VUKOVIć, Aleksandar

Stats:

rank: Potpukovnik
status: unknown
airforce: RYAF
born: Yugoslavia

added by: Justin

352 Squadron

1910. Mostar – 1944. Drniš)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

ALEKSANDAR ACO (RISTE) VUKOVIĆ, born on October 19, 1910 in Mostar, where he graduated from pilot school. Pilot second lieutenant. As a pilot of the 7th bomber regiment of the BJV air force, he was transferred in the April war, according to some sources to Greece, and according to others to the USSR, and from there to the allied aviation in the Middle East, where he received additional training. Remembered as a pilot who couldn't wait to return to the front. When the Air Force was formed, NOVJ joined the First Squadron. Member of KPJ. He died on August 31, 1944, on his third combat mission, as the leader of an air fighter group (six Spitfires), in an operation to scout and bomb communications in Northern Dalmatia. Shot down by anti-aircraft artillery during an attack on an enemy train, which was standing at Suhi Dolac station near Drniš. This made him the first war casualty of the First Squadron.

On February 12, 1945, at the suggestion of Josip Broz Tito, AVNOJ awarded 43 pilots of the 1st and 2nd NOVJ squadrons with high war decorations, namely Second Lieutenant Aleksandar Vuković with the order of the partisan star of the second class. Also, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the creation and development of RV and PVO, he was posthumously awarded a Flight Instructor Diploma with a golden flying badge. A memorial was erected to him in the form of a stylized propeller on a concrete base at the place of his death in the village of Dolac near Drniš in 1970. In 1990, a design was made for a new monument. The Protocol of the unveiling of the monument to Aca Vuković is preserved in the Air Force Museum, which may mean that it was completed before the war.

According to one source, Aca lived in Carina with his wife Olga, daughter of Sava Bajraktarević, in the house of Salih Koluder, father of Avdaga (1878-1968) who married Emina Sefić (1882-1960), better known as Beautiful Emina. Olga and Aca had one daughter. The first neighbors, among others, were the families of Jusuf Trbonja (father of national hero Meha, and fallen fighters Omer and Bećir Trbonja), Kruškonja, Agić, Zvonić, Milas and others. Aca's remains were transferred to the Partisan Memorial Cemetery in Mostar in the mid-sixties.


EXCERPT FROM THE LITERATURE:

"Although the training was conducted very intensively and with obvious success, many of our pilots were not satisfied. They wanted to go to the front as soon as possible. Here is a conversation that at least somewhat illustrates that mood. Second lieutenant Vuković addresses our instructor, lieutenant colonel Proktor: - Sir, this training of ours is progressing slowly. It seems to me that the war will end and we will not reach the front (it was in the midst of the allied landings in Normandy) - Why are you worried, Proctor answered him, the main thing is that you get solid training. - Yes, that is your opinion. I wouldn't agree with that. For me and my comrades, the main thing is to get to the front as soon as possible, to join the fight for once."

"The pilots of the 1st squadron carried out the first war mission against objects at sea on August 25, 1944 (operation No. 14 from Kane; pilots - lieutenant Leopold Ankon, as leader and companions in a formation of six: ensigns Radovan Radulović and Aleksandar Vuković, junior sergeant Husein Okanović, captain Branko Kraus and second lieutenant Rudi Luiđi). The report of the 1st squadron reads: "Six Spitfires bombarding ships in Ražanca, or traffic on the road Ražanca - Zadar." 1145 – 1350. 1250 over the goal. There were no boats in Ražanka and no traffic on the way to Zadar. In the entire sector, they observed and bombarded only two small boats near Sv. Trojice (6 km north of the old town). All bombs missed. It was difficult to aim because of the bad weather. Light anti-aircraft fire in Vrsa (12 km north of Zadar). Over Dugi Otok, the pilots listened to a voice on frequency "B" speaking in our language: "Enemy planes are approaching!"

"On the last day of August, in a cloudy morning, the group went on a new task. As always, in the mood for a fight, Aca led the six with the conviction that "they will do a good job". And indeed, he did the task properly, but he got burned out on it. Upon returning to the airport, the leader of the second pair announced: We came across a freight train near Drniš and immediately attacked it. Seeing that there was no anti-aircraft fire or that we did not observe it, we went on a second attack. Suddenly the leader of the group plummeted towards the ground. In a few moments we saw a large cloud of dust and smoke rising from the side of the railway! That's how good friend Aca disappeared, and he wanted so much to get to the front as soon as possible. He is the First Squadron's first war casualty!” ("Wings of the Army", number 812 of February 24, 1977)

"And so the squadron goes through its baptism of fire quite successfully. But at the end of August, Aleksandar Vuković fell near Drniš in an attack on railway traffic. Very popular among friends. During the training, he was a fierce advocate of going into battle as soon as possible, and lo and behold, he failed on his third task. Marshal Tito warned that care should be taken to keep losses as low as possible. He was interested in how the pilot Aleksandar Vuković died. He emphasized again that it is necessary immediately after liberation to become independent in the aviation industry, but to go gradually and it is certain that in the beginning we will have to acquire more complicated fighter planes from abroad, but that we must also use this to train our experts."