Borivoje Mirković ( sr-Cyrl, Боривоје Мирковић; 23 September 1884 – 21 August 1969) was a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

Royal Yugoslav Air Force The Royal Yugoslav Air Force ( sh-Latn, Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, JKRV; sh-Cyrl, Југословенско краљевско ратно ваздухопловство, ЈКРВ; ( sl, Jugoslovansko kraljevo vojno letalstv ...

Early life

Borivoje Mirković was born to Jovan and Smiljana Mirković on 23 September 1884 in

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

. He entered the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. History Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...

in 1907. In 1930, he married a woman named Mira. She died in 1937.

World War II

Mirković led and organised the

Yugoslav coup d'état The Yugoslav coup d'état took place on 27 March 1941 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when the regency led by Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was overthrown and King Peter II fully assumed monarchical powers. The coup was planned and conducted ...

of 27 March 1941 that deposed the regency of Prince Paul, Dr.

Radenko Stanković Radenko Stanković (April 26, 1880 – December 5, 1956) was Regent of Yugoslavia for the underage Peter II from 1934 to 1941, alongside Prince Paul, the head of the regency, and Ivo Perović. The son of a priest, he was born in Néramogyor� ...

and Dr. Ivo Perović, as well as the government of Prime Minister

Dragiša Cvetković Dragiša Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Драгиша Цветковић; 15 January 1893 – 18 February 1969) was a Yugoslav politician active in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1939 to 1941. ...

. Mirković and his fellow plotters declared the 17-year-old Prince Peter to be of age and brought to power a government of national unity led by Air Force General

Dušan Simović Dušan Simović (; 28 October 1882 – 26 August 1962) was a Yugoslav Serb army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in 1940–1941. Biography Simović, born on 28 ...

. The coup was carried out at British instigation and involved British intelligence operatives. Mirković and the other plotters were all funded by the British. The coup resulted in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-led

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

on 6 April 1941 during which the armed forces of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

were defeated within 11 days. On 14 April 1941, Mirković handed command of the air force to Colonel Petar Vukčević, the commander of the 4th Bomber Brigade. On 16 April, he was fleeing the country by air when the aircraft he was travelling in was hit by Greek anti-aircraft fire near Preveza, and crashed. Mirković was seriously injured. He was based in Cairo for a period, where he was involved with a faction of the Yugoslav government-in-exile that was supported by British intelligence in Egypt. He died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 21 August 1969.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirkovic, Borivoje 1884 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Valjevo People from the Kingdom of Serbia Royal Yugoslav Air Force personnel Serbian soldiers