Draft:Anđelko Stanković (Chetnik)

Anđelko Stanković, standing atop of the row

Anđelko Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: Анђелко Станковић; Gevgelija, Ottoman Empire, now North Macedonia, 1888 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia, after 1908) was a Serbian Chetnik commander (voivode) in the Macedonian Struggle.

He is remembered as the creator of the popular war song that speaks of an impending danger that awaits all warriors -- Spremte se, spremte se Četnici teška će borba da bude ("Get ready, get ready Chetniks, a tough battle it will be") -- which he sang immediately after defeating the Ottoman Turks and their Arbanas vassals in the village of Drenovo. There while celebrating the victory, he sang his newly-composed lyrics to the song entitled: Srpska my truba zatrubi vo tova selo Drenevo ("Serbian trumpet plays for me all the way to the village of Drenovo").

Life

In his mid-teens, he first worked as a messenger for the Serbian Chetnik Organization in the region between the Vardar and Pčinja before taking up arms to become a guerrilla-fighter and a revolutionary in the Macedonian Struggle. Unable to complete his formal high school education, due to unexpected skirmishes with the enemy, Stanković turned to self-education by reading books. He was musically inclined and led choirs among the chetas before and after entering the fray if they lived that long? He also wrote lyrics.

Spasovdan or Ascension Day

The Battle of Drenovo took place on Spasovdan  (Ascension Day) on 9 June 1907 in the village of Drenovo, near Veles, then an integral part of the Ottoman Empire.

On Easter, 31 March 1907, Mitar Šešljija, the director of Serbian schools in the Veles, North Macedonia region, informed the competent dukes Jovan Babunski and Vasilije Trbić in writing about the decision made at the meeting of the Skopje board, which was also attended by Consul General Živojin Balugdžić. In the decision, he demanded that the Serbian Prekovardarie, western Vardar companies break out on the Vardar valley as soon as possible, establish a connection with Rudnik, and thus with eastern Povardarie.

The most favourable way for the execution of this task led towards the Bulgarian-occupied village of Drenovo, which was surrounded by Arnaut (Albanian) populated villages of Dejkovec, Gornja Jabolčište, Donja Jabolčište and the Turkish-occupied village of Gornje Vranovce. The Bulgarian dukes Dacho from Bistrica and warlord Stefan Dimitrov-Vardarac from Gradsko, both with eight komitas, took refuge in such sheltered Drenovo. Their intention was to welcome the village celebration of Spasovdan in Drenovo and avoid the revenge of the Serbian companies for the previously committed crimes. Stefan Dimitrov, who, like a highway robber, robbed and beat up Serbs from Azot, became especially famous for murdering surrendered prisoners. In addition, his company killed two Serbs, one on the way to Bogomila, and the other in the Kapinovo mill. They also tried to kill the Serbian priest Ignjat Popović on the way to Teovo.

For the attack on Drenovo, in addition to the Trbić company, Babunski also hired village Chetniks from Bogomila and Teovo, which amounted to 40 people. In order to pass smoothly through the Arnaut villages, the Chetniks changed into Arnaut clothes, which they got from Kičevo. Also, they decided to attack Drenovo during the day, since the Bulgarians did not post guards at that time. In the afternoon of 9 June 1907, they entered the village. The people of Drenova, thinking that they had Arnauts in front of them, did not take out their weapons. When the Serbian troops found out in which house the Komita bands of Bulgarian irredentists who were hiding, they surrounded the house and attacked it from the surrounding houses. A mutual shooting out ensued. Some Chetniks managed to climb onto the roof and set fire to the house. The Bulgarians moved to another house under the protection of smoke and the fight continued. Since the second house was also set on fire and the flaming ceiling beams began to fall on them, the Komitas (Bulgarian irredentists) decided to storm their way through after a four-hour fight. In this attempt, everyone was killed, except for two who surrendered and who were later killed after evidence showed that they were accomplices in the murders at the Kapinovo mill and on the Bogomil road. The Serbs had only one wounded in this battle - Trbić's Chetnik Donče from Oraov Dol. From this struggle arose the Chetnik anthem Sprem te se, sprem te se Četnici ("Get ready, get ready Chetniks"), which was also sung in the Second World War with slightly modified lyrics.

The result

The Battle of Drenovo, which destroyed the Bulgarian organization in western Povardarie, was the last major conflict with Bulgarian troops until the Second Balkan War. Later Bulgarian attempts to insert new companies across the Vardar were defeated by the Turkish army. This was the case with the large Bulgarian company on the Nikodim mountain (June 25) and the destruction of the large combined company of the Bulgarian warlords Dimitar Mirchev (1865-1938), Mihail Chakov (1873-1938), Alabak and Dimitar Velkov (1878-unknown) on 17 June 1907 near Veles.

Legacy

His song became popular during the Second World War with the loyal Chetniks of Dragoljub Mihailovich, the official deputy minister of war of the Royal Yugoslav government-in-exile then in London. With the usurpation of the ancien Yugoslav regime in 1945 by the communists, the Serbian émigrés in the diaspora found solace in the song.

References

• Translated from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr-ec/%D0%91%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0