Little known Russian Civil War (October Revolution) spectacle. And biography of Aleksa Dundich, Croatian volunteer in Red Army, who become a legendary cavalry commander and hero of October Revolution, honored with the highest Russian Military medal Order of the Red Banner. The spectacular scenes of Russian cavalry in the battlefield, match any other cavalry action ever filmed in the movies. The film was produced by the Soviet-Yugoslav co-production (Avala Film, Gorky Film Studios) in the years after Stalin's death, when relations between two countries improved considerably. About Aleksa Dundich: Real name Tomo Dundich (also called himself Ivan, in literature - Oleko), born April 13, 1896 in the village of Grabovac, near Imotski in Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now Croatia) died on the 8th of July, 1920 by Rovno, Ukraine. Dundich was a hero of Russian Civil War.
He was born into a peasant family, of Croatian descent. At the age of 12 he went to South America, where he worked for 4 years as a gaucho in Argentina and Brazil. In 1915 he was recruited as a private in the Austro-Hungarian Army. During the First World War of 1914-1918 in May, 1916 Dundich was taken prisoner by Russian troops near Lutsk. He volunteered to join the First Division of Serbian Volunteer Corps in Russia. From the middle of 1917, he was a member of the Red Guard (presumably in Odessa). In March, 1918, he headed a guerrilla squad in the region of Bahmut (now Artemovsk) that later joined the Morozov-Donetsk division, which retreated together with the army of K.E. Voroshilov towards Tsaritsyn in June 1918. He participated in the defense of Tsaritsyn as a member of an international battalion, then with cavalry brigades of Kryuchkovsky and Bulatkin. From 1919, he served in the Special Don Caucasus Division of Semyon Budyonny (later in the cavalry corps and the First Mounted Army). He was deputy regiment commander, special aide to Semyon Budyonny, commander of mounted division at the headquarters of the First Mounted Army. Dundich took part in numerous battles and he was wounded several times.
The legendary courage of "Red Dundich" brought him ardent love and popularity among Budyonny's troops. From June 1919 he was the deputy commander of the 36th regiment of the 6th cavalry division. He was killed in battle and awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
(The legend says that in one battle, holding his saber in one hand and a pistol in other hand, holding horse reins in his teeth, he killed 25 enemies in a single cavalry attack.)
Dundich's real descent was not clear until 1975, when Soviet Government found his family in Grabovac, Croatia. His sister Mara Mustapich was then invited to visit Soviet Union with her family and much of Dundich's biography was unveiled. Later encyclopedia sources like Soviet Military Encyclopedia (1976, Vol 3, page 271) or General Encyclopedia (Jugoslavenski Leksikografski Zavod, 1977, Vol. 2, page 443) quote his real biography.
