Wonderfull, perhaps you will find something there. Keep me posted. Did you manage to download the letter template?

Yes I have sent out letters to the archives and have just e-mailed the associations headquarters in London to see if they can shed light on this mystery. One thing does bother me though - the local asociation said that the name of my grandfather does not relate to Serbia and was indeed very unusual despite everything on paper, even his brass cap badge and photographs with both the king and mihailovic we have pointing to Serbia and the few things that he did speak about during his life. We do know that many of the Serbs coming to the UK after the war did give incorrect dates of birth etc to make them appear younger to aid their chances of employment. Could this be a false name? If so would not a more rational name have been used? - One of his friends from Serbia did always say to my mother that the paperwork did not tally?

Well there are a lot of Serbs that live outside of Serbia proper, e.g. Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia. Most Serbs from Serbia are not well known with the surnames from Serbs from those regions and to some they may even sound foreign. What would be perfect is to find someone who knew your grandfather personally and who knows if the name is real or not. The name does excist, question is what data on the forms is real and what is not.

Unfortunately the last of the "community" died last year. His name was (pronounced in English) Larza Eracovic. He was a teenager when he arrived in the UK and my grandfather treat him as a son. It was him that gave my mother directions to the village from Makarska following my grandfathers death. Larza was definately from northern Montenegro.Other friends of his were a man called Milan K(crilic) and a forename of something sounding like the English Blargo. My father rememebers once in the 1960's being taken by my grandfather to a Public House (bar) in a local city (Wakefield) which was the centre of the local Serbian Community. He recalls that when my granfather entered, everyone seated stood simutaionasly and in turn shook my grandfathers hand. Another thing - back in 1984 he wanted to write a book - he was to record it on tape and I was to type the manuscript. He said tat the title would be "Displaced People" and that it would open peoples eyes, especially with regards our own ww2 leader Winston Churchill. Unfortunately as a teenager I was more interested in my own life. Pity.

Probably Breanna / Brianna is village Brinje near Otočac in Croatia. From this area are last names Čulumović and Ćulinović.

Yes it would be worthwhile to check the baptismal books out. Andy you could contact the LDS family history library center in London. They have microfilms, saves the tips and letter writing

Brillian - Checked out Brinje, although this appears much larger than what my mother as told me there is another Brinje shown on a detailed map about 1-2 miles away. The distance too from Makarska fits pretty well - Thankyou

I too believe that you should look into Brinje - it is in Lika, not far from Plitvice lakes and waterfalls, Serbian villages were razed to the ground in 1941. and there are Culumovic from this area... And the area is predominantly Croatian recently so it explains why would your mother and father need to lie to the police.

Does name of Momcilo Djujic rings a bell, as it is most likely that your grandafther was in his military units, rather than in units of Draza Mihajlovic ?

Thanks - Brinje is now looking a real possibility. Draza Mihajlovic though is the only name he ever spoke about. Plitvice, again ties in with what he told my parents to say if thet were questioned - he said to say that they were tourists seeking to look at the waterfalls - please keep in touch.

Draza Mihajlovic was active in that region. Problem is that region has been subjected to heavy war damage in all wars.

So the LDS Family History Library Centers microfilmed the archives in Croatia. I would check those baptismal books.

Thanks - My parents returned from holiday this morning - I have shown them the maps of Brijane and they are sure that this is in fact the place as they remebered place names in the vicinity. They still feel that the pictures on Brijane's website are not the actual village as it is far too big a place but a detailed map does refer to another Brijane about a mile from the actual town. They recall Brijane as a rather rundown place with about 50 houses. It also ties in with what my grandfather spoke about waterfalls and swimming and to say they were looking for Plitvice if anyone asked. Plitvice appears to be around 10 miles away - Andy.

If any records still exist for the Brinje region where will they be archived?

You can access that at: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=localityhitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&PLACE=Brinje&PARTOF=&prePLACE=Brinje&prePARTOF=

Thanks I will follow this - Andy

I have spent a long time today tracing connections with the name Culomovic with the Brinje area. After many hours I gavered information that several Culomovics were killed in 1992, one in particular was Rade Culomovic, one of the cards that you deciphered is of a Rade Culomovic, is a Rade male or female name as on the card there are children of both sexes. I have also traced the name to Bosanski Samac, Bosnia to a Serbian family living there until the early 1990's.