12.04.2019.
Commemoration of the 78th Anniversary of the Heroism of the Crew of Monitor “Drava”
Members of the River Flotilla commemorated the seventy eighth anniversary of heroic resistance to fascist aggressor and sinking of the Yugoslav Royal Navy monitor “Drava” with the entire crew, led by their Commander, the officer of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant Aleksandar Berić.
At the local cemetery of a village in Srem called Belegiš, at the resting place of Aleksandar Berić, sailors, relatives, villagers and the fourth grade pupils of the primary school “Vera Mišćević” paid homage to the Commander wreathed in glory. A delegation of the River Flotilla led by Captain Željko Skokić laid a wreath at the memorial bust of the April War hero.After that, at the place of sinking, with the sounds of ship siren and volleys from ship cannons, and honorary salute of the ship guard, Colonel Dragan Bojić, Deputy Commander of the River Flotilla, Commander Smiljan Ružić and granddaughter of Aleksandar Berić, Biljana Milosavljević laid a wreath in the water of the Danube.
Lieutenant Dragan Spasojević spoke to the present about the confrontation of the ship crew to far more numerous aggressor and their honourable sacrifice, when on 12th April 1941, on the 1287th kilometre of the Danube waterway, the monitor Commander, together with his ship and 78 crew members sank to the bottom of the Danube.The religious service to the Commander and sailors was held by Captain Selimir Vagić, military chaplain of the River Flotilla together with priests from Titel.
