Guljanič, Mikuláš

Air Force Major, Colonel in reserve Mikulas Guljanic

SVZ officer, deployed several times on the Eastern Front, commander of the 3rd Czechoslovak Battalion in the USSR, an important personality in the history of Slovak aviation.



Mikuláš Guljanič was born on 9 December 1907 in Zarič. He attended gymnasium, which he graduated from in 1925. After five semesters of veterinary school he left for the army. He was conscripted on 2.4.1928 in Chust.


In Košice in 1929 he graduated from the Light Artillery School and on 16 July 1929 he was promoted to the rank of corporal aspirant. He served in Artillery Regiment 12 in Uzhhorod. He soon applied to study at the Military Academy in Hranice, which he attended from 30 September 1929 to 31 July 1932 and successfully graduated as a Lieutenant of Artillery. He served in the artillery. Regiment 103 in Terezín, in Šamorín at gun. 83 from 30.9.1934.


After joining the army, he continuously improved his qualifications and completed many courses at his request (2.10.1933 - 27.7.1934 application artillery course in Olomouc; 4.3.1935 - 6.4.1935 anti-aircraft course for artillery officers in Milovice). He also excelled in natural intelligence, for example he knew eight languages (Czech, Slovak, Ruthenian, Russian, French, Hungarian and Latin).


On his own request, he was enrolled on 1.8.1935 in a course for aerial observers at the military school in Olomouc, which he completed on 31.10.1935. From 1.11.1935 he was transferred to Squadron 15 at Vajnory airfield, where he served as an artillery air observer. On 1.10.1936 he was appointed as a field artillery air observer, from 1.7.1937 also as a night-flying airman. He was transferred to the air force officers on 31.12.1936. From the new year 1937 he was transferred to Observation Squadron 15 at Air Regiment 3 of General-flyer M.R. Štefánik.Air Regiment 3 of General-flyer M.R. Štefánik.


On 25.4.1938 he was transferred to Hradec Králové, where he served as an aerial observer of the Chetnik Air Patrol. During the mobilization in September 1938, he served in Squadron 4 Aviation Regiment 1 of T. G. Masaryk. He also demonstrated his great flying skills by flying under the Bechyně Bridge. Then he performed service tasks in the territory of Subcarpathian Rus. After the dissolution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, he returned to Podkarpattia Rus to Chust, but in March 1939 he went back to Slovakia, where he applied for Slovak citizenship and for admission to the army. At that time, the newly established Slovak Air Force was weakened by Czech pilots and ground personnel who had to leave for the Protectorate. Border skirmishes with Hungary were also beginning to proliferate, and so Guljanič was sent to observation squadron 13 in Spišská Nová Ves during this difficult time. During the Hungarian-Slovak battles, Guljanič distinguished himself many times. Of the three Š-328 and three B-534 that were to raid Uzhhorod airfield, only Guljanič returned to Spišská Nová Ves. A large financial reward was allegedly put on his person by the Hungarian side. After the end of the fighting, he was transferred to Nitra on 15 May 1939, where he took command of Squadron 9.


After the reorganization of the air force at the turn of 39-40, Squadron 9 was Squadron 3, with which he stayed until the end of May 1940. After that he was promoted as a centurion of the squadron. He was transferred to Squadron 1 and made commander of Squadron I. On 30 September 1940 he was transferred to Air Weapons Command, where he remained until 31 January 1941. From there he was transferred to the Air Regiment and a day later he was appointed commander of the air company at the Piešt'any airfield. There, while on duty, he was put into pilot training and on 1.7.1941 was appointed a pilot-airman. From 9.8.1941 to 3.11.1941, in addition to the post of commander of the aviation company, he also held the post of I. adjutant to the regimental commander. 1.2.1942 he was appointed temporary commander of Perute I.


