Milan Spasić (November 8, 1909 – April 17, 1941) was a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

of the

Royal Yugoslav Navy The Royal Navy ( sh-Latn, Kraljevska mornarica; sh-Cyrl, Краљевска морнарица; КМ), commonly known as the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom ...

. During the April War, Spasić, along with his fellow Lieutenant Sergej Mašera, scuttled the destroyer in the

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...

near

Tivat Tivat (Serbo-Croatian: Tivat/Тиват, ) is a town in Coastal region of Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro. ...

to prevent it from falling into the hands of the

Italian Royal Navy The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origins ...

. Both Spasić and Mašera died in the scuttling.

Biography

Before World War II

Milan Spasić was born in 1909 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

. He completed both elementary and high school education in his hometown, graduating in 1929 with many honors. He later enrolled in the Naval Military Academy (VII class) in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

alongside Sergej Mašera, who would later turn out to be a future comrade. After graduating from the academy in 1932, he continued in his academic studies.

April War and death

At the time of outbreak of the April War in 1941, Spasić was a lieutenant on the destroyer stationed in

Dobrota Dobrota ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Доброта) is a town in the municipality of Kotor, Montenegro. Although administratively a separate settlement, it is ''de facto'' a part of Kotor as it encompasses most of Kotor's residential area, whi ...

(

). He was the officer in charge of the ship's torpedoes and mines. ''Zagreb'' and the destroyers and were the most recent Royal Yugoslav Navy ships at that time. On the 6th of April, they were the target of an air attack by five ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' bombers. The bay was under attack by Italian aircraft once again on April 13, but the bombing did not damage ''Zagreb''. Later, on the 15th of April, the Yugoslav Royal Army asked for a truce. The crews of the ships stationed in the Bay of Kotor were instructed not to open fire on the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

forces and to surrender peacefully. They were also ordered to not destroy anything. Most of the sailors landed on the mainland. On the 17th of April,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

forces began to advance toward the Bay of Kotor. The remaining crew members of the destroyer ''Zagreb'' were ordered to abandon ship. Milan Spasić and Mašera decided that the ship should not be delivered to the Italians, and they refused the order of their commander,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Nikola Krizomalija, to abandon the ship. They blew up the ship, and died in the process. After the two explosions, ''Zagreb'' was badly damaged and sank to the shallow bottom. The following day, fishermen found the corpse of Milan Spasić in the sea. He was buried along with Sergej Mašera on 19 April 1941, in the naval cemetery at village Savini near

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Херцег Нови, ) is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of ...

. Many people came to their funeral, including members of the Italian army. Those in attendance were impressed by the heroism of Spasić and Mašera. They were buried with military honors.Spasić i Mašera – put ka besmrtnosti, na portalu Brodovi.net
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Legacy of Spasić and Mašera

Soon after their feat, their sacrifice was reported by the British newspapers. In 1942, the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

had already erected within their barracks in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

dedicated to Spasić and Mašera. British journalist David Divine, in his book "Navies in Exile" (London: John Murray, 1944.) stressed the actions of Spasić and Mašera. In the

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

at the end of the first postwar years, the subject of the two was rarely discussed. There was little discussion of Spasić and Mašera until the 1960s, following the democratization of the Yugoslavia (Economic reform 1964 /1965) The French produced a film ''Flammes sur l'Adriatique'' (Flames on Adriatic, also known as '' Adriatic Sea of Fire'') in 1968, dedicated to this event and directed by

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13July 192319May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director, he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion of th ...

and Stjepan Čikeš. Spasić and Mašera were posthumously awarded the Order of the People's Hero of Yugoslavia by decree of President

Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

on 10 September 1973, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

. A monument stands to honor Spasić and Mašera in Tivat. A youth hostel near the town of

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

bears the name "Spasić – Mašera”.Youth Hostel „Spasić – Mašera” on site kongresniturizam.com

References

Bibliography

* ''Narodni heroji Jugoslavije'', Mladost Beograd, 1975. godina * Tomislav Grgurević: ''Podvig Spasića i Mašere'', 1983. Centar za kulturu, informisanje i dokumentaciju,

External links

Biografija Mašere na portalu Narodni heroji Jugoslavije

Spasić i Mašera – put ka besmrtnosti, na portalu Brodovi.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spasic, Milan 1909 births 1941 deaths Yugoslav military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Military personnel from Belgrade Royal Yugoslav Navy personnel of World War II