Mato Dukovac

Who was Mato Dukovac?

Mato Dukovac was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, with 44 confirmed kills. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 and flew combat missions on the Eastern Front from October 1942 to February 1944. He defected to the Soviet Union on 20 September 1944, and was returned to Yugoslavia in November 1944. He worked as a flight instructor for the Yugoslav Air Force in Pančevo and Zadar before defecting to Italy in August 1945.

He left Italy in 1946 and became a captain in the Syrian Air Force. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he flew combat missions against Israel in an American T-6 Texan. Following the war, he emigrated to Canada and started a family there. He died in Toronto in September 1990.