SLOVENIA
Spanish Civil War
Fuerza Aérea de la República Española
NAME VICTORIES UNITS COMMENTS Križaj, Josip 3 esc España, 2a esc Lafayette, 1a esc 1.
Comments:
- Some sources present that Josip Križaj was of Italian origin (Emiliani,
Angelo: Italiani Nell'Aviazione Repubblicana Spagnola, Edizioni
Aeronautiche Italiane S. r.l., 1980; Šnajdr, M.: Dewoitine D.371 a D.372,
part two, in Historie a plastikové modelářství, No. 06, 2005). But he was born
on 13. 3. 1911 in Kopriva near Sežana on Karst, Slovenia and is of Slovenian
origin, not Italian.
Italy occupied in 1921 large part of land, which belonged to Kingdom of Yugoslavia (large part of western Slovenia, Istria, Dalmatia and some islands). His original name was Josip Križaj, but during fascist occupation all Slavic names were italianized and his name was changed to Giuseppe Krizai.
In Capua (Neaples) he has finished a training for a pilot. Since he was a patriot Slovene, he was not accepted well in the military, so in 1931 he moved to Ajdovscina (at the time under occupation of Italy), but he still couldn't find a job. On 25th June 1932, he decided to fly away during the training-flight with Fiat AS.I to Ljubljana, Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Since August 1936 to 1938 he took part in Spanish civil war in the ranks of Fuerza Aérea de la República Española. He supposedly achieved three confirmed kills during this war. Unfortunately closer information are not at our disposal so this cannot be neither confirmed nor disproved. During the war he used José Antonio Galiasso as the nom de guerre.
After the return from Spain he settled in Zemun, Serbia. Here he got married and survived whole World War II. In 1944 he entered the newly established Yugoslavian Air Force - Narodno Oslobodilačka Vojska Jugoslavije / National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.
He died on 8th October 1948, when he crashed with his Yak-9 on the slopes of Sneznik mountain.
 |
|---|
| Josip Križaj 3 victories |
Nieuport-Delage NiD-52C1, esc España, Barakhas, August 1936.
Dewoitine D.371 No.16, 1a Escuadrilla, Grupo 71, pilot Giuseppe Krizai.
Sources & Literature
- Researcher Dalibor Jovanovic
- Researcher Damir Stanzer
- Абросов, Сергей Владимирович: В небе Испании 1936-1939 годы, Издательство: г.Москва, без издательства, 2003.
- Абросов, Сергей Владимирович: Воздушная война в Испании. Хроника воздушных сражений 1936-1939 гг., Издатель: Яуза, Эксмо, 2008.
- Emiliani, Angelo: Italiani Nell'Aviazione Repubblicana Spagnola, Edizioni Aeronautiche Italiane S.r.l., 1980.
- Flores, Santiago A.: Victorias Aereas Republicanas Nacionalistas, Julio 1936 – Noviembre 1936 Por Pilotos Espanoles Y Pilotos Voluntarios, 2012.
- Matyáš, Svatopluk: Stíhačky nad Španělskem 1936 - 1939, Svět křídel, Cheb 1998.
- Matyáš, Svatopluk: Na křídlech Španělské republiky 1936 – 1939 Svět křídel, Cheb, 2014. ISBN: 978-80-87567-44-9
- Polák, T.: Esa meziválečného období - Part II, in Plastic Kits revue, No. 44, 1995.
- Šnajdr, M.: Dewoitine D.371 a D.372, part two, in Historie a plastikové modelářství, No. 06, 2005.
- Šnajdr, Miroslav: Dewoitine D.371, in Military Revue, No. 07, 2010.
- Жирохов, Михаил Александрович - Пруцаков, М.: «Красный» итальянец [И.Кризай], in Авиация и Время, №2, 2003.
- Josip Križaj, http://users.volja.net/mojanoga/jkrizaj.asp. [out of order]
- Josip Križaj, Wikipedija Prosta enciklopedija, http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Križaj.
- Josip (Giuseppe) Krizaj, Piloto de la República, http://www.network54.com/Forum/394728/message/....
- Krizaj Giuseppe, http://www.asso4stormo.it/arc2/kri/kri.htm.
