Spaso Đ. IVANIŠEVIĆ

SPASO IVANIŠEVIĆ, son of ĐORĐE, born on September 16, 1921, in Lakiševine near Mostar*, a farmer. Member of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ). Joined the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments in April 1944, in the 3rd Battalion of the 13th Herzegovina Brigade. A fighter who served as a corporal for some time and later as a deputy platoon commander. According to preserved documentation, he successfully completed a non-commissioned officer course in November 1944. He was killed in action on the route from Ivan-sedlo to Blažuj and Igman on April 6, 1945.

The operational diary of the Brigade recorded an action in which Spaso participated with his unit on October 14, 1944:

“The dawn caught the battalions in movement behind enemy lines. Members of the Brigade Staff were with them, and during October 14, instead of the previous night, the 3rd Battalion attacked the enemy at Ostrog, the 1st Battalion at Čvaljina, and the 4th Battalion at Ravno. Fascists and Ustasha defended their positions firmly along the railway, as well as at Glavica above Orahovo Dol (…) In the early twilight of October 14, the battalions launched another assault, engaging in close combat, but the key position of Zavala remained in enemy hands. Therefore, it was necessary to eliminate the enemy at all costs on the hill above Zavala, which was almost impossible to approach. Prior to the final assault, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, Novica Kijac (…), called the fighters of this platoon at the break of dawn and asked them to destroy the bunkers on the fortified plateau. The fighters, in silence, placed hand grenades in their pouches, more saddened by the loss of Veljko Kuzman earlier that day during the retreat, rather than worried about how quickly they could eliminate the Ustasha stronghold. Commander Kijac was determined: his order had to be carried out. Platoon commanders Spaso Ivanišević and Novica Stajčić, with their fighters, eighteen grenade throwers wearing peasant shoes, approached the fortification from its most inaccessible side, passing rifles to each other to move upwards. Their advance was met with intense machine gun and mortar fire. Dozens of hand grenades suddenly exploded atop Ostrog. One blast destroyed the cauldron in which the Ustasha were cooking food, and its defenders tumbled down the slope toward Zavala Bay and the railway station (…).”

The following year, Spaso’s death was recorded as follows:

“Lying on the slopes of Igman, above Blažuj, were the 4th and 1st battalions, reinforced by one company from the 2nd battalion, and the 3rd battalion on the left, in front of Blažuj. The fighters had multiple clashes with isolated groups of German soldiers, repelling attacks even from stronger forces. During this time, Deputy Commander of the brigade, Maksim Bulut, who was among the fighters at the position, was wounded in the neck. A shell exploded near the members of the Staff of the 1st battalion, and shrapnel lodged in the left leg of Assistant Political Commissar Suljo Ćerimagić, whom Deputy Battalion Commander Boriša Mandić pulled to shelter. Battalion medical officer Azra Ćišić, known as ‘zbrojovka,’ bandaged the wound, and then the lightly wounded Party leader was carried by the strong courier Pavo Bigunac. They passed through a hail of bullets and reached the shelter of Laza Čvor, who, without being fully treated, voluntarily left the hospital and came to the battalion. On that day, several fighters were killed, including Spaso Ivanišević, the deputy commander of the 1st platoon of the 3rd battalion.”