Miroslav Navratil

Miroslav (Friedrich) Navratil (19 July 1893 in Sarajevo – June 1947 in Zagreb) was a Croatian soldier, pilot, and general who served in the armies of Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Independent State of Croatia.

Until the end of World War I

Navratil was born in Sarajevo, within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended gymnasium in Sarajevo, and finished cadet's school in Graz. In World War I he served in the military of Austria–Hungary, as a fighter pilot in the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops. While on the Eastern and Italian fronts, he scored a victory with Flik 41J on 14 April 1918, before assuming command of Flik 3J on 9 June 1918. Flying Albatros D.IIIs, he scored nine more victories. He attained the rank of Oberleutnant.^[1] His victory string ran until 31 August, when he downed a Bristol F.2 Fighter, but lost all four of his inexperienced wingmen in the process. Navratil blamed himself for their loss. He largely removed himself from combat operations. On 21 October, during a test flight of an Albatros D.III, his seat broke, and he was injured in the resultant crashlanding. He did not recover before the Armistice.^[2]

Between the World Wars

In 1918, Austria-Hungary dissolved and Navratil moved to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where he took on a position in the royal army. He rose to the rank of general, but was eventually retired from the army in 1940 because of conflict with Serb officers within its ranks.

World War II

With the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia on 10 April 1941 Navratil was brought back into active service. He was named as a military representative in Bucharest. He served as minister of the armed forces from 2 September 1943 to 29 January 1944. After he was relieved of his post because of his complaints about the brutality of the government, he travelled to Vienna where his family was located and remained there until the end of World War II. In 1945 he moved to Zell am See where he lived until he was found by American troops in 1946. He was sent back to communist Yugoslavia in 1947, where he was executed in June of that same year on the charge of war crimes^[3], for his participation in the facist, genocidal NDH.^{[citation needed][neutrality is disputed]}

Awards

• Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir with Swords - September, 1943

Notes

References

• O'Connor, Dr. Martin: Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914–1918. Flying Machines Press, Mountain View (Californien) 1986, ISBN 1-891268-06-6
• Tko je tko u NDH, "Miroslav Navratil". Minerva. Zagreb, 1997.
• Chant, Christopher. Austro-Hungarian aces of World War 1 Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-376-4, ISBN 978-1-84176-376-7.