Marko Mesić (soldier)
| Marko Mesić | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
30 September 1901 Bjelovar, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 9 February 1982 (aged 80) Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Buried | Mirogoj Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
Royal Yugoslav Army Wehrmacht (Croatian Legion) Yugoslav People's Army |
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | –1945 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held | Croatian Legion |
| Wars | World War II |
| Awards |
Iron Cross Military Order of the Iron Trefoil |
| Relations | Franjo Mesić (father) Katarina Mesić (mother) Dragutin Mesić (brother) |
Marko Mesić (30 September 1901 – 9 February 1982) was a decorated gunnery officer who served in the armies of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, and the SFR Yugoslavia. He is best known for being the final commander of Croatian legionnaires in World War II, serving in the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Mesić was born in Bjelovar, Croatia (then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire), to Franjo and Katarina Mesić (née Blau). He received eight years of schooling in Pécs, Hungary; Karlovac, Croatia; and Maribor, Slovenia, before graduating as an artillery/gunnery officer at the Royal Yugoslav military academy in Belgrade.
He served as an active commissioned officer in Royal Yugoslav Army artillery units until 1941. At the start of the April War, Mesić was artillery Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Royal Yugoslav Army artillery regiment serving in Niš, near the Bulgarian border.
After Nazi Germany defeated the Royal Yugoslav Army during the brief April War in 1941, Mesić joined the army of the Independent State of Croatia (a Nazi puppet state), the Croatian Home Guard, in Varaždin. He was promptly assigned to the 369th (Croatian) Reinforced Infantry Regiment (the "Croatian Legion"), a unit of the 100th Light Infantry Division, where he held the rank of lieutenant colonel of the artillery section. The Croatian Legion was formally a German Army (Wehrmacht) formation and was under full German command because the Independent State of Croatia never officially declared war on the Soviet Union. The regiment wore Croatian Home Guard uniforms.
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