Mato Dukovac

Captain
Mato Dukovac

Dukovac in front of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the Soviet Union
Born 13 September 1918
Surčin, Austria-Hungary
Died 6 June 1990 (aged 71)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Allegiance  Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1937–41)
 Independent State of Croatia (1941–44)
 Yugoslavia (1944–45)
 Syria (1946–48)
Service/branch Royal Yugoslav Air Force
Croatian Air Force
Yugoslav Air Force
Syrian Air Force
Years of service 1937–1945
1946–1948
Rank Captain
Battles/wars
Awards Iron Trefoil 3rd Class
Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir
Medal of Poglavnik Ante Pavelić for Bravery
Iron Cross 1st Class
German Cross

Mato Dukovac (23 September 1918 – September 1990) was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, with 44 confirmed kills. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 and flew combat missions on the Eastern Front from October 1942 to February 1944. He defected to the Soviet Union on 20 September 1944, and was returned to Yugoslavia in November 1944. He worked as a flight instructor for the Yugoslav Air Force in Pančevo and Zadar before defecting to Italy in August 1945.

He left Italy in 1946 and became a captain in the Syrian Air Force. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he flew combat missions against Israel in an American T-6 Texan. Following the war, he emigrated to Canada and started a family there. He died in Toronto in September 1990.

Early life

Mato Dukovac was born on 23 September 1918 in the Austro-Hungarian town of Surčin, near Zemun. He was an avid glider pilot during much of his early life. In 1937, he entered the 67th class of the Military Academy in Belgrade. He graduated from the Military Academy on 1 April 1940 with the rank of sub-lieutenant (Serbo-Croatian: potporučnik) and was selected for pilot training at 1. Pilotska škola in Zadar that October.[1]

World War II

During the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, Dukovac served with the 2nd Squadron of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (Serbo-Croatian: Vazduhoplovstvo Vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije, VVKJ) at an airfield in Velika Gorica. After the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was defeated and occupied by the Axis powers, Dukovac became a member of the armed forces of the newly created Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH). He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske, ZNDH) on 29 April 1941 and was given the rank of lieutenant.[1] In September, he went to Germany and trained to become a fighter pilot in the city of Fürth.[2] He was stationed with Air Base 120 in October and received additional fighter training the following April.[1] In June 1942, he was transferred to Junior Flight School 4 and was posted to the 4th Croatian Fighter Squadron (15 [Kroat]./JG 52) on the Eastern Front in October.[3]

On 11 November 1942, Dukovac and his element leader, Oberleutnant Bančetić, were intercepted by a group of Polikarpov I-16s as they were escorting German Junkers Ju 87 stukas to Lazarevskoye.[4] Flying over the city of Tuapse, Dukovac claimed his first confirmed aerial victory in the dogfight that ensued.[2]

In November 1942, the 4th Croatian Fighter Squadron was returned to the NDH for extended rest after nearly a year of non-stop flight operations. It returned to the Eastern Front in mid-February 1943, by which time the Axis powers were suffering heavy losses at the hands of the Red Army. On 15 April, Dukovac shot down a Soviet Bell P-39 Airacobra.[5] Five days later, Dukovac down a Soviet LaGG-3 while escorting a group of German Stukas and Junkers Ju 88 medium-bombers. On 6 May, Dukovac shot down another LaGG-3 as he and his wingman, Feldwebel Božidar Bartulović, escorted a German Fieseler Fi 156.[6] In total, Dukovac claimed 14 confirmed and 6 unconfirmed kills during the 4th Croatian Fighter Squadron's second tour of the Eastern Front.[7]

Dukovac returned to Croatia in mid-1943 and was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant (nadporučnik). He was subsequently named the commander of the 15th Croatian Fighter Squadron and was deployed back to the Eastern Front on 21 October 1943. He claimed his last kill on 25 February 1944, when he shot down a Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9. He was shot down by Soviet Bell P-39s later that day and was wounded. By this point, he had flown 255 aerial sorties and engaged in 62 dogfights. On 29 March 1944, Dukovac was awarded the German Cross in Gold while recovering from his injuries in a hospital in Vienna.[7] In late March, the 15th Croatian Fighter Squadron was returned to the NDH for extended rest. It was ordered back to the Eastern Front in late June, and Dukovac was assigned to an airfield in east Prussia.[2] He was promoted to the rank of captain on 13 July 1944, for "outstanding achievement on the Eastern Front". Dukovac remained in command of various air bases in eastern Europe until 20 September 1944,[7] when he defected to the Soviets after taking off from Labiau airfield.[2] In November, the Soviets handed Dukovac over to the Yugoslav Partisans, who offered him the position of flight instructor at the Yugoslav Air Force (Jugoslavensko ratno zrakoplovstvo, JRV) base in Pančevo.[2] Dukovac arrived in Belgrade in December 1944 and learned how to fly Yakovlev fighters.[7] He worked as a flight instructor in Pančevo until February 1945, when constant provocations and insults directed at him by fellow JRV personnel due to his service with the ZNDH prompted him to apply for a transfer to Zadar airfield.[2] In April, Dukovac became a flight instructor at 1. Pilotska škola in Zadar.[7] On 8 August, he commandeered a stolen de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane, flew it across the Adriatic and defected to Italy.[8] He was first placed in a refugee camp in Modena, and then one in Bagnoli del Trigno.[2]

1948 Arab–Israeli War

Dukovac began expressing increasingly anti-Jewish beliefs following his wartime experiences.[8] He joined the Syrian Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية العربية السورية‎) in 1946. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he was a captain in No. 1 Squadron of the Syrian Air Force, based in Estabal in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.[7] He flew combat missions in an American T-6 Texan equipped with ground-attack rockets and 110-pound (50 kg) bombs.[8]

Emigration, death and legacy

Dukovac emigrated to Canada following the end of the Arab–Israeli War.[7] He settled in Toronto and started a family there. He worked for IBM and was one of the co-founders of the largest Croatian émigré organization in Canada, the United Croats of Canada. He died in Toronto in September 1990.[2]

Dukovac was the top-scoring Croatian pilot of World War II, with 44 confirmed kills to his name.[7] During his life, there was much controversy surrounding the exact number of aircraft that he had downed. Croatian wartime documents discovered in the Military History Institute in Belgrade after his death show that the ZNDH attributed him with 44 confirmed kills.[1] During the war, Dukovac shot down 18 LaGG-3s, 12 Ilyushin Il-2s, 3 Bell P-39s, 2 Ilyushin DB-3s, 2 Yakovlev Yak-1s, and one I-16, MiG-3, Spitfire, La-5, Yak-9, Pe-2, and A-20 (plus one unconfirmed).[7]

Career summary

Date Rank Country
1 April 1940 Second Lieutenant  Yugoslavia
29 April 1941 Second Lieutenant  NDH
21 October 1943 First Lieutenant  NDH
13 July 1944 Captain  NDH
December 1944 Captain  Yugoslavia
January 1946 Captain  Syria

Notes

References