Vojnoistorijski Institut, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

[Richard T Eger]

From Larry deZeng
May 30, 2024 8:39 AM

The Croatian documents in Zagreb are fragmented at best. They
contain little or no information on purely Luftwaffe organization, units,
identity of commanders, pilots, etc., classified plans, operations and
results that were exclusively Luftwaffe, etc.

They do report on the results of Allied bombing and strafing in
Croatia, the occasional joint Croatian-Luftwaffe air activity against the
Partisans (which rarely identifies the Luftwaffe units involved) and what
limited other information (nearly all unclassified or of little interest) the
Luftwaffe passed along. All of this has been published, Richard. The
Luftwaffe gave very little information to the Croatian Air Force - which
was tiny, equipped with obsolete aircraft that were mostly of WWI origin or
1920s vintage, and stayed on the ground most of the time - because it was
rife with Partisan sympathizers. In other words, the Luftwaffe did
not trust the Croatian Air Force in Croatia so did not share meaningful
information with it. Do not confuse the Croatian Air Force in Croatia,
which is what the above comments concern, with the Legija Hrvatska
zrakoplovstva (Croatian Air Force Legion) that was attached to Luftwaffe
units and fought in Russia side-by-side with the Luftwaffe. They are two
different animals. It is the latter that Marko is writing a book about.

[This message has been edited by Richard T Eger (edited 08 June 2024).]