Slovenci in Jugoslovanski kraljevi gardni bataljon
Slovenians and The Yugoslav Royal Guard Battalion

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of archive materials and literature, the following contribution presents the role of the Yugoslav Royal Guard Battalion, formed in Egypt in June 1941 as a unit of the Yugoslav Army in emigration. The battalion, established with the help of the representatives of the Yugoslav Committee from Italy, mostly consisted of Slovenians or inhabitants of the Primorska (littoral) region who joined the Yugoslav Army in emigration as volunteers and former Italian captives. Throughout its existence the battalion, consisting of 850 to a maximum of 1,000 well-trained soldiers, operated in the context of the British Army in the Middle East. In the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944 the unit started disintegrating, since its soldiers trusted the battalion leadership and the propaganda of the Yugoslav government in exile less and less. The soldiers started leaning towards supporting the Tito’s partisans, who were shown by the propaganda as the only effective resistance movement in Yugoslavia.

• Details
• Contents