Prelude to Dying

After months of anti-partisan operation east of Zagreb, the 1st Light Infantry Parachute Battalion had finally returned to its home barracks in the Zagreb neighborhood of Maksimir. The writing had been on the wall for a while, but word had finally come down that Croatian armed forces should head for …

1945-05-08

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J112

After months of anti-partisan operation east of Zagreb, the 1st Light Infantry Parachute Battalion had finally returned to its home barracks in the Zagreb neighborhood of Maksimir. The writing had been on the wall for a while, but word had finally come down that Croatian armed forces should head for Austria to surrender to the Western Allies. On May 6th the battalion left Zagreb as the rearguard of a large, mixed-Axis retreating force headed for Dravograd and Austria. Despite repeated air attacks on the column, the paratroopers stayed together until reaching Celje, halfway to Dravograd. Slovenian partisans had set up blocking positions along the roads to keep the retreating fascists from reaching Austria. Captain Ivan Simek divided the battalion into small groups with orders to infiltrate past Celje and on to Austria. .

Celje, Slovenia

The Croatian Home Guard was the land army part of the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia which existed during World War II. The Croatian Home Guard was founded in April 1941, a few days after the founding of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) itself, following the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was done with the authorisation of German occupation authorities. The task of the new Croatian armed forces was to defend the new state against both foreign and domestic enemies. Its name was taken from the old Royal Croatian Home Guard – the Croatian section of the Royal Hungarian Landwehr component of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Croatian

Partisan

Scenario Type = Standard