Marko Mesić (30 September 1901 – 9 February 1982) was a decorated gunnery officer who served in the armies of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, and the SFR Yugoslavia. He is best known for being the final commander of Croatian legionnaires in World War II, serving in the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in the Battle of Stalingrad, and later joining Yugoslav People's Army. Early life Mesić was born in Bjelovar, Croatia (then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire), to Franjo and Katarina Mesić (née Blau). He received eight years of schooling in Pécs, Hungary; Karlovac, Croatia; and Maribor, Slovenia, before graduating as an artillery/gunnery officer at the Royal Yugoslav Military Academy in Belgrade. He served as an active commissioned officer in Royal Yugoslav Army artillery units until 1941. At the start of the April War, Mesić was artillery Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Royal Yugoslav Army artillery regiment serving in Niš, near the Bulgarian border. Croatian Legion After Nazi Germany defeated the Royal Yugoslav Army during the brief April War in 1941, Mesić joined the army of the Independent State of Croatia (a Nazi puppet state), the Croatian Home Guard, in Varaždin. He was promptly assigned to the 369th (Croatian) Reinforced Infantry Regiment (the "Croatian Legion"), a unit of the 100th Light Infantry Division, where he held the rank of lieutenant colonel of the artillery section. The Croatian Legion was formally a German Army (Wehrmacht) formation and was under full German command because the Independent State of Croatia never officially declared war on the Soviet Union. The regiment wore Croatian Home Guard uniforms. With Mesić as the artillery section commander, the 369th Regiment saw action against Russian forces in October 1941 after an exhausting 35-day, march to the village of Budinskaja. The 369th Regiment was highly successful in difficult battles during the winter of 1941 and in the following spring and summer. Due to illness, regiment commander Colonel Ivan Markulj was transferred back to Croatia and Mesić temporarily replaced him on 7 July 1942. Mesić was later replaced by a new commander, Colonel Viktor Pavičić. Division commander General Sanne commended Mesić's artillery section on 21 and 22 February 1942; on 23 February 1942, he awarded Mesić with the Iron Cross. The legion experienced its most difficult battles at Harkov when Mesić was the artillery commander, including a very costly two-day battle at kolhoz Proljet