In the area near Gospić, the Ustaše militia was well-organized and led by lawyer Andrija Artuković.
Some other notable members of Gospić's Ustaše branch were landowner Marko Došen, former Austrian-Hungarian officer Juraj Juco Rukavina [hr], traders Josip Tomljenović and Nikola Orešković, and tax clerk Josip Japunčić.
Ustaše leader Ante Brkan was responsible for transferring arms from Italy through Zadar,[2] which was then part of the Italian state.
Before the action started, Artuković and Došen went to Zadar to avoid arrest by the Yugoslav gendarmerie.
[citation needed] During the night between 6 and 7 September, the Ustaše launched an attack on the gendarmerie station in Brušane village near Gospić.
The attack lasted for half an hour, after which the Ustaše who lived in Croatia returned to their homes, while those who came from Italy went to Zadar across the Velebit.
He was freed after the invasion of Yugoslavia, and became the commandant of the Jadovno concentration camp, where tens of thousands of Serbs and Jews were killed.