Petty Officer - Gunner 3739/39 Aleksandar Ninčić

BMD details:
D.O.B 07/10/1923

Notes:
Not on CWGC. Age taken from St Helens Deceased Search

Alexander (as cadet) decided to join the group of 126 who fought under the command of the British Mediterranean fleet, with the flag of their homeland. He was 17. He sailed on the torpedo boat "Durmitor". He was wounded 21.07.1943. in Alexandria. [center][pic2]imgs/WW2_Men/AlexNincic.jpg[/pic2][/center] [box] The Durmitor was one of the Orjen-class of eight motor Torpedo Boats built for the Royal Yugoslave Navy. At the start of the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, two boats (Surmitor and Kajmakalen) managed to escape to Alexandria in Egypt where they continued serving with the Allied forces. It was on this boat that Alecsander Nincic managed to escape to join up with Allied forces fighting in the Mediterranean. After the end of the war, Durmitor and Kajmakalan, along with other ships and personnel in exile, returned to the port of Sibenkin on the Adriatic in May 1945. The story of the escape of the Durmitor and Kajmakalan is very dramatic. They left port in the Adriatic as the terms of the surrender and handover of the Yugoslav navy were being finalised. Heavily overloaded with officers and men who were intent to fight on, they slipped away not unnoticed, to play a cat and mouse game with the Italian fleet. In the darkness, a line of destroyers, eleven in all, were sighted ahead. Unable to clearly identify them, the captain knew that he could not attack as he was vastly outnumbered by superior forces. The speed of the new Italian destroyers varied between 35 and 40 knots. The utmost speed of the two vastly overloaded Torpedo boats was at best 29 knots, so there was no chance of flight. As they approached. the lead Italian destroyer immediately made a challenge with her signal lamp. There seemed to be no hope but the captain stood on and as the flickering signal lamp fished the challenge, he had an inspirational moment of courage, immediately ordering his signal man to reply the signal to the [b]second[/b] destroyer in the line. At the same time he manoeuvered his ships through the Italian line as this ship seemed to obediently reply. He then ordered a reply to the lead Italian ship and so on. By the time the Italians had figured out the ruse they were long gone into the pitch darkness. The danger was not yet over, however, as a second flotilla of destroyers and escort craft had been sent out further south to search for them. South of Valona they met, but the captain, now confident in the apparent stupidity of the enemy, immediately engaged with the signal lamps, playing the same complex and bold strategy. Again, he sailed straight through and headed on. There are few stories to match this in the history of naval ruses and boldness; it was a master trick. The two ships continued to sail south, creeping around the coast of Greece, dodging enemy air attack until they finally reached the allied port of Suda Bay in Crete. Two days later they were joined by one old submarine and eleven sea planes of the Yugoslav Fleet Air Arm - all that was left of the Yugoslav "Free Navy". There was no rest period, however, as the senior naval commander at Suda Bay found himself with a convoy bound for Alexandria on his hands, with no vessels to escort it. The maximum speed of the lumbering freighters was a mere 9 knots and there would be a constant threat from stukas. He asked if the Yugoslavs would be prepared to escort the convey, to which they agreed, a compromise being that they leave in darkness and that the MTBs would catch up to them before dawn. On the journey they constantly needed to adjust respective speeds to match each other and to scan the skies for air attacks, but they made it through. One they had arrived in port they immediately fell under orders of the Royal Navy, forming part of the Mediterranean fleet under Sir Andrew Cunningham. Without delay, they set about patrolling approaces to the harbour, searching for any incoming intruders, whilst the sea planes did the same from the air, but at greater distance. Their boats and aircraft had no replacement crews, only the personnel that they had brought with them in their perilous journey. Aleksander Nincic would have made this incredible journey as a 17 year old cadet. [right](Story researched and written by Jeff Keenan)[/right][/box] [pic]imgs/sppics//Durmitor.jpg[/pic] [quote]I try to face it with a long family tragedy. My great-grandmother had lost her son in World War II.His name: Aleksandar ( in eng. Alexander ) Nincic, born in 07/10/1923. in Titov Veles. In death certificate is written that he died in Prescot county of Lancashire, England She never found out where he was buried. Thaks to Gerry Ryder, Rainhill Civic Society I found out. He was war hero but his country in that time did not recognize it although he was P.O. Gunner in Royal Yugoslav Navy. His official number was 3739/39. He was 07/21/1943 wounded. in Alexandria and operated in the Royal Navy Hospital Bighi (RNH Bighi), Malta. As a result of wounds (shrapnel extracted from left shoulder blade and ribs) and poor conditions of falling ill with tuberculosis and infected left lung. The doctor from a hospital in Malta did not recommend the return in 1945 to Yugoslavia. He was sent to England ( ship "SSOHIO"where he died in Aux. Hospital Rainhill, Lancashire. He was buried sec 50/ grave 413. Courtesy Ivana Mihailovic [/quote] [pic]imgs/WW1_misc/AlexandaNincic_1.jpg[/pic][caption]UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW2_headstones/alekandernincic4.jpg[/pic] [pic]imgs/WW2_headstones/alekandernincic1.jpg[/pic] [pic]imgs/WW2_headstones/373939AleksandarNincic.jpg[/pic] [caption]The headstone of Petty Officer Aleksandar Nincic at St Helens Cemetery before and after the ceremony 6th Feb 2017.[/caption] [u][b][url=http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/14551260.Family_of_Yugoslavian_soldier_ecstatic_to_discover_grave_at_St_Helens_Cemetery]Story From The St Helens Star[/url][/b][/u]