prinz Eugen!" by Otto Kumm).

Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade card - Fp.56478

 

 2.09.1943 card  to  Fp.56478E :  4.company  1st. Bataillon Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade mailed from Osijek NDH . Rare Croatian censor square cancel ,  CENZURA  BR. 1? ( it can be 16,18 or 19). Those cancels were used by NDH  Osijek censorship office  which commonly used red ink for their cancels, other NDH offices usually used purple or blue ink. Card was also censored by Reich - OKW censorship service.  Cards mailed to  Kroatische Ausb.Brigade  were very rarely double censored , and usually were censored only by OKW censor service.

Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade card - Fp.56756

 

29.11.1943 card from Fp.56756B  Artillerie Ausbildungs Abteilung Kroat.Ausb.Brigade. Letter was posted from Stockerau(civilian post  cancel) to Kroatische Reiseburo,Wien . No censor marks .  All mail posted from Kroat. Ausb.Brigade to  places other then Croatia is very rare, especially when it is written in Croatian language like this one.

Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade - card Fp.57364

 

12.1943 letter from Fp.57346F Stab III u. Einheit (Ausbildungs-Bataillon ) Kroat. Ausb-Brigade, mailed to Rigelsdorf Unterstiermerk , part of the Grossdeutsches Reich, text in Croatian.

Feldpost from Kroat.Ausbil.Brig. in Croatian langauge to countries other then Croatia is very rare, including mail to Reich. No censor marks , which is uncommon in mail from the Brigade.

Kroatische ausbildungs brigade letter - Fp.56925

12.IV.1944. mail to Fp.56925  16.company, IV. Battalion, Kroatische ausbildungs brigade. Letter was sent from Wagna bei Leibnitz in Austria. Text is in Croatian, letter was mailed by Croation worker to Croatian soldier in Kroat.Ausb.brig. Such mail is rare , letters to and from Croatia to Brigade are common but letters mailed from other places  are rare, especially written in Croatian. All mail from Croatia was censored and has censor marks ,unlike this letter which wasnt censored.

Ustasha army - Railway security militia

 In october 1941 Željeznička Ustaška Vojnica was formed to perform railway security duties. Until the end of February 1942 it had only one battalion based in Zagreb , after that a second one was formed in Sarajevo. Željeznička ustaška vojnica was later expanded but it was never a large force.  In July.1942 it had 1425 members.

Extremly Rare letter from Zagreb to a member of Željeznička Ustaška Vojnica  , 1st.company 3rd. platoon based in Maglaj, Bosnia, arrival cancel on the reverse. Mailed  on 27.01.1942 , at that time Željeznička vojnica had only one battalion.

Feldpost pics - Croatian Legion - Verstärkten (Kroatisches) Infanterie Regimente 369.

 25.04.1942 letter from Fp. 43170E : 12.company of verstärktes Kroatisches Infanterie-Regiment 369.(Croatian legion) ,to  Zagreb. Interesting text : legionare describes earlier winter attack on 4 Russian bunkers and capture of 40 Russians. He writes " ..it was nasty with bombs and bullets falling around us..."

 24.02.1942 letter from Fp. 43170E : 12.company of verstärktes Kroatisches Infanterie-Regiment 369(Croatian legion) . Same author as letter above. Writing error : he puts his Feldpost number as 17043E instead od 43170E. Card was mailed to Zagreb with interesting text about horrible Russian winter ,with temperatures dropping to -39°C . The author writes he had only one frostbitten finger while many Russians froze(to death).

18.01.1942 card from Fp.42050C- 6.Kompanie verstärktes Kroatisches Infanterie-Regiment 369 to Zagreb(Agram) Croatia

Card has no Feldpost cancel  nor any censor marks and possibly  was carried in person by someone to Croatia , other possibility is that it passed Feldpost system without these cancels which was extremely rare in early years of war.

Content  in quite boring..simple love troubles... who is writing letters to whom and why...

Kroatische Flak Legion - gemischte Flak-Abteilung 172 - pic.

 Beautiful card mailed from Russia (Crno more - Black sea) in 10.1943 to Zagreb NDH. Mailed from Fp.52892   5.-Batterie gemischte Flak-Abteilung 172 a known Croatian Flak unit. It proves that Croatian Flak Legion  was active on the Russian front in 1943 . Unit was probably reformed in 1944 and not newly formed  as i wrote earlier. Written to a former commander of the unit  Lt.colonel Nikola Ježić , text states basic conditions in a unit (we are all well...) without stating anything a censor would delete. 

I bought this card in 3.2020 but it was lost in mail during worlds  first corona lockdown. luckily i still have this pics..  i refused a refund from a seller and bought rights to publish this pictures

I allways find it interesting to research about people who were senders and recipients of mail. Mostly there is nothing to be found... but sometimes i get lucky. 

Lt.colonel Nikola Ježić was commander of 1st air command in Zagreb. I found his picture in magazine 'Hrvatska Krila' and his article in same magazine about air defence alert service . 

Lt.colonel N.Ježić in the top left picture, inspecting Croatian Flak positions. Hrvatska krila No.13 , 15.7.1942.

01.05.1942 Hrvatska krila No.8 , article about air defence alert service by Lt.colonel N.Ježić