Mato Dukovac [SEP] date of death
Mato Dukovac
Mato Dukovac (23 September 1918 – 6 June 1990) was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, credited with between 40 and 44 confirmed victories. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and then the "Luftwaffe", with which he flew combat missions on the Eastern Front. His tours of the Eastern Front spanned October and November 1942, February to June 1943, and October 1943 to March 1944. He defected to
Holders of the Military Order of the Iron Trefoil 2nd Class.
Twelve holders:
- Colonel Marko Mesić
- August Schmidhuber, SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS
Holders of the Military Order of the Iron Trefoil 3rd Class with Oak Branches.
Fifty holders
Holders of the Military Order of the Iron Trefoil 3rd Class.
Sixty-four holders:
- Mato Dukovac, captain of the Croatian Air Force; Croatian fighter ace with the most victories
- Jure Francetić, colonel and commander of the Black