SALIH ISLAMOVI\u0106, son of RAMO, born on March 30, 1910, in Prozor. A lieutenant in the Royal Yugoslav Army, a pilot (graduated in 1930), he completed the Air Force Noncommissioned Officer School, as well as pilot and fighter pilot schools. He lived in Mostar until the capitulation of Yugoslavia. With a group of NDH (Independent State of Croatia) airmen, he defected on June 9, 1942, from Rajlovac to Turkey, from where he moved to the Middle East, where he received additional training within the ranks of the Allied forces. He fought as a Yugoslav pilot in the British RAF until the formation of the Yugoslav Partisans Air Force (Vazduhoplovstvo NOVJ), when he joined the First Squadron of NOVJ. The squadron was established on April 22, 1944, in North Africa and was part of the 352nd RAF Squadron. Yugoslav pilots trained on Harvard aircraft and later on Hurricane MK II Cs. He died in an unfortunate accident during training on May 3, 1944, in Benina near Benghazi in Libya, colliding in mid-air with pilot Aleksandar N. Markovi\u0107. He was buried at the military cemetery in Benghazi, Libya, at Location 3, Row A, Grave No. 16. His wife Selveta Islamovi\u0107 was arrested after his escape and sent to the concentration camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EXCERPT FROM LITERATURE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The good mood turned into genuine enthusiasm when our first two pilots sat in what were now our planes. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was short-lived. Pilots Markovi\u0107 and Islamovi\u0107, although experienced aerial fighters from the Middle East, performed several daring maneuvers after takeoff, but at one point, they collided and crashed to the ground. We were accustomed to the deaths of our comrades and aware of the fact that one could die in aviation without combat. However, this catastrophe left us with a painful impression: we had not even started flying, and already there were two heavy casualties.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “We arrived in Benina late at night. The camp was prepared for us, and the tents were set up. Several hundred of our aviators who had earlier separated from the refugee government and chosen the Partisans welcomed us there. Among them were Mileta Proti\u0107, Ratko Jovanovi\u0107, and Aleksandar Markovi\u0107. We saw the lined-up ‘Hurricanes’ that we received from the allies. These were the planes on which our mechanics would paint the five-pointed stars and our tricolor flag. In the afternoon, we attended a gathering that was exceptionally well received by our new comrades, particularly enthused by our war songs. In the evening, we gathered in front of the tents and talked for a long time – we shared stories with them about many events from the National Liberation Struggle, and they shared stories with us about the manipulations of the refugee government and the king. The next day was a flying day, and after the usual preparations, the group of ‘Hurricanes’ took off, soaring above our heads in a low flight formation. Right before our eyes, an unfortunate event occurred: the group leader, Aleksandar Markovi\u0107, collided with his wingman Salih Islamovi\u0107, and due to their low altitude, there was no possibility for them to bail out. They were buried at the military cemetery in Benghazi, far from their beloved homeland. This accident deeply affected us.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “The next day, we inspected the lined-up ‘Spitfires,’ the combat aircraft of our first squadron, whose birth was imminent. On May 3, our first trio took to the sky. With satisfaction and immense enthusiasm, we watched the harmonious maneuvers of formation flying. Captain Aleksandar Markovi\u0107 as the group leader, Lieutenant Salih Islamovi\u0107, and Milan Srdanovi\u0107 as wingmen. They amazed us with their flying techniques. We were visibly excited. However, all it took was one fateful moment, and our breaths were taken away – the group leader, Markovi\u0107, and his wingman, Islamovi\u0107, collided during a formation change. Right before our eyes, two precious and irreplaceable lives were extinguished. Involuntarily, the thought came to us: Must every beginning be accompanied by the sacrifice of the best? \u010cajavec in 1942, the Livanj victims in 1943, and now this.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SALIH ISLAMOVI\u0106, son of RAMO, born on March 30, 1910, in Prozor. A lieutenant in the Royal Yugoslav Army, a pilot (graduated in 1930), he completed the Air Force Noncommissioned Officer School, as well as pilot and fighter pilot schools. He lived in Mostar until the capitulation of Yugoslavia. With a group of NDH (Independent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11387,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[318,336],"tags":[330,408],"prezime":[407],"class_list":["post-12642","partizan","type-partizan","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-26-35-g-en","category-poginuli-1944-en","tag-foto-en","tag-piloti-en","prezime-i-en","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"ptb_metabox":{"ptb_partizan_izvori":" http:\/\/www.rafcommands.com\/archive\/03955.php<\/a> ; <\/em>http:\/\/www.vojska.net\/eng\/world-war-2\/yugoslavia\/airforce\/squadron\/fighter\/1\/<\/a> ; https:\/\/otpisani.niceboard.com\/t349-stvaranje-i-razvoj-vazduhoplovstva-novj-1942-1945<\/a> ; https:\/\/www.mycity-military.com\/Drugi-svetski-rat\/Stvaranje-i-razvoj-vazduhoplovstva-NOVJ-1942-1945.html<\/a> ; grupa autora: Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.;\u00a0Predrag Pejcic: PRVA I DRUGA ESKADRILA NOVJ (znaci.org);\u00a0<\/a>Vazduhoplovstvo u narodnooslobodila\u010dkom ratu Jugoslavije<\/a>, izdanje komande ratnog vazduhoplovstva, Zemun 1965.