Marko Putrić

Putrić, Marko

Skilled Mechanic. (Topusko, Croatia, April 25, 1918 – Adelaide, October 25, 1966).

Learned the trade of locksmithing through practical training while employed at a local blacksmith. In June 1941, as a Croatian Home Guard Corporal he was reassigned to the motor transport section to the Croatian State Railways in Zagreb. By January 1944 he was serving with the 5^th Croatian Home Guard Group, attached to the Zrakoplovno Tehnički Odjel (Air Technical Department) in Zagreb. Later that spring he was deployed to the Eastern Front as part of a Croatian ground-crew detachment assigned to joint Croatian-German air operations, where he also served as a pilot. A photograph dated 11 April 1944 at age 26, shows him in snowy conditions with fellow servicemen on the Eastern Front.

After the war he worked in Germany in the skilled metal trades in the Hannover area, and with his wife Erica and young daughter Christine (1948), emigrated to Australia on the ship skaubryn, arriving in Melbourne 2 April 1951. He served as President of the Croatian Club Adelaide in 1952 and as Executive President in 1961, with Branko Filipi as the Honorary President. In a photo from the early 1950s, he is seen delivering a prepared speech from the stage at a Croatian Club function. Also, during the 1950's, Marko's second born, Stephanie, arrived in 1952, with Katarina following in 1955 and Steve in 1959.

During the mid-1950s, he was employed at Maralinga as a mechanic, working in the field as part of British nuclear testing operations, where he undertook mechanical support duties in remote and often high-risk environments. A keen soccer player, he took to the field with a local Croatian team during the 1950s. He also played double bass and accordion in the band at Croatian community functions, contributing to the social and cultural life of the club.