Milunka
Savić was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in
World War I. She is recognized 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.
Savic
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.
Savic 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, Savic responded,
"I will wait." It is said he only made her stand an hour before agreeing
to send her back to the infantry."
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-handed.
She
was awarded the French Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) twice,
Russian Cross of St. George, British medal of the Most Distinguished
Order of St Michael, and the Serbian Miloš Obilić medal. She was the
sole female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 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.
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 organized 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-Višnja; and Zorka, a fatherless girl from Dalmatia.
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.
She
died of a stroke in Belgrade on 5 October 1973, aged 84, and was buried
in Novo groblje in the Alley of the Meritorious with full the state and
military honors.
A Street in Belgrade is named after her and Museums have also celebrated her achievements.
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