Hi!
Since I am often quoted on several websites as the author of the article about the Black Legion (Crna legija) which I had written about two years ago, I kinda felt obliged to write here my own corrigo errata about this unit with some new information that I have obtained in the meantime and which were unfortunately not on my disposal when I was writing the article. So here we go....
The Black Legion (Crna legija) was a popular nickname for the Sarajevo Ustasha Regiment, I. and V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade. The outfit was apparently formed on 15th June 1941 in Sarajevo. It received its nickname by the black uniforms that they had worn and which were made from a black cloth which was the only suitable cloth for uniforms that could be found in Sarajevo at that particular time. The Crna legija was formed by Captain Jure Francetic and Lieutenant Rafael Boban, both returnees from the Ustasha training camps in Central Italy. In many sources the name of Becir Lokmic appaears as one of the original co-founders of the Black Legion, but he was mortally wounded near Gornji Vakuf in July 1942 as a Lieutenant of the 2nd Company of the 1st Ustasha Active Service Battalion, so this story of him is unlikely or highly dubious at least.
Originally the Legion was made up of two battalions: I. Ustasha Active Service Battalion and Ustasha Preparatory Battalion of the City of Sarajevo. At the beginning of 1942 the two battalions were joined by the third battalion, the II. Ustasha Railway Battalion. By the end of 1942 the Legion saw extensive service in Eastern Bosnia and northwestern Herzegovina, particulary around Konjice, Ozren plateau and Sarajevo. In January and February of 1942 it took part in the Romanija and Ozren Operations in Eastern Bosnia. By the end of February 1942 it was, reinforced by a battalion of Vojna Krajina, involved in sweeping of the communication line Sokolac-Han-Pijesak, into which she has entered at the beginning of March.
From 31st March and till the mid-of April the Black Legion undertook the famous March to the Drina River, what is also considered by some historians as her most famous operation. At that time the Legion was expanded to five battalions (bojni) with ca. 2,200 men. At the end of April she undertook some sweeping operations around Rogatica area, afterwards it occupied the positions along the border of the Drina River. It was approximately at that time that it was renamed into the Sarajevo Ustasha Brigade (Sarajevski ustaski zdrug) or 1st Ustasha Active Service Brigade with seven battalions and was operating mostly on the operational area of the III. Domobran Corps. In Svibanj part of the Legion operated around Vrgorac and Makarska and in June and July 1942 some parts took part in the Kozara Operation.
During the breakthrough of the communist proletarian brigades from Montenegro and Eastern Bosnia to Herzegovina the elements of the Black Legion tried to halt the partisan advance. She suffered a defeat in the defence of Prozor, but with the arrival of the reinforcements succedded to defend the strategical cities of Gornji Vakuf and Bugojno. At the end of July Colonel Franjo Simic assumed command of a couple of Black Legion companies and took them towards Livno, which has then fallen into the Croatian hands. It should be noted that on this occasion a single platoon of Black Legion infantry supported by three light tankettes took the the entire elite 1st Partisan Proletarian Brigade by suprise and after panicking she was chased out of Livno much to the embarassment of the Tito's Supreme Headquarters. The Black Legion suffered on this occasion only 3 killed and 14 wounded, so this was indeed a huge success and great morale boost for Colonel Simic's men.
In the middle of August 1942 the Legion was having its proudest hour in Kupres, where she had defended, together with the Kupres Militia, the large scale communist attack, inflicting heavy casualties to the attacking partisan force (ca. 100 dead). Regarding the Kupres battle it should noted that controrary to the popular belief Colonel Jure Francetic was not present there or in any way active during the battle. He left Kupres on 7 August 1942 in order to command an Ustasha battalion from Foca to Imotski. Kupres and the surrounding villages was, besides Domobran and Kupres Militia, defended by one battalion of the Black Legion with five companies: 1st and 3rd Company of the I. Ustasha Battalion, Combined Company of the II. Ustasha Railway Battalion, 2nd Company of the VIII. Ustasha Battalion and 1st Company of the IX. Ustasha Battalion. On top of that there was also the 1st Company of the XVII. Ustasha Battalion, but this company was not part of the Black Legion. Fourteen members of the Black Legion received the Great Silver Medal of Poglavnik Ante Pavelic for the Bravery in the Face of the Enemy during the defence of Kupres. Most of them were the members of the 1st and 3rd Company of the 1st Ustasha Active Service Battalion.
