#Antonija Javornik

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Наталија Бјелајац, рођена Антонија Јаворник (1893 - 1974.) - болничарка и наредник српске војске у Балканским ратовима и Првом светском рату

Natalija Bjelajac, born Antonija Javornik - nurse and sergeant in the Serbian army during the Balkan Wars and WW1

She was injured in combat twelve times and for that she received as many medals for bravery.

As a person who was present to liberation of Kosovo during the Second Balkan War she said: "On this journey I haven't been shaken by witnessing all of the wounded and crippled. I haven't been shaken by the unending tiresome marches, or by all of the sacrifice on the battlefield... I was shaken by the scene that I saw when the hospital company arrived at Kosovo Polje. All the soldiers laying on the ground, kissing it... and then kissing each other and embracing, saying that this moment was five centuries in waiting, Kosovo was avenged... Then I realised, from June of 1389. to October of 1912. from generation-to-generation people have lived for that dream, in both joy and sorrow it was spoken about Kosovo, and they have finally seen their dreams come true - they have banished the Turks and liberated Kosovo... Fulfilled was the vow of many generations..."

[city-of-ladies]

Milunka Savić - World War I’s most decorated woman 

Milunka Savić (c.1890-1973) was born in Serbia. She took her brother’s place and enlisted in the army under the name Milun Savić during the Second Balkan War. During the Battle of Bregalnica, Milunka was leading her tenth charge at the head of a squad of men when she was wounded when an enemy grenade blew up at her feet. 

Her real identity was discovered and Milunka was brought to her commanding officer who offered her to join the nursing corps. Milunka refused. She told him that she wouldn’t accept a position that didn’t allow her to bear arms to defend her country. Her superior thus promoted her to junior sergeant and allowed her to stay in the infantry.

Milunka was thus openly fighting as a woman when the First World War began. She was part of a prestigious unit nicknamed “The Iron Regiment”. During the Battle of the Kolubara river (3-9 December 1914), she single-handedly assaulted an Austrian trench, hurling grenades, and subsequently captured 20 Austrian soldiers. Milunka excelled at throwing grenades at used them to destroy the enemy machine guns. Her performance was so impressive that she was later nicknamed “The Bomber of Kolubara”. Milunka later told the press that during her childhood in the countryside, she spent a lot of time herding sheep. She and her young comrades played at hitting different targets by throwing stones. This was how she acquired her skills. 

She went on to participate in several battles and fought alongside the French soldiers on the Macedonian front. In 1916, she single-handedly captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers. She was hospitalized at least 3 times and earned many awards for her performance in combat. Among the decorations Milunka received were the French Légion d’honneur, the Croix de guerre, the Cross of St. George, the Most Distinguished order of Saint Michael and Saint George and the Serbian Medal for Bravery.

(Milunka in uniform in 1917)

Milunka’s case wasn’t unique. A young woman from Belgrade named Sofija Jovanović served like her in the Second Balkan War and the First World War. Remarkably cultivated, Sofija attracted the attention of the foreign press and earned the nickname of “Serbian Joan of Arc”. She too received a number of Serbian medals for her merits.

(Sofija Jovanović)

Two school teachers named Jelena Šaulić and Ljubica Cakarevic also fought among the Serbian troops. A Slovenian woman, Antonija Javornik, was also part of the Serbian army, as was the British woman Flora Sandes .

(Jelena Šaulić)

(Antonija Javornik)

Milunka married after the war and gave birth to a daughter, but the union didn’t last long. She afterward adopted three other girls. Since she had never been to school, Milunka had to work as a cleaning lady, but faced the situation with courage and dignity. She managed to send all her daughters to school and helped thirty children, many of them from her natal village, to get a proper education as well. 

During the Second World War, Milunka still found a way to help her country. She notably hid antifascists in her home and nursed them, creating a kind of secret hospital. She died in Belgrade in 1973 and was buried with military honors. A street in Belgrade is named after her.

(Milunka in 1966)

References:

Breverton Terry, Breverton's First World War Curiosities

“La Serbie s'invite : entretien avec Slađana Zarić : Milunka Savić et les femmes de l'armée serbe pendant la Grande Guerre”

Larson Carmichael Jacqueline, Heard Amid the Guns, True Stories from the Western Front, 1914-1918

Toler Pamela D., Women warriors: an unexpected history