Miodrag Tomić (; – 20 February 1962) was a Serbian and Yugoslav military pilot who flew during the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Tomić belonged to the first class of six Serbian pilots trained in France in 1912. In August 1914, he participated in the first aerial dogfight of the war, when he exchanged gunfire with an Austro-Hungarian plane over western Serbia. In the winter of 1915, during the Serbian Army's retreat across Albania to the Greek island of Corfu, he evacuated General Petar Bojović from Scutari by plane, delivered mail by air and transported the Serbian Government's gold and hard currency reserves from Niš to keep them from falling into enemy hands. Following the occupation of Serbia by the Central Powers, Tomić went to France and flew over the Western Front, where he had one confirmed kill. He returned to the Balkans in late 1916, conducted combat missions over Bulgarian-occupied Macedonia and shot down one enemy plane.
Tomić continued flying after the war and became head of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force's pursuit squadron in Novi Sad. During World War II, he was captured by the Germans and detained as a prisoner of war. Tomić left Yugoslavia following the war and settled in the United States with his wife. He died in Chicago in 1962.
Early life, education and the Balkan Wars
Miodrag Tomić was born on in the village of Stragari, near Kragujevac. Matrilineally, he was a descendant of Serbian warlord Tanasko Rajić, who was killed fighting the Ottomans during the First Serbian Uprising. Tomić finished primary school and gymnasium in Kragujevac. In 1905, he enrolled into non-commissioned officers' school. He graduated successfully and became a member of King Peter's Royal Guard. Serbia had been the first country in the Balkans to take interest in aerial warfare. Shortly after Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, Serbia purchased two German reconnaissance balloons. In 1912, prior to the First Balkan War, it sent six soldiers to France to receive pilots' training and ordered 11 French planes. On 29 April 1912, Tomić was sent to France to attend Louis Blériot's flying school in Étampes, near Paris. He graduated on 1 October 1912, after four months of training, and was issued diploma #1026. This made him one of Serbia's first military pilots.
By the time Tomić had returned home, Serbia was embroiled in the Balkan Wars. On 24 December 1912, the Serbian Aviation Command was established in Niš. Tomić was actively involved in the siege of Scutari. On 29 March 1913, Sergeant Tomić and Lieutenant Živojin Stanković spent 45 minutes flying over Scutari at a height of and spying on Ottoman positions. In July 1913, Tomić flew several flights over Bulgaria, conducting reconnaissance missions and dropping small bombs. At the end of the Balkan Wars, the Royal Serbian Army promoted Tomić to the rank of second lieutenant.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War I, the Royal Serbian Army had only three planes, one of which was piloted by Tomić. His plane was quite primitive even for 1914. Misha Glenny, a journalist who has written extensively on the Balkans, likens it to "a box kite on perambulator wheels". At the beginning of the war, Tomić was attached to the 1st Danube Division. On the afternoon of 12 August 1914, he flew a reconnaissance mission over Šabac, and disclosed to the Serbian High Command that, contrary to initial reports, the Austro-Hungarians had not set up pontoon bridges on the Sava and were attempting to cross the river with boats. On 15 August, Tomić encountered an enemy plane while conducting a reconnaissance flight over Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian aviator initially waved at Tomić, who waved back. The enemy pilot then took a revolver and began shooting at Tomić's plane. Tomić produced a pistol of his own and fired back. He swerved away from the Austro-Hungarian plane and the two aircraft eventually parted ways. This incident is considered the first recorded dogfight of the war. Within weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian aircraft were armed. The Serbians equipped their planes with Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 machine guns, six 100-round boxes of ammunition and several bombs. The first armed Serbian plane was given the name OЛУЈ (Oluj), or "storm". It was mostly flown by Tomić.