Meanwhile, while the furious fight for Kupres was in motion, a small number of other companies saw some sweeping operations around Posusje and Imotski. After the end of this operation Colonel Ivo Stipkovic, former Commanding Officer of the 1st Croatian Mountain Division, assumed command of the 1st (Sarajevo) Ustasha Active Service Brigade.
At the end of August 1942 several companies from the Kupres and Bugojno area were re-formed and under the command of Domobran Colonel Franjo Simic re-took Sujica and Tomislavgrad and freed the communication link all the way to Imotski. At the end of October the V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade was formed from parts of the I. Ustasha Active Service Brigade and some new reinforcements from the Ustaska Vojnica that were pouring into Kupres, Tomislavgrad, Livno, Imotski and Bugojno the entire autumn of 1942. The brigade was officered by Colonel Rafael Boban, thus also called the "Bobanova Crna legija" (Boban's Black Legion). The strength of the Black Legion in autumn 1942 was eight battalions and a mountain artillery battery, which was attached to the V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade. Her operational area again switched to Eastern and Central Bosnia. By the end of 1942 it sweeped Romanija and Podromanija and was involved also in the operations "Jajce I", "Jajce III" and "Tuzla II".
The beginning of 1943 found parts of the Legion in the Operation "Weiss II", while the main body was again thrown in Eastern Bosnian, where she had fought with the Partisans and Chetniks in securing the communication lines and the Drina River Valley.
After the Operation "Schwarz" the 1st Ustasha Active Service Brigade suffered badly in a serie of the partisan and chetnik offensives which lasted in total for a few months and during which the Legion lost several important strongpoints. The commander, Major Milan Sulentic, was replaced by Major Frane Sudar, who immediately re-organized the brigade back to a first class unit with three battalions. In autumn and winter 1943 the brigade fought Sokolac-Mokronoge and Praca-Mokro and was involved in the Operation "Kugelblitz". The entire year of 1944 was marked with heavy battles with the partisans: Sarajevo-Rogatica-Visegrad, Srebrenica, Zvornik, Bratunac, Bugojno, Turbe, Vitez, Kresevo and the painful retreat from the Vrbas Valley. In autumn 1944 it was back again on Romanija and occupied Rogatica, followed by skirmishes at Kiseljak and Busovaca. While the V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade became a part of the 1st Croatian Assault Division under General Rafael Boban, the 1st Ustasha Active Brigade, now officered by Colonel Delko Bogdanic, entered the ranks of the 8th Croatian Infantry Division under General Frane Sudar.
In 1945 the brigade fought at Travnik, Capljina, Citluk and took part in a heavy battle for Ivan Sedlo. It acted as a rear-guard during the retreat from Sarajevo in early 1945 and from April onwards the remnants of the brigade under Lt.-Col. Ante Mamic pulled back to Zagreb and from there further back to the north to Slovenia and Austria (German Reich) respectively.
The fate of the V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade was greatly similar except that it was later renamed into the 23rd Croatian Assault Regiment and fighting heavy battles around Krizevci and Bilo gora until the final retreat to Austrian Carinthia, where part of the men escaped the capture by the British and Yugoslavs, including the division commander General Boban whose exact fate remains unknown until this day.
Very few personal testimonials of the members of the Black Legion were written what alone published. Some short personal testimonials (like about the Battle of Kupres 1942) appeared in the Croatian exile newspaper "Drina", Year 5, Nr. 4-7 in the article titled "Nasi 'crnci'". The Drina newspaper was being published by General Vekoslav Luburic in Spain in mid 1950s. Then recently I have discovered a website with a short personal testimonial of a Croatian veteran who claimed to have been a member of the Black Legion's V. Ustasha Active Service Brigade in 1943-1945. But I have heard that recently one alleged and notorious member of the Black Legion published his memoars about the last days of the war in Croatia and about the retreat to Slovenia and Austria in May-June 1945, but unfortunately I haven't read the book yet, so I cannot comment it.
As far as I know there was never made any poll with the names of all the members of the Black Legion. However you may check for their personal records at the Croatian National Archive, but you have to fill first some paper work, where you have to put the full name of a person you are looking for, the armed forces branch (Air Force, Navy, Domobran, Gendarmerie, Ustasha), date and place of birth and a reason of why do you want this documentation to be given out to you. I have somewhere on my computer a copy of this formular sheet, so feel free to contact me and I will try to forward it to you as soon as possible.
Hope this helps to answer most of your questions.
Yours sincerly,
Klemen[/list]