Milorad Petrović

Milorad Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милорад Петровић; 18 April 1882 – 12 June 1981) was an Army Generalin the Royal Yugoslav Army who commanded the 1st Army Group during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia of April 1941 during World War II.

Petrović was born on 18 April 1882 in Sumrakovac, Principality of Serbia. He joined the Royal Serbian Army in 1899, attending the Military Academy until 1901, when he was commissioned in the rank of poručnik (lieutenant). His initial posting to the 15th Infantry Regiment was followed by stints at the Musketry School and the 18th Infantry Regiment. On 4 October 1908 he was appointed to command a company of the 4th Infantry Regiment. At the beginning of the First Balkan War in 1912 he was appointed an orderly officer at the Supreme Command, and during that year was promoted to the rank of kapetan prve klase (captain first class). The following year he was moved to the operations section of the Supreme Command, and remained in this position until the end of the Second Balkan War. During 1913 he was promoted to major and commanded troops at the railway station in Skopje during an Albanian revolt.

Petrović commanded the 1st Army Group during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia of April 1941. Petrović's command consisted of the 4th Army of Armijski đeneral Petar Nedeljković, responsible for the Yugoslav-Hungarian border and deployed behind the Drava between Varazdin and Slatina, and the 7th Army of General Dušan Trifunović, which was responsible for the defence of the northwestern border with Italy and the Third Reich. Petrović's Army Group Reserve was located around and to the south of Zagreb.