Zvonimir Vučković

Zvonimir Vučković was born in Bijeljina on 6 July 1916 in the ethnic Croatian family, of father Petar Prkić who hailed from Vareš and mother Anka from Makarska. After Zvonimir's father died in 1920, his mother married to Aleksandar Vučković from Vranje. In 1930 Zvonimir's stepfather was transferred to Zagreb. In 1931, Zvonimir was accepted into Military Academy in Belgrade, when he was 16. He completed his education in Zagreb, where his parents lived, he served in 30th Artillery Division "Prince Tomislav". In September 1939 Zvonimir's stepfather died when Germany signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty with Soviet Union. Right after funeral of his stepfather, based on his request Zvonimir was transferred to Belgrade to Cavalrly Artillery Division of the Royal Guard. He was a very good friend with Momčilo Smiljanić and Savo Konavlinka.[2]

As an act of protest when Yugoslav government signed tripartite pact with Nazi Germany on 25 March 1941, Vučković left the country together with two of his associates to join Greek Army struggling against Fascist Italy.[3][4] After Axis invaded Yugoslavia, Vučković returned to German occupied Serbia and went to Ravna Gora on 27 June 1941 and joined Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland guerilla forces known as Chetniks. Based on the order of Mihailović, Vučković established new detachment (Takovo Chetnik Detachment) in the region of Takovo County which was his zone of operation in September 1941.[5] The code name of Vučković was - Felix.[6] On 29 September 1941 Lieutenant Vučković and his Takovo Chetnik Detachment together with one unit of Partisans attacked and captured Gornji Milanovac.[7] In 1942 he was awarded with Order of the Star of Karađorđe.[8]

Vučković was commander of the 1st Ravna Gora Corps.[9] The official journal of the 1st Ravna Gora Corps was Ravnogorac (Serbian: Равногорац) published since October 1943.[10]

Vučković commanded 2,000 Chetniks that secured the Ba Congress held between 25 and 28 January 1944.[11]

Vučković was one of the main organizers of Operation Halyard conducted in period 2 August–27 December 1944.[12] After the last Allied pilots were evacuated Mihailović sent Vučković with the political-military Chetnik mission to Allied HQ in Bari.[13] The other members were Adam Pribićević, Vladimir Belajčić and Ivan Kovač.[14]

After war Vučković went to France and then to United States, where he worked as an engineer. From 1952 to 1956, he was a member of an editorial team of Democratic Тhought (Serbian: Демократска мисао) headed by Adam Pribićević. He published his texts in Voice of Canadian Serbs and Our Word of Desimir Tošić. Vučković died on 21 December 2004 in California, on the same day when the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the law which equalized rights of Partisans and Chetniks. Vučković was elected as member of an association known as Liberation (Serbian: Ослобођење). His book of war memories was published in 1977 and received an award Slobodan Jovanović by Association of Serbian Writers and Artists from London as the best book published in that year.[15]

After the war Vučković published his war memoirs which are generally accepted as reliable.[16]

Vučkovićs bibliography includes:

• Vučković, Zvonimir (1980). Sećanja iz rata. 1. Naše delo.
• Vučković, Zvonimir (1984). Od otpora - do građanskog rata: 2-a knjiga Sećanja iz rata. 2. Veritas Foundation Press.
• Vučković, Zvonimir (2004). A Balkan Tragedy--Yugoslavia, 1941-1946: Memoirs of a Guerilla Fighter. East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0-88033-537-9.
• Vučković, Zvonimir; Krstić, Uglješa (2001). Ravnogorska istorijska čitanka: povest nacionalnog pokreta otpora u II svetskom ratu kroz dela učesnika i svedoka : jubilarno izdanje povodom šezdesetgodišnjice, 1941-2001. Bajat.
• Timotijević, Miloš (2015). Zvonko Vučković : Ratna biografija (1941-1944) - rasprava o problemima prošlosti i sadašnjosti. Službeni glasnik. ISBN 978-86-519-1915-5.

• Timotijević, Miloš (2015). Zvonko Vučković : Ratna biografija (1941-1944) - rasprava o problemima prošlosti i sadašnjosti. Službeni glasnik. ISBN 978-86-519-1915-5.