大象传媒

This Story was submitted to the People's War site by
Deb Roach of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf
of Mark Jesic/Branco Jesic and has been added to the site with his/her
permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My dad was in the undergound,not formally associated with any military branch. He never told us about any of this, his comrade told my mother after my father's death. He did amazing things in the war.

One story he did tell me though--An Australian Sergeant in a jeep come around with an Italian priest in the back--near the Italian/Yugoslavian border.
This was a checkpoint-- gunfire rang out. The priest jumped out to hide behind the jeep. At this time the sergeant, who didn't know he was there, reversed and knocked the priest over. The priest was okay, but you don't really want to go running priests over.

My dad was from Yugoslavia, he was a language student when the war broke out. He spoke 6 languages, and was an amazing man.
He was studying, when the war started.

After the war, my dad's family thought he was dead, thought he was killed. My dad wrote to the family in 1958 to let them know he was alive. He went back in 1968 to see them. He had never contacted them sooner since he was worried the government may punish him.

From 1946 to 1958, they had a family grave where they placed flowers every day. In 1958, they were happy to stop doing that.

What follows is what my father's comrade told us after my father's death 18 months ago.

My fater was was in the underground--sabotage, blowing up communication--not in a military unit--he was fighting the Germans.

His fellow comrade told us that my father was responsible for blowing up 12 German planes. He was in the war during 1943-44--and was captured by the Germans the last year of the war. He was captured on a bridge near the Italian border. He kept quiet since if they knew what he did, they'd have shot him on site. He was held in Muenster Prisoner of War Camp until rescued by the British Army. A picture of my father has since emerged since his death of him at the pow camp. He was quite thin.

My father never talked about the war.

He came back to Britain because he was liberated by the British from the camp. He worked on a farm for a while, then went on to work at Cadbury's where he met my mom--which is where I work now as well.

He's gone, but his memory, and the stories amazing things he did during the war live on.

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