Miroslav Navratil

{{See also|Aerial victory standards of World War I}}

Navratil was born in Sarajevo in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He attended high school in Sarajevo, and finished cadet's school in Graz. In World War I he served in the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces, as a fighter pilot in the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops. While on the Eastern and Italian fronts, he scored a victory with Flik 41J on 14 April 1918, before assuming command of Flik 3J on 9 June 1918. Flying Albatros D.IIIs, he scored nine more victories.{{cite journal|title=Miroslav Navratil, dvostruki as austrougarskog zrakoplovstva|last=Eleršek|url=http://www.hrvatski-vojnik.hr/hrvatski-vojnik/2162008/podlistak.asp|first=Leonard|date=November 2008|issue=213|journal=Hrvatski vojnik|language=Croatian|access-date=7 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926115648/http://www.hrvatski-vojnik.hr/hrvatski-vojnik/2162008/podlistak.asp|archive-date=26 September 2013|url-status=dead}}

File:AlbatrosDIII Navratil.png

He attained the rank of Oberleutnant.{{Cite web|title=Friedrich Navratil|url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/austrhun/navratil.php|access-date=2022-12-29|website=www.theaerodrome.com}} His victory string ran until 31 August, when he downed a Bristol F.2 Fighter, but lost all four of his inexperienced wingmen in the process. Navratil blamed himself for their loss. He largely removed himself from combat operations. On 21 October, during a test flight of an Albatros D.III, his seat broke, and he was injured in the resultant crash landing. He did not recover before the Armistice.{{cite book |title=Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1 |page= 81 }}

In 1918, Austria-Hungary dissolved and Navratil moved to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where he took on a position in the royal army. He rose to the rank of colonel, but was eventually retired from the army in 1940 because of conflict with Serb officers within its ranks.

With the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia on 10 April 1941 Navratil was brought back into active service. He was named as a military representative in Bucharest. He served as minister of the armed forces from 2 September 1943 to 29 January 1944. After he was relieved of his post, reportedly due to complaints about the brutality of the government, he traveled to Vienna, where his family was located and remained there until the end of World War II. In 1945 he moved to Zell am See, where he lived until he was located by American troops in 1946. He was extradited to communist Yugoslavia in December 1946. In Zagreb he was sentenced to death on charge of war crimes, and executed on 7 June 1947.

• Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir with Swords - September 1943

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Chant|first=Christopher|year=2002|title=Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1|publisher=Osprey Publishing|ISBN=978-1-84176-376-7}}

• {{cite book|last=O'Connor|first=Martin|year=1994|title=Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914 - 1918|publisher=Flying Machines Press|ISBN=978-0-9637110-1-4}}

• Tko je tko u NDH, "Miroslav Navratil". Minerva. Zagreb, 1997.

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{{s-bef | before = Vilko Begić }}

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of the Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia| years = 1943–1944}}

{{s-aft | after = Ante Vokić}}

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{{Government of Independent State of Croatia}}

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Category:1893 births

Category:1947 deaths

Category:Military personnel from Sarajevo

Category:Austro-Hungarian World War I flying aces

Category:Croatian people of World War I

Category:Croatian soldiers

Category:Executed Croatian collaborators with Fascist Italy

Category:Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany

Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States military

Category:Croatian Home Guard personnel

Category:Government ministers of the Independent State of Croatia

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir

Category:Executed Bosnia and Herzegovina people

Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class

Category:Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina