Franjo Džal (9 April 1906, in

Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

– September 1945, in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

) was a colonel in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

's air force. He finished elementary school and gymnasium in Bihać and graduated from the Military Academy of Serbia in 1924. Džal initially attended observer school at

Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-cyr, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across from t ...

in 1927, and then was accepted for pilot training at 1. VP in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

the following year. He became a fighter pilot, serving with 6. LP in

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

, (now in Serbia) in 1931. He completed his training as a fighter pilot in the

Yugoslav Royal Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...

. He served as a Major in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

during the

April War 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 ...

. He subsequently joined the

Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske; ZNDH), was the air force of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a puppet state established with the support of the Axis Powers on the territory ...

and was assigned to the

Croatian Air Force Legion The Croatian Air Force Legion ( hr, Hrvatska Zrakoplovna Legija), or HZL, was a unit of the Luftwaffe, composed entirely of volunteers drawn from the nazi puppet-state, the Independent State of Croatia. Many of them had previously served in the Ro ...

. Džal was a member of the 4th Legionnaire Fighter Wing of the Legion and was sent to the Eastern Front in September 1941. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, he became the first commanding officer of 15(Kroat)/

JG 52 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52) was a German World War II fighter ''Geschwader'' (wing) that exclusively used the Messerschmitt Bf 109 throughout the war. The unit originally formed near Munich in November 1938, then moved to a base near Stuttga ...

. From October 1941 to November 1942 he claimed 16 confirmed victories (and 3-5 unconfirmed) over the course of 157 missions. History of 15./JG 52
/ref> On 28 July he was shot down by

Alexander Pokryshkin Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

but bailed out and survived. The wing returned to the Independent State of Croatia on leave in December 1942 and returned to the Eastern Front in February 1943. In November 1943, Džal was made commanding officer of the Croatian Air Force Legion. He relocated to Croatia for the remainder of the war and held various posts in the country's Air Force command. With the defeat of the state in 1945 he took part in the

Independent State of Croatia evacuation to Austria The Bleiburg repatriations ( see terminology) occurred in May 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe, during which Yugoslavia had been occupied by the Axis powers, when tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians associated with the Axis ...

, but was repatriated to Yugoslavia by the Allies. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested by the

Communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

n government, sentenced to death, and executed in September 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzal, Franjo 1906 births 1945 deaths People from Bihać People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Royal Yugoslav Air Force personnel of World War II Croatian World War II pilots Croatian Home Guard personnel Croatian collaborators with Fascist Italy Shot-down aviators Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany Recipients of the Medal of Poglavnik Ante Pavelić for Bravery Executed Bosnia and Herzegovina people