28.12.2016.
Exhibition ‘Serbian Aviation in the Great War 1914-1918’ opens at the Museum of Aviation
In the round exhibition hall of the Belgrade Museum of Aviation, the exhibition ‘Serbian Aviation in the Great War 1914-1918’ by Predrag Lažetić, MSc, and Aleksandar Kolo has been opened today. Opening the exhibition, Minister of Defence Zoran Djordjević pointed out that, as one in a series of events dedicated to marking the jubilee of the centenary of the First World War, "the exhibition will revive and offer to the public an insight into the efforts of our military and pilots to defend the sky thus defending the freedom".- This is an opportunity, getting through photos, documents and numerous museum exhibits, to once again remember the Serbian brave persons and heroes, to remember the time in which it was a must and possible to be brave and wise, the time in which the foundations of freedom were laid. One hundred years later, freedom and honour of the Serbian people and the state rest on the spirits of the pilots whose personal items we have the opportunity to see here today. Reviving a part of their life and suffering, once again we honour both them and all the victims of the Great War, Minister Djordjević said.
According to him, the Belgrade Museum of Aviation and Museum of the Yugoslav Air Force asserted themselves in preserving the heritage of the Serbian aviation and by their everyday work and efforts they occupy a high place among the institutions of this kind in Europe.
- Ministry of Defence, as one of the leading founders of the Museum, endeavours for the Museum of Aviation to fit under the umbrella of the state and to have its status issue finally resolved. Today I am pleased to say that the solution to this problem is on the horizon. The Serbian government adopted the Conclusion on assuming the founder's rights in favour of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Defence will fulfil all obligations prescribed for it under such conclusion in order to finally solve this problem, Minister Djordjević said.
Acting Director of the Museum of Aviation, Čeda Milivojevic, thanked all the institutions that have collaborated in the realization of the exhibition, because the exhibition used materials and items from the Museum of Aviation, the Military Museum, the Archives of Serbia, the Historical Museum of Serbia, Belgrade City Museum and numerous private collections.
A student of the Fourth Belgrade Grammar School Mihajlo Djurić recited the poem "Two armies look at us" by writer Mladen St. Djuričić, which describes the struggle and courage of aviation student-sergeant Orestije Krstić who, brought to the Serbian command photographs of enemy positions accomplishing his assignment on an old biplane.
The exhibition covers the period from the creation of the Serbian aviation in 1912, its participation in the Balkan wars and the period of the First World War to victory in 1918.
The central part of the exhibition is a replica of the French fighter aircraft from the Salonika Front Njepor ХI with original engine and propeller. German and Allied aircraft engines which were also used on the Salonika front are also exposed, as well as works of art made by hands of Serbian pilots and their war diaries.
Special feature of this exhibition are personal belongings of Serbian pilots and scouts, including one that belonged to Sergeant Mihailo Petrovic, the first victim of the Serbian Air Force and Major Branko Vukosavljević, a fighter pilot and squadron commander on the Salonika front who downed the first enemy plane in the air battle and the first commander of the Air Force command of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
Fans of aviation will be able to see the exhibition ‘Serbian Aviation in the Great War 1914-1918’ until the end of 2018, within marking the jubilee of the centenary of the Great War.
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