Dinara Division | |
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Active | 1942–1945 |
Allegiance | Yugoslav government-in-exile (1942–44) Italy (1942–43) Germany (1943–45) Government of National Salvation (1942–44) |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Anti-partisan operations |
Size | 3,000–6,500 |
Part of | Chetniks Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia (1942–43) |
Engagements | World War II in Yugoslavia |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Momčilo Đujić |
The Dinara Division (Serbian: Динарска дивизија / Dinarska divizija) was an irregular Chetnik formation that existed during the World War II Axis occupation of Yugoslavia that largely operated as auxiliaries of the occupying forces and fought the Yugoslav Partisans. Organized in 1942 with assistance from Ilija Trifunović-Birčanin and headed by Momčilo Đujić, the division incorporated commanders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, northern Dalmatia, and the Lika region. The division was under the control of supreme Chetnik commander Draža Mihailović and received aid from Dimitrije Ljotić, leader of the Serbian Volunteer Corps, and Milan Nedić, head of the Serbian puppet Government of National Salvation.
In late 1944 the division began withdrawing towards Slovenia. Afterwards, it joined Dobroslav Jevđević's Chetniks, Ljotić's Serbian Volunteer Corps, and the remnants of Nedić's Serbian Shock Corps in forming a single unit that was under the command of Odilo Globocnik of the Higher SS and Police Leader in the Adriatic Littoral. In May 1945 Đujić surrendered the division to Allied forces, who took its members to southern Italy, from where they were taken to displaced persons camps in Germany and then dispersed. Đujić emigrated to the United States in 1949. Many members of the Dinara division are believed to have followed him there, while others emigrated to Canada. Đujić lived in the United States until his death in September 1999.