The 37th Aviation Division ( sh-Latn, 37. vazduhoplovna divizija, 37. ваздухопловна дивизија) was a unit originally established in 1944 as the 42nd Aviation Assault Division ( sh-Latn, 42. vazduhoplovna jurišna divizija, links=no, 42. ваздухопловна јуришна дивизија). It was formed from

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

aviators, trained and equipped by the Soviet Air Force.

History

42nd Aviation Assault Division

The 42nd Aviation Assault Division was established during the December 1944, in Novi Sad, from

aviators with the assistance of the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

17th Air Army The 17th Air Army () was an Air army of the Red Air Force and Soviet Air Forces from 1942. Second World War It was formed in November 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Mixed Air Corps (incl 267 Assa ...

's 10th Guards Assault Aviation Division. It became independent of Soviet command and personnel in May 1945. The division was part of the Soviet Group of Aviation Divisions, and consisted of three fighter regiments. It took part in the final operations for the

liberation of Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attack ...

. During combat operations, its headquarters was at Novi Sad. The division had about 1100 personnel, 114 officers, 254 NCO's and 732 soldiers. Of that number, 253 were pilots and 653 were technicians. It was equipped with 125

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

assault aircraft. In August 1945, the division was reorganized and renamed as the 2nd Aviation Mixed Division ( sh-Latn, 2. vazduhoplovna mešovita divizija, links=no, 2. ваздухопловна мешовита дивизија). The commander of the division in this period was Jevrem Bjelica, and the political commissar was Enver Ćemalović.

2nd Aviation Division

The 2nd Aviation Mixed Division was formed on August 3, 1945, from the 42nd Aviation Assault Division with its headquarters in Zagreb. The division was directly under the Command of the Yugoslav Air Force. In 1947, the division was renamed the 2nd Aviation Assault Division ( sh-Latn, 2. vazduhoplovna jurišna divizija, links=no, 2. ваздухопловна јуришна дивизија). In 1948, the division was again renamed, becoming the 37th Assault Aviation Division ( sh-Latn, 37. vazduhoplovna jurišna divizija, links=no, 37. ваздухопловна јуришна дивизија). The commanders of the division in this period were Jevrem Bjelica and

Viktor Bubanj Viktor Bubanj (3 December 1918 – 15 October 1972) was a Croatian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), who served as the Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the h ...

. The political commissars were Enver Ćemalović and Stane Bobnar.

37th Aviation Division

The 37th Aviation Assault Division was formed by renaming the 2nd Aviation Assault Division in 1948. It underwent some minor organisational changes at this time. In 1949, the division was attached to the 3rd Aviation Corps. It relocated its headquarters from Zagreb to Cerklje. In 1954, it was renamed as the Aviation Fighter-Bomber Division due to the replacement of Soviet aircraft with US-made fighter-bombers. It was disbanded on June 27, 1959, under the "Drvar" reorganization plan. Its command was transformed into the headquarters of the

7th Air Command The 7th Air Command (''Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian: 7. vazduhoplovna komanda/ 7. ваздухопловна команда'') was a joint unit of Yugoslav Air Force. History It was established by the order from June 27, 1959, per the ...

and its units were attached to 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 the division in this period were Viktor Bubanj,

Vladimir Bakarić Vladimir Bakarić (; 8 March 1912 – 16 January 1983) was a Yugoslav and Croatian communist revolutionary and a politician. Political career Bakarić helped to organise the partisan resistance in the Independent State of Croatia during World ...

, Zlatko Predavec, Milan Simović and Svetozar Radojević. Its commissars were Enver Ćemalović and

Veljko Ražnatović Veljko Ražnatović (; 1920–1986) was a Montenegrin Colonel in the Yugoslav Air Force.Milikić, Miloš Mido. ''Za naše nebo — Monografija prve klase letača Vazduhoplovnog učilišta 1945-1947''. Belgrade 1995. He is perhaps most remembered ...

until 1953.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 354.

Assignments

*Group of aviation divisions (1944-1945) *Command of

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� ...

(1945-1949) *

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

*42nd Aviation Assault Division (1944-1945) *2nd Aviation Mixed Division (1945-1947) *2nd Aviation Assault Division (1947-1948) *37th Aviation Assault Division (1948-1954) *37th Aviation Fighter-Bomber Division (1954-1959)

Organization

1944-1945

*42nd Aviation Assault Division ** 421st Assault Aviation Regiment ** 422nd Assault Aviation Regiment ** 423rd Assault Aviation Regiment

1945

*42nd Aviation Assault Division **422nd Assault Aviation Regiment **423rd Assault Aviation Regiment **

112th Fighter Aviation Regiment Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'', ...

1945-1947

*2nd Aviation Mixed Division ** 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment **421st Assault Aviation Regiment **422nd Assault Aviation Regiment **423rd Assault Aviation Regiment

1947-1948

*2nd Aviation Assault Division **421st Assault Aviation Regiment **422nd Assault Aviation Regiment **423rd Assault Aviation Regiment

1948-1959

*37th Aviation Assault/Fighter-Bomber Division ***

Training Squadron of 37th 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) ***

715th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron The 715th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron (''Serbo-Croatian: {{lang, hr, 715. samostalna izviđačka eskadrila / 715. самостална извиђачка ескадрила'') was an aviation squadron of Yugoslav Air Force formed in Decembe ...

(1949-1952) ** 96th Assault Aviation Regiment **

111th Assault Aviation Regiment The 111th Helicopter Regiment (''Serbo-Croatian: 111. helikopterski puk / 82. хеликоптерски пук'') was a unit established in 1944 as the 422nd Assault Aviation Regiment (''Serbo-Croatian: 422. vazduhoplovni jurišni puk / 422. ва� ...

138th Assault Aviation Regiment 138th may refer to: *138th (Edmonton, Alberta) Battalion, CEF, a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War *138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade, infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in World War I ...

(1949–1958) **474th Air Base

Headquarters

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

(1944-1945) *

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

(1945-1951) * Cerklje (1951-1959)

Commanding officers

*Colonel Jevrem Bjelica *Colonel

*Colonel Vladimir Bakarić *Major Zlatko Predavec (defected with Po-2 aircraft to Austria in 1950.) *Colonel Milan Simović *Colonel Svetozar Radojević

Political commissars

*Lieutenant-Colonel Enver Ćemalović *Colonel Stane Bobnar *Colonel Enver Ćemalović *Colonel

References

Notes and citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Cite book, last= Pejčić, first=Predrag , title=42. VAZDUHOPOVNA DIVIZIJA, year=1991, url=https://znaci.org/00001/238.htm, publisher=Vojnoizdavački i novinski centar, location=Beograd Divisions of Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1944 Divisions of the Yugoslav Partisans Military units and formations disestablished in 1959