Serbian Joan of Arc (Jovanka Orleanka)

Milunka Savic was born in Koprivnica near Rashka on June 24, 1890. At the beginning of the Balkan Wars in 1912, disguised as a man and as a volunteer, Milun Savic, becomes a soldier in the Drina Division. She cut off her hair and dressed as a man, went to war to be near her brother.

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Milunka was celebrated as a bomber of the Drina Division, as a fighter on the siege of Shkodra, as a bomber of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, by surviving the suffering of the Serbian army crossing through Albania. During the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki Front, she was extraordinarily ranked as an infantry sergeant and appointed as Commandant of the Forward Squad. That Milun, actually a woman, was discovered only after her first injuries, which was soon heard in the Serbian army.

At the beginning of the First World War it is again registered as a volunteer, as a member of the “Iron Regiment”. The commander of the regiment was Dimitrije Matic. At the same time in the unit of this regiment there were two brave heroines: Milunka Savić and Scotswoman Flora Sanders.

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It emerged in the fighting for Kajmakčalan, in the Battle of Crna Reka, when the “Iron Regiment” was joined by the 122nd French colonial division, captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers. Allied soldiers heard about her heroism, so they also got news about the brave Serbian girl Milunka Savic.In her honor, the elite allies and their flags fluttered for salutation. About the warrior Milunka Savic was written by a foreign allied press. After the war, she corresponded with the French war commanders: Emile Geprat and Louis François Depere. Despite fame and honors, she remained as modest as she was.

The most famous and bravest woman warrior in the First World War among the Serbs, received many Serbian and allied decorations: two Karadjordje stars with swords, Silver and Gold medals for the courage of Milosh Obilic, Monument to the Liberation Wars 1912-1913. Albanian monument, Monument for Liberation and Unification 1914-1918. Two French Order legions of honor, French order warrior cross with golden palm, Russian Orden Baptism of St. George Pobedonosca and others.

Due to heroism in the war, Serbian Joan of Arc was pronounced. Bravely and stoically, with his generation, he endured warfar.

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Milunka had her daughter and three more adopted. In addition, another 32 children were educated. This was because she had a salary, a disability allowance and a French salary with two legions of honor. In the spare time she was sewing for the army, where she was helped by the children.

Milunka Savic died in Belgrade on October 5, 1973. Today one street in Belgrade Street has her name.