<\/p>\r\n http:\/\/istorijskenovine.unilib.rs\/view\/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00001_19300314|page:19|query:%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B%20%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%85<\/a>; https:\/\/wingsofserbia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Savoia-Marchetti-SM.79-The-Yugoslav-Story-Sample-Pages.pdf<\/a> ; \u010ceki\u0107, Smail (1996): Genocid nad Bo\u0161njacima u Drugom svjetskom ratu<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Photo of the memorial plaque<\/em>: S. Demirovi\u0107.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n We thank the Aviation Museum in Belgrade for the material provided. <\/span><\/p>\r\n We also thank the contributors from the Commonwealth War Cemeteries Commission for providing information which was not available at the time of accessing the website. According to the Commission: \"Lieutenant Islamovi\u0107 served in the Yugoslav Air Force, which falls under the classification of foreign nationals, which we do not display on our website.\"<\/span><\/p>","ptb_partizan_datum_rodzenja":"(1910. Prozor \u2013 1944. 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Islamovi\u0107, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," card of pilot Salih R. Islamovi\u0107, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," card of pilot Salih R. Islamovi\u0107, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," card of pilot Salih R. Islamovi\u0107, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," At Lete Airport (North Africa - Libya), in May 1944, members of the First Fighter Squadron NOVJ took the oath before the authorized representative of Marshal Tito, Colonel Franjo Pirc, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," Pilots of the First Fighter Squadron NOVJ with their leaders, after taking the oath at the Lete airport in May 1944, Source: Aviation Museum in Belgrade"," a group of airmen in Benghazi"," military cemetery in Benghazi"," confirmation from the Commonwealth War Cemeteries Commission about the exact location of Salih Islamovi\u0107's grave"," Grave of Salih Islamovi\u0107 at the military cemetery in Benghazi, Source: Air Force Museum in Belgrade","Du\u0161an \u0106irovi\u0107, \"Vazduhoplovne \u017ertve 1913 1945\", short bio of Salih Islamovi\u0107"],"description":["","","","","","","","","","","",""]},"ptb_partizan_poruka_":"Do you have more information about this fighter? Share<\/a> your stories and photographs. Let's keep the memory alive!","ptb_partizan_ploca":{"1":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Islamovic-Salih-IMG_3059-rotated.jpg","2":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Islamovic-Salih-IMG_3059-rotated.jpg"},"ptb_partizan_spisak_info":["partizan_spisak_info_1","partizan_spisak_info_3"]},"ptb_taxonomy":{"category":[{"term_id":318,"name":"26-35 y\/o","slug":"26-35-g-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":318,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":160,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":336,"name":"died in 1944","slug":"poginuli-1944-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":336,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":159,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":330,"name":"foto","slug":"foto-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":330,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":288,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":408,"name":"Mostar's pilots on Partizans Memorial","slug":"piloti-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":408,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"Five airmen who served at the Mostar Airport joined the resistance movement - four continued the fight against fascism as part of the Allied aviation, while one of them worked as an intelligence officer in the heart of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH)! Read about them here.\r\n\r\nSource: We thank the Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade for providing the information.","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"}],"prezime":[{"term_id":407,"name":"I","slug":"i-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":407,"taxonomy":"prezime","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw"}]},"ptb_featured_image":{"url":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Islamovic-R-Salih.jpg","title":"Islamovi\u0107 R Salih","caption":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/12642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/partizan"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/12642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18261,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/12642\/revisions\/18261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12642"},{"taxonomy":"prezime","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prezime?post=12642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}