Formation
On 10 April 1941, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH, Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska) was created as a puppet state aligned to the occupying Germans. The Ustaše fascist government of the NDH asked Germany for military assistance as they feared Italian territorial ambitions after ceding much of the coastal area of Dalmatia to Italy in treaties signed on 18 May 1941. By 25 June 1941, Poglavnik Ante Pavelić, the leader of the NDH, had sent an envoy to Berlin to offer volunteers to serve on the Eastern Front. By 2 July, Hitler had accepted the offer, and military units were formed under the supervision of two German army officers. The NDH viewed this as a means of strengthening its ties with Germany, potentially an ally in resisting further territorial losses to Italy.
Although the unit was considered by the NDH to be a part of the Croatian Home Guard and the NDH authorities retained responsibility for providing replacements, the members of the regiment swore an oath to Adolf Hitler. Whilst not an official part of the Wehrmacht, the regiment was under German military jurisdiction and direct German command throughout its existence, serving as part of the 100th Light Infantry Division. All soldiers wore Wehrmacht uniforms with a Croatian checkerboard patch incorporating the word Hrvatska (Croatia) on the upper right sleeve and right side of the helmet.
Initially, two battalions were raised and formed into a regiment at Varazdin. This was followed by the raising of a third battalion at Sarajevo. Only Croats, Ukrainians or White Russians were accepted as volunteers, and about one third of those accepted were Bosnian Muslims. A training battalion was formed for the regiment in Stockerau, Austria. The regiment was then transported to Dollersheim, Austria for training. With an effective strength of 5000, the regiment consisted of three infantry battalions, a machine-gun company, an anti-tank company, three batteries of field artillery, headquarters staff and a supply company.
On 21 August 1941, the regiment was transported to Romania. From there, it spent several weeks marching on foot to the front line. On 10 October, the regiment linked up on the line of the Dnieper River with the 100th Light Infantry Division, which was then part of the 17th Army, Army Group South.
Read more about this topic: 369th (Croatian) Reinforced Infantry Regiment
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