Georg Dragičević (born ''Đuro Dragičević''; 7 November 1890 in

Kalesija Kalesija ( sr-cyrl, Калесија) is a town and municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, east of Tuzla. As of ...

– 28 July 1980 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was a Croatian soldier who was a member of the army of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, Royal Yugoslavia, and 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. It was established in p ...

. He attended the

Imperial and Royal Technical Military Academy The Imperial and Royal Technical Military Academy (German: ''k.u.k. Technische Militärakademie'') was a military training facility founded in 1717 for certain officer groups of the Habsburg monarchy. The location of the academy changed several ...

at Mödling near Vienna and graduated from there as a

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...

on 18 August 1911 with an assignment to Festungsartillerieregiment Kaiser Nr.1 (Fortress Artillery), then based in Vienna. At an early age, he joined the Imperial Army, and later served the empire in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. During the war, on mobilisation in August 1914, he was promoted to Oberleutnant and given command of a battery in the 106th Field Artillery Brigade equipped with obsolete 9-centimetre field guns. For his service in the war, he was rewarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa. After the war, the empire collapsed and Dragičević travelled to the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

in his homeland and joined the

Royal Yugoslav 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, ...

. Within the Yugoslavian army, he became second-in-command of the anti-aircraft unit. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Dragičević first served as the head of the Army Artillery service of the

Croatian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske – OSRH) is the military service of Croatia. The President is the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, and exercises administrative powers in times of war by giv ...

of the

. He was later assigned to the Croatian embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

where he was in charge of weapons procurement for the nation. He survived the Battle of Berlin, but was later captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

. Dragičević was held in prison camps for nine years, until 1954, when he moved to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He was awarded the

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

Third Class with War Decoration and Swords, the Military Merit Cross Third Class with War Decoration and Swords, both the Silver (with Swords) and Bronze Military Merit Medals (Signum Laudis) and the

Karl Troop Cross The Karl Troop Cross (german: Karl-Truppenkreuz) was instituted on 13 December 1916 by Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary. The cross was awarded for service up to the end of the First World War to soldiers and sailors of all arms of the Austro-Hunga ...

External links

Georg Dragičević
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragicevic, Georg 1890 births 1980 deaths People from Kalesija Croatian Austro-Hungarians 19th-century Croatian military personnel 20th-century Croatian military personnel Croat military personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Croatian prisoners and detainees Croatian military personnel in Austrian armies Austro-Hungarian Army officers Croatian Home Guard personnel Croatian people of World War I Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union

See also

External links