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The Croatian Air Force Legion ((クロアチア語:Hrvatska Zrakoplovna Legija)), or HZL, also known as the Croatian Legion, was a foreign volunteer unit of the Luftwaffe raised from volunteers drawn from the Independent State of Croatia which fought on the Eastern Front between 1941-1943 in the Second World War. It was then absorbed by the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia and its surviving members fought back on Croatian soil. The legion had approximately 360 men.〔("The Eastern Front: Back in the Homeland after 65 years." ) ''vecernji.hr''. Retrieved: 21 July 2010.〕 The unit was sent to Germany for training on 15 July 1941 before heading to the Eastern Front.〔(Croatian Air Force )〕 Many of the pilots and crews had previously served in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force during the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Some of them also had experience in the two main types that they would operate, the Messerschmitt 109 and Dornier Do 17, with two fighter pilots having actually shot down Luftwaffe aircraft.〔Ciglic and Savic 2002〕 The Legion's commander was Ivan Mark. During operations over the Eastern Front, the unit's fighters scored a total of 283 kills while its bombers participated in 1,332 combat missions.〔 ==Organization== The Legion was organized into a fighter wing and a bomber wing: *4. Fighter Wing (Major Franjo Dzal) * *10. Fighter Squadron * *11. Fighter Squadron The 4. Fighter Wing was attached to the Jagdgeschwader 52. It originally served as part of the III./JG 52, while later it became known as the ''15(Kroat.)/JG52''. It was led by Franjo Džal. *5. Bomber Wing * *12. Bomber Squadron * *13. Bomber Squadron The 5. Bomber Wing was originally attached to Kampfgeschwader 3 as part of the 10/KG3 and later as the ''15.(Kroat.)/KG 3''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Croatian Air Force Legion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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