After Major Ďurčanský, the commander of the SVZ at Zaisťvacej divisions, was wounded by partisans on August 6, 1942, the choice for his deputy fell on Guljanič. He flew from Spiššská Nová Ves to his new place of work in Žitomir on 14 August.He held the post only until 29 October 1942, when he handed it over to Colonel Let. J. Ďuran. On the same day he took command of Squadron 11 in the field, which he commanded until 30.4.1943. After his return to Slovakia he commanded an aviation company (from 1.6.1943 technical squadron). On 1.7.1943 he was appointed a field pilot.


On July 2, 1943 he was awarded the For Heroism II.degree. On 7.8.1943 he was appointed Perut I commander at Spišská Nová Ves airfield, transferred to Squadron 2, of which he became commander on 31.01.1944. Like many leaders of the Slovak Air Force, he maintained an anti-German stance and became involved in the preparations for the SNP. After its outbreak, he flew on 31 August 1944 on Kl 35D together with Rtk. Jakab from Spišská Nová Ves to Prešov, with the intention of discussing the further progress of the air force in the uprising. In the meantime, however, the Presov airfield had been abandoned by its crew, so Guljanič flew straight to the Soviets, where he joined other Czechoslovak military units in the USSR.


However, his flight to the Soviet side thwarted plans to use five Ju 87 dive-bombers, which were secretly flown from Piešt'any to Spišská Nová Ves on 24 July 1944. Guljanič, as the commander of the airfield, was one of the few people who knew about their presence. However, it is questionable whether the pilots would have been able to master the Ju 87 piloting technique without intensive training. Not to mention that the machines were incomplete in terms of equipment and armament, which was contributed to by the lack (or non-delivery) of spare parts. From 19.12.1944 Guljanic was appointed commander of the 3rd Czechoslovak Battalion in the USSR armed with Il-2 aircraft. He oversaw the speedy completion of retraining and the earliest possible deployment to the front. In cooperation with 1st Czechoslovak Fighter Regiment, he eventually took part in the operations to liberate Moravia, Ostrava...


On 14 May 1945, he finally landed at the head of the 3rd Czechoslovak Battalion at the airfield in Kbeloch. In the post-war air force he taught from October 1945 at the military academy in Hradec Králové. On 1 July 1952 he was suddenly released to the reserve. The reason was his former affiliation to the Slovak Air Force, the army justified it as a consequence of the army reorganization.


After his discharge from the army, Guljanič eventually completed his studies in veterinary medicine, which he interrupted due to his military career. In 1966 he moved to Prague, where he was employed as a tourist guide. He finally retired in 1977 and died in Prague on 22 June 1992 at the age of 84.

author's archive
Bystrický,Šumichrast - Letka 13 in documents and pictures; Magnet press 2004; ISBN 80-89169-02-3
Rajlich, Sehnal - Slovenští letci 1939-1945; Kolínske noviny Publishing House 1991
Kliment - Slovak Army 1939-1945; Mustang 1996; ISBN 80-7191-132-1
Šumichrast, Klabaník - Slovak Air Force 1939-1944,Volume 2; Magnet-Press 2000; ISBN: 80-968073-6-6
Military Personalities of the Czechoslovak Resistance; Prague 2005; ISBN 80-7278-233-9
František Fajtl - Opäť doma; Pravda Publishing House 1989; 1st edition
Edition Triad-Brist. Beaufighter/MiG-19/Š-328 - collective of authors; Naše Vojsko1991; ISBN 80-206-0203-8
Šumichrast, Peter: Plukovník letectva Mikuláš Guljanič, Obrana 2012 / 09


website: www.geocities.com
photo: archiv.radio.cz
Edit by Janko Paliga (added by 2012 / 09)

15.3.1948 byl jmenován velitelem Výcvikové peruti LVA s detašmánem v Malackách


léto 1948 přesunul se do Pardubic, kde zastával funkci velitele výcvikové peruti




Zdroj: http://www.pavpec.info/lva.html

Zľava colonel. Beckovský, col. Pavel Kocfelda, col. Nicholas Guljanič.

Source:
gonzoaviation.blogspot.cz.