Antonija Javornik was born in
Maribor, in 1893. For Javornik, World War I started with the battles around Šabac, during the Battle of Cer, in which her uncle, Captain Martin Javornik, was killed. She received her second medal (the Miloš Obilić Medal) following these first military engagements. The war then took her to Belgrade, where she participated in the defense of the city. Together with the rest of the Serbian army, she retreated over the mountains of Montenegro and Albania and witnessed the death of many on the islands of
Corfu and
Vido. After a period of recuperation, she came to the
Salonika front and participated in the
Battle of Kaymakchalan, fought between 12 and 30 September 1916. After the
fall of Kaymakchalan, the breach of the Salonika front and the liberation of
Bitola, she received her most valuable medal, the
Karadjordje's Star with Swords. During the war, she participated in the bloodiest and most difficult war zones. She was awarded the
Order of Karađorđe's Star, two
Obilić Medals, the
Albanian Commemorative Medal, the
Medal of the White Eagle, the Medal of Military Virtue, the Medal for Services to the Royal Home, the French
Legion of Honor –
Chevalier (highest French order of merit awarded to a foreign national), and the
Russian Medal of St. George (III Class). She died in
Belgrade, in 1974 == See also ==