The 32nd Aviation Division (''

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

: 32. vazduhoplovna divizija/ 32. ваздухопловна дивизија'') was a

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n military air unit originally established in 1945 as the 4th Aviation Bomber Division (''

: 4. vazduhoplovna bombarderska divizija / 4. ваздухопловна бомбардерска дивизија'').

History

1st Fighter Regiment

The 1st Fighter Regiment ( sh-Latn, 1. lovački puk, 1. ловачки пук) was an aviation regiment established 18 May 1945 as part of the

Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...

. The regiment was stationed at

Zadar Airport Zadar Airport (; ) is an international airport serving Zadar, Croatia. It is located in Zemunik Donji, from the centre of Zadar. With over 70 destinations on offer the airport handled around 1.6 million passengers in 2024. It is the fourth bus ...

until it was disbanded after three months. The 1st Fighter Regiment was formed on 18 May 1945. It comprised aircraft and personnel from two former RAF squadrons, No. 352 and No. 351 that had been operated by Yugoslav personnel and equipped with British-made

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Mk IV and

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

Mk VC and IX

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

. The regiment, under the command of Đuro Ivanšević, was short-lived. It was disbanded by the end of August 1945, with its personnel sent to

Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...

to contribute to the formation of the 4th Aviation Bomber Division. Some of its equipment was transferred to

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

airport.

Aircraft

* Hawker Hurricane IV * Supermarine Spitfire VC * Supermarine Spitfire IX

4th Aviation Bomber Division

The 4th Aviation Bomber Division was established by order from August 3, 1945, with headquarters at Sombor. The division was direct under the Command of Yugoslav Air Force. It consisted from 41st and 42nd Bomber Aviation Regiment. In 1947, 43rd Bomber Aviation Regiment, the third regiment attached to this division, was established. By 1948, this division was renamed for conventional purposes to 32nd Aviation Bomber Division (''

: 32. vazduhoplovna bombarderska divizija/ 32. ваздухопловна бомбардерска дивизија''). The commanders of division in this period were Božo Lazarević and Sava Poljanec.

Commissars Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Ea ...

were Radoje Ljubičić, Drago Vuković and Ljubiša Čerguz.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942–1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 354.

32nd Aviation Division

The 32nd Aviation Bomber Division was formed by renaming of 4th Aviation Bomber Division. It has moved from

to Boronogaj and finally to Pleso in 1951 until it was disbanded. In 1950, the division was attached to the 3rd Aviation Corps. It has relocated its headquarters from Zagreb to Cerklje. By 1957, it was renamed as the Aviation Fighter Division due to the replace of bomber aircraft with domestic-made fighters. It was disbanded by the order on June 27, 1959, per the "Drvar" reorganization plan. It was transformed into the

5th Air Command The 5th Air Command (''Serbo-Croatian: 5. vazduhoplovna komanda/ 5. ваздухопловна команда'') was a joint unit of Yugoslav Air Force. History It was established by the order from June 27, 1959, year due to the "Drvar" reorganiz ...

. The commanders of division in this period were August Canjko, Radoslav Jović, Milan Tojagić and Stanislav Perhavec. Commissars were Ljubiša Čerguz, Ivan Dolničar and Novak Matijašević until 1953.

Assignments

*Command of

(1945–1953) *

3rd Aviation Corps The 3rd Mixed Aviation Corps (''Serbo-Croatian: 3. mešoviti avijacijski korpus / 3. мешовити авијацијски корпус'') was an aviation corps of the Yugoslav Air Force established in 1949 as 3rd Aviation Corps (''Serbo-Croatian ...

(1949–1959)

Previous designations

*4th Aviation Bomber Division (1945–1948) *32nd Aviation Bomber Division (1948–1957) *32nd Aviation Fighter Division (1957–1959)

Organization

1945-1948

*4th Aviation Bomber Division ** 41st Bomber Aviation Regiment **

42nd Bomber Aviation Regiment 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

** 43rd Bomber Aviation Regiment

1948-1959

* 32nd Aviation Bomber Division /Fighter Division ***

Training Squadron of 32nd Aviation Division Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. It ...

(1953–1959) ** 88th Bomber Aviation Regiment **

109th Bomber Aviation Regiment 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

184th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment The 184th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment ( sh-Latn, 184. izviđački avijacijski puk, 184. извиђачки авијацијски пук) was an aviation regiment established in 1948 as the Night Bomber Aviation Regiment ( sh-Latn, Vazduhopl ...

(1948–1953) **

40th Fighter Aviation Regiment The 40th Fighter Aviation Regiment (''Serbo-Croatian: 40. lovačk4i avijacijski puk / 40. ловачк4и авијацијски пук'') was established in 1955 as part of the SFR Yugoslav Air Force. The command of the regiment was stationed at ...

(1955–1959) **151st Air Base (1953–1959)

Headquarters

(1945–1948) *

Borongaj Borongaj is a neighborhood in the Peščenica – Žitnjak district of Zagreb, Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders ...

(1948–1951) *

Pleso Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport () or Zagreb Airport () () is an international airport serving Zagreb, Croatia. It is the busiest airport in Croatia, handling about 4.31 million passengers and some 13,025 tons of cargo in 2024. Named after ...

(1951–1959)

Commanding officers

*Major General Božo Lazarević *Colonel Sava Poljanec *Lieutenant-Colonel August Canjko 32nd Bomber Aviation Division
/ref> *Major General Radoslav Jović *Colonel Milan Tojagić *Colonel Stanislav Perhavec

Political commissars

*Colonel Radoje Ljubičić *Colonel Drago Vuković *Colonel Ljubiša Čerguz *Colonel Ivan Dolničar *Colonel Novak Matijašević

References

;Notes and citations ;Bibliography * {{Cite book , last= Dimitrijević, first=Bojan , title=Jugoslovensko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, year=2012, publisher=Institut za savremenu istoriju, isbn= 8674031633, location=Beograd Divisions of Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1959 Fighter regiments of the Yugoslav Air Force