MILUNKA SAVIĆ

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Milunka Savić- The Most Decorated Woman in the History of War

Milunka Savić was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in World War I. She is recognised as the most-decorated female combatant in the entire history of warfare. She was wounded no fewer than nine times during her term-of-service.

Savić was born in 1890, in the village of Koprivnica, near Raška, in Serbia. In 1913, her brother received call-up papers for mobilization for the Second Balkan War. She chose to go in his place—cutting her hair and donning men's clothes and joining the Serbian army. She was a patriot but she was also eager to escape from the boredom of Village life.

She quickly saw action and received her first medal and was promoted to corporal in the Battle of Bregalnica. Engaged in battle, she sustained wounds and it was only then, when recovering from her injuries in hospital, that her true gender was revealed, much to the surprise of the attending physicians.

Savić was called before her commanding officer. They didn't want to punish her, because she had proven a valuable and highly competent soldier. The military deployment that had resulted in her gender being revealed had been her tenth.. She was offered a transfer to the Nursing division. Savić stood to attention and insisted she only wanted to fight for her country as a combatant. The officer said he'd think it over and give her his answer the next day. Still standing to attention, Savić responded, "I will wait." It is said he only made her stand an hour before agreeing to send her back to the infantry."

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In 1914, in the early days of World War I, Savić was awarded her first Karađorđe Star with Swords after the Battle of Kolubara. She received her second Karađorđe Star (with Swords) after the Battle of Crna Reka in 1916 when she captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers single-handedly.

She was awarded the French Légion dHonneur (Legion of Honour) twice, Russian Cross of St. George, British medal of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael, and the Serbian Milo Obilić medal. She was the sole female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 19141918 with the gold palm attribute for service in World War I.

She was demobilised in 1919, and turned down an offer to move to France, where she was eligible to collect a comfortable French army pension. Instead, she chose to live in Belgrade and found work as a postal worker.In 1923, she married Veljko Gligorijević, whom she met in Mostar but they divorced immediately after the birth of their daughter Milena.

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In the interwar period, Milunka was largely forgotten by the general public. She worked several menial jobs up to 1927, after which she had steady employment as a cleaning lady in the State Mortgage Bank. Eight years later, she was promoted to cleaning the offices of the general manager.

During the Second World War she operated a small hospital to treat wounded partisans. She refused to attend a banquet organised by Milan Nedić, which was to be attended by German generals and officers. She was arrested and taken to Banjica concentration camp, where she was imprisoned for ten months.

After the advent of socialism in 1945, she was given a state pension, and continued to live in her house in Belgrade's Voždovac neighborhood. By the late 1950s her daughter was in hospital, and she was living in a crumbling house in Voždovac with her three other adopted children: Milka, a forgotten child from the railway station in Stalac; Radmila-Visnja; and Zorka, a fatherless girl from Dalmatia.

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Later, when she attended the jubilee celebrations wearing her military medals, other military officers spoke with her and heard of her courageous actions. News spread and at last she gained recognition. In 1972, public pressure and a newspaper article highlighting her difficult housing and financial situation led to her being given a small apartment by the Belgrade City Assembly.

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She died in the October of 1973, aged 84 and was buried in a family mausoleum up to 2013. Then after 40 years, her remains were brought to the Alley of the Greats, where all Serbian distinguished citizens and war heroes are buried and where Milunka had always belonged.

http://www.hiddenherstories.com/

serbia.com

[Gardenerbill]

Maxmagnus,

Thank you for posting this fascinating story of Milunka Savic, with great photographs, I really enjoyed reading it.

[MAXMAGNUS]

Milunka's wax figure was unveiled last week in Serbia.

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