Rudolf Čajavec: The Kakanj Pilot After Whom Household Appliances Were Named

Rudolf Rudi Čajavec is a partisan pilot who, along with Franjo Kluz, is considered one of the pioneers of partisan aviation, reports the news agency Patria.

He was born on April 1, 1911, in Kakanj. His father Pavo and mother Anka, besides Rudi, had a son Dragutin and daughters Paula and Olga.

Rudi completed high school, after which he continued his studies and graduated in law. He served in the military in Novi Sad. He left the army as an aviation second lieutenant-pilot. He worked in various institutions, and in 1939 he went to France, hoping to earn a doctorate in law at the Sorbonne. After the capitulation of France, he returned to the country and got a job in Split.

After the capitulation of Yugoslavia in April 1941, he was in Banja Luka as the head of the Colonization Office. He established contact with the National Liberation Movement, found a way to deliver ammunition, medical supplies, and information to the liberated territory.

At the Banja Luka airport, he connected with Franjo Kluz, a pilot, and aviation mechanic Milutin Jazbec, with whom he prepared a flight to the liberated territory. They succeeded in May 1942, landing a „Breguet 19“ aircraft at the Urije airport near Prijedor, among the partisans.

During his first combat flight on July 4, 1942, Rudi Čajavec dropped leaflets over Banja Luka and attacked the „Zalužani“ airport. In the final pass over the airport, Rudi was wounded by enemy anti-aircraft fire and failed to reach the liberated territory due to damage to the aircraft he was piloting. He made a forced landing near the village of Kadinjani. The enemy surrounded him. To avoid being captured alive, he committed suicide.

He was awarded the Commemorative Medal of 1941, the Order of the People's Hero, and the Order of Merit for the People with Golden Wreath.

The flight of Čajavec and Kluz was the inspiration for the war film “Partisan Squadron” which was made in 1979.

In memory of Rudi Čajavec, the street in Kakanj where he was born bears his name, and his bust is placed in the Museum of Kakanj. One of the former leading factories in the field of electrical industry in the former Yugoslavia also bore the name „Rudi Čajevac“.

During the existence of the SFRY, a postage stamp with the image of Čajavec and Kluz was printed, reports NAP.