Rudolf Perešin
Rudolf Perešin (born March 25, 1958 in Jakšinec near Gornja Stubica , † probably on May 2, 1995 near Bosanska Gradiška ) was a Croatian fighter pilot in the Croatian War .
According to his own statements in Austria in 1991, Perešin attended the military high school in Mostar and then the JRV Air Force Academy in Zadar- Zemunik. After completing his training as an operational jet pilot, he was stationed in Bihać in northern Bosnia in 1982 . There he flew in the 352nd reconnaissance squadron (352nd izviđačka avijacijska eskadrila - IAE), the 117th fighter regiment within the 5th corps of the RViPVO.
Escape to Austria
At the beginning of the Croatian War, there were still numerous Croatian and other non-Serbian pilots in the ranks of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Some of the Croatians planned to desert.
Perešin was the first pilot who managed to escape with his aircraft. Danijel Borović later flew to Split , other pilots fled by land.
After Perešin had brought his family from Bihać to safety in Croatia, he used an opportunity during an observation mission on October 25, 1991 to set off to the northwest with his MiG-21R (unarmed reconnaissance version ). None of the few airfields in Croatia was suitable for instrument landing at that time , visibility was poor, so Perešin decided to land in Klagenfurt . The greatest danger for the pilot was the radar systems and anti-aircraft systems of the Yugoslav People's Army ; however, he was able to evade radar detection by flying extremely low . Two Austrian Saab 105s directed to Klagenfurt did not reach the Yugoslav machine until it was already rolling on the taxiway in Klagenfurt and also identified the number 112.
Perešin laid down his personal armament - a 7.65-mm M70 pistol and a 7.65-mm M61 small submachine gun including shoulder holsters - and told the HNA in broken English that he would no longer fight in the JRV against his Croatian compatriots to want to return to the unoccupied parts of Croatia.
Four days after landing, Perešin, who did not seek asylum, was able to travel to Croatia; his now unfit to fly MiG-21 remained in an Austrian museum and was dismantled and returned to Croatia for a military museum in Zagreb in May 2019.
Return to Croatia
Immediately after his arrival in Croatia, Rudolf Perešin joined the Croatian National Guard, which was still being set up, from which the Croatian Army later grew. Here he used his specialist knowledge to help build the Croatian Air Force , which at that time consisted mainly of agricultural fan guns and two captured MiG-21s.
On February 4, 1992, Perešin was one of the founders of the first Croatian air defense. In 1993, Perešin took command of Croatia's 1st Fighter Squadron.
Death and remembrance
During the Croatian military operation Bljesak , Perešin's machine was hit by the Serbian air defense. He was able to get out with the ejector seat and fell to the ground near Bosanska Gradiška , which was under the control of the Vojska Republike Srpske .
On August 4, 1997, Serbia surrendered Croatian prisoners and the remains of Croats as part of an exchange. A preliminary examination based on the enclosed objects revealed that one of the dead was Perešin, which was confirmed shortly afterwards by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zagreb. No cause of death was disclosed.
Perešin was officially declared dead on September 10, 1997 and was buried with the highest state honors on September 15 in the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb. A model of a MiG is mounted on the tomb.
The Air Force Academy of the Croatian Air Force in Zadar / Zemunik has been called "Rudolf Perešin" for several years. The Air Force Technology School in Velika Gorica is also called Rudolf Perešin.
On October 25, 1999 - on the eighth anniversary of its founding - a small monument was dedicated in his memory on the grounds of the academy. In addition, a memorial plaque on the church square of St. Jurje in Gornja Stubica commemorates him, which was unveiled by cadets of the Academy on May 3, 1999.
Awards (selection)
- Order of Prince Domagoj with collar , 1995 (posthumous)
The getaway plane
The natural metal silver-gray MiG-21R only has the tactical number "112" on the top right wing and "26112" on both sides of the tail unit. The reconnaissance version of the machine is unarmed and there is no camera gondola. It is a representative of the first variant of the third generation of the tactical hunter, which went into series production, precisely from 1965 to 1971 in the factory (Zavod) 21 in Gorky. In 1970 12 units of this type were delivered to Yugoslavia.
In the absence of a contract between Belgrade and Zagreb on the legal succession of Yugoslavia, the MiG-21R is legally ownerless. (Status 2002) Belgrade requested Austria to hand it over; Croatia asked Austria not to do so and later also made claims. Four Austrian ministries were involved.
The MiG was mothballed in the helicopter hangar of the armed forces at Klagenfurt Airport. For reasons of space it was dismantled in the autumn of 1994 and relocated to the army ammunition depot in Großmittel in Lower Austria. On December 6, 2001, it was placed in front of the Army History Museum in the Vienna Arsenal. She served as gatekeeper for the special exhibition Austria and the Disintegration of Yugoslavia , which took place from December 12, 2001 to April 1, 2002.
From April to October 2011 the MiG was shown as "this year's highlight" of the military aviation exhibition in Hangar 8 at Zeltweg airfield - Hinterstoisser air base .
In June 2014 the aircraft was exhibited in Hangar 8 of the Zeltweg military airfield.
The MiG was handed over from Austria to Croatia on May 6, 2019. It should be exhibited in front of the Ministry of Defense by the end of May 2019 and then become the central exhibit of the Military Museum in Zagreb, which opened on May 28, 2019. Austria will receive an identical MiG-21 from Croatia as a replacement for the storage costs.
Web links
- Georg Mader: Escape to Death. airpower.at, February 23, 2002, accessed on October 18, 2016 . - Article on Airpower.at, 1998, 2002. 4 p. - Year of birth wrongly "1953".
- Georg Mader: Escape to death: Rudi PERESIN's flight to Austria - (Copy of the article by Georg Mader from 1998/2002 on airpower.at, by User Styria from July 9, 2009)
- Igor Alborghetti: Telegram doznaje: legendarni MiG-21 Rudolfa Perešina vraća se u Hrvatsku. telegram.hr, April 21, 2015, accessed on October 18, 2016 (Croatian). - Defense Minister Ante Kotromanović calls for the return in 2015. Large number 112 on aircraft nose. "... an aircraft copy with a history ... intends to meet the Austrian Defense Minister Gerald Klug ... the succession of Yugoslavia may never be resolved ... Bosnia has no claim to the aircraft because it took off from the largest military airport in ex-Yugoslavia in Zeljava near Bihać , its area is located now mainly in the area of Croatia ... 2009: Austria would like to obtain the approval of all successor states. + Forum posts: The aircraft is in Hangar 8 in Zeltweg. "
- Geist: Ownerless MIG jet still in Austria. telegram.hr, October 17, 2016, accessed on October 18, 2016 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Georg Mader: Escape to death. airpower.at, February 22, 2002, p. 3 , accessed on March 12, 2011 .
- ↑ Exhibition archive > 2001/2002 hgm.at Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, accessed on October 18, 2016.
- ↑ The military aviation exhibition in Zeltweg has reopened bundesheer.at, April 29, 2011, accessed on October 18, 2016.
- ↑ Image - s08mig21_1024x768.jpg according to the forum post by Hrvoje Zecevic Zeko on Telegram from April 21, 2015 in Hangar 8 in Zeltweg.
- ↑ [1] steiermark.orf.at, Austria returned MiG-21 to Croatia, May 7, 2019, accessed on May 7, 2019.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perešin, Rudolf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Croatian pilot in the Croatian war |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 25, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jakšinec near Gornja Stubica |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 2, 1995 |
| Place of death | at Bosanska Gradiška |