Vladimir Šipčić

Vladimir Šipčić
Nickname	Владo or Vlado
Born	1924 Mala Crna Gora, Žabljak, Montenegro, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died	1957 near Bijelo Polje, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia
Allegiance	Allies of World War II
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1941-1957
Rank	Commandant
Commands held	Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland
Battles/wars	Drina offensive - Pljevlja Foca Visegrad Durmitor

Vladimir "Vlado" Šipčić (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимиp "Владo" Шипчић ; also known as Шилe ) (May 12, 1924 - July 29, 1957) was a Serbian commandant now primarily remembered as the last remaining Yugoslav Chetnik from World War II.^{[citation needed]} After the war, he was captured by the Communist security forces and shot.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Born in Mala Crna Gora ( the little Black mountain), Žabljak, Montenegro, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Sipčić went into the Serbian Army at the beginning of 1941.^{[citation needed]} He was at this time a young soldier, only 17 years old.^{[citation needed]} In 1943, he was the youngest officer of the Chetnik unit operating in Montenegro and Bosnia.^{[citation needed]}

World War II

Following the Yugoslav defeat by Germany in April 1941, a small group of officers and soldiers led by Mihailović refused to surrender, and retreated in hope of finding Yugoslav army units still fighting in the mountains.^{[citation needed]} He joigned in 1941 the Unit of the commandant Obrd Cicmil, who get orders from the General Mihailović who was based at Ravna Gora, Serbia on May 8, at this time, the Chetnik movement was highly decentralized, and in that way was more like a collective of many small regional guerrillas.^{[citation needed]}

Vladimir Sipčić was a really strong man, 195 cm high, with an athletic look.^{[citation needed]} The soldiers respected this giant of a man who in turn followed General Mihailović.^{[citation needed]} Kosta Milovanović Pećanac, a First World War uprising leader and former Chetnik himself, who opted for cooperation with the Germans against Tito's Communists.

In 1943, "Vlado" was 19 years old, and was in several battles in the Bosnian Region.^{[citation needed]} He fought against the partisans and he engaged in heavy combat with the Independent State of Croatia forces.^{[citation needed]}

By the middle of 1943, the partisan movement had survived an intense period of Axis pressure and Britain has switch support for them. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, a decision was made by the all Allies to cease their support of the Chetniks which are not fighting Germans and in 1944 Yugoslav royal government has called all Croats, Slovenes, and Serbs to join the Partisans.^{[citation needed]} Soon afterward Serbian Quisling Milan Nedić, transferred all fascist Serbian troops to Mihajlović.^{[citation needed]}

Towards the end of the war, Šipčić went into hiding in East Bosnia and Montenegro with his men, between them were his two best friends, Božo Bjelica and Srpko Medenica.^{[citation needed]}

After the war, they went into hiding in Bosnian mountains, but they had to spend winters in woods, the communist secret police (Udba) was non stop searching them.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Sipčić was shot and killed on July 29, 1957 by Muradif Kanalic, an agent of UDBA (Secret service), in Ribarevine, near Bijelo Polje, Montenegro. .^{[citation needed]} Šipčić's friend Bjelica was captured and executed in 1951, and Medenica in 1952.^{[citation needed]} He was considered as a public enemy number one by the communists.

Almost sixty years later, Šipčić became an icon for the Serbian people in the region of Durmitor, Piva and Drina, and was always considered as a hero by many Serbian families, especially in Bosnia and Montenegro.^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

• Šipčić, Radoje. ""Poslednji Kraljev vojnik u Otadzbini Vladimir Vlado Šipčić ." Beograd: Integra, 2004.
• Mitra Lopusina. The kings soldiers against a wall, 1952-1953. London H&R editions, 1983.
• Laurence, Graig. Bosnian war : The story of a young Chetnik : Šipčić Vlado. New York: Bender-Hills, 1952.

External links

• Photograph