Ivan Babić (officer)

Ivan Babić
Born	15 December 1904 Sveti Ivan Žabno, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Died	6 June 1982 (1982-06-07) (aged 77) Torremolinos, Spain
Allegiance	Kingdom of Yugoslavia Independent State of Croatia/Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Royal Yugoslav Army Croatian Home Guard
Years of service	1924-1945
Rank	Major (Yugoslavia) Lieutenant colonel (NDH)
Unit	38th Infantry Division Dravska (Yugoslavia) 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment (Germany/NDH)
Battles/wars	Eastern Front
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class

Ivan Babić (1904, Sveti Ivan Žabno - 1982, Torremolinos, Spain) was a Croatian soldier and lieutenant-colonel in the Croatian Home Guard and later an emigrant dissident writer against Communist Yugoslavia.

He attended gymnasium in Bjelovar. Babić became a military cadet in the Yugoslav Royal Army and was sent to Paris to perform further training at the École Superieure de Guerre. During the April War Babić served as a major in the 38th Drava Infantry Division.

In 1942 he commanded the 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Croatian Legion, which fought on the Eastern Front. In 1943 he headed the Home Guard Central School.

In 1943 Babić flew a mission to American troops in Italy to suggest that the Allies invade the Dalmatian coast of the Independent State of Croatia to prevent the country from falling into communist hands. He claimed the invasion would meet no resistance and that the Croatian army would establish a beachhead for them. The British subsequently held him as prisoner of war in Bari.

After the war he worked for a period as an engineer in Venezuela. He was a frequent contributor to the Croatian emigrant weekly Hrvatska revija (Croatian Review). He secured the visa for Croatian writer, and later assassination victim, Bruno Bušić to come to Spain.

Babić wrote the paper U.S. Policy Towards Yugoslavia, which was translated into English by Mate Meštrović.