The German treaty with Italy signed in May of 1941 stated that only volunteers could be sent from the occupied Balkan territories into combat. Both the Italian and German military staffs in Croatia were required to operate within these parameters. On 15 June 1941 Croatia joined the Tripartite Pact, which required participation by all parties in any new military campaigns against any country not already at war with the signatories.

Both Hitler and Anton Pavelic, the leader of the Croatian puppet state, agreed that Croatia should be represented on the combat lines in the "Crusade Against Bolshevism". Thus on 30 June 1941, eight days after the invasion of the Soviet Union, Pavelic called for volunteers to participate in the campaign alongside their Axis allies.

Within a few days, there were 5,000 volunteers, mostly "Ustashi" (fascist political militia) or ex- servicemen from the old Yugoslav armed forces. The Croatian volunteers were assembled at Varazdin, where they were outfitted in old Yugoslav uniforms and sent to the German troop training center at Dollersheim in Austria. After a short training period, a regimental unit was formed; it was designated as the 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment.

The regiment was patterned after a German infantry regiment of the period, with an attached artillery battalion:

369th Infantry Regiment
three infantry battalions

three infantry companies (each with twelve light machine guns, three 50mm mortars, three light anti-tank rifles)
one weapons company (with twelve heavy machine guns, six 81 mm mortars)
one anti-tank company (with four light machine guns, twelve 37mm (PAK 35/36) anti- tank guns)
one mortar company (with eight 81mm mortars)
one artillery battalion three artillery batteries (each with two light machine guns, four 105mm (Le FH-18) howitzers)

All transportation was horse drawn, while armaments and equipment were German supplied. Even the uniforms were exchanged at Dollersheim for German ones with a shield patch (consisting of a red and white checker-board design with the word "Hrvatska" above it) worn on the left arm.

Attached to the regimental staff and each of the battalions was a small group of German liaison officers. However, the agreement between the German and Croatian military commands was that, though the unit was operationally and tactically subordinated to German commands, it was to be officered solely by Croatians. Furthermore, the Croatian Defense Ministry retained the right to transfer or recall the unit from combat service at any time.

The regimental commander was Colonel Ivan Markulj, a Croatian nationalist, trained in the Imperial Austrian Army and serving in the Yugoslav Army between the wars. The chief of staff was Colonel Stejpan Grlic, another former Austro-Hungarian officer. The artillery battalion was lead by Lt. Colonel Marko Mesic, a former Yugoslav Army officer.

The Croatian regiment left Dollersheirn on 21 August 1941. Following behind the advancing German combat front, they were finally engaged in combat, as part of the German 100th Light Division, in the area between Poltava and Kharkov. Thereafter they participated in the defense of Kharkov during the encirclement of the Kiev pocket, and the defense of Rostov, finally making a fighting withdrawal to Stalino.

On 11 May 1942 Colonel Markulj fell ill and was replaced as regimental commander by another Austrian trained Yugoslav Army officer, Colonel Viktor Pavecic. Participating in the advance upon Voronezh, the regiment was eventually transferred, along with the German 100th Light Division, to the battle for Stalingrad. Once there, they were encircled; on 31 January 1943, upon the surrender of the Stalingrad pocket, Lt. Colonel Mesic and the remaining 800 to 900 Croatian soldiers were taken prisoner.

Italian Croats

The Italians, not to be outdone by the Germans, formed their own Croatian volunteer regiment for service on the Eastern Front. The Italian formed unit was known as the "Croatian Legion". Like the German formation, it had the strength of a reinforced regiment: 132 officers, 182 NCOs, and 3,745 men. The Croatian Legion, formed in November 1941, consisted of:

Croatian Legion

two infantry battalions (each with eighteen 45mm mortars, sixteen heavy machine guns, thirty-six light machine guns)

one replacement battalion (with twelve 45mm mortars, three 81mm mortars, eight heavy machine guns, twenty- four light machine guns)

one mortar company (with six 81 mm mortars)

one artillery battalion two artillery batteries (each with four 75mm (75/13) guns, two heavy machine guns)

The Croatian Legion was dispatched to the Eastern Front on 1 February 1942 as part of the newly formed "Italian Army in Russia". They participated in the advance to the Don River and the defensive engagements along that river. Ultimately they too were caught in the aftermath of the encirclement of Stalingrad.

When in January of 1943 the rest of the Italian Army 'in Russia was forced to withdraw from the Don River, the Croatian Legion was destroyed during the retreat.

DNO/UNT Counters

For use in DN0/UNT, the Croatians are rated as follows:

1. The 369 Infantry Regiment is a 3-8 supported unit. It appears on the SEP I 41 turn.

2. The Croatian Legion is a 1-2-6 supported infantry regiment. It appears on the FEB I 42 turn.