The man who approaches me in the soft November afternoon boasts the look of a mountain prowler – confident walk, slightly hunched figure and determined gaze. I give him the once-over and do not instinctively try to guess his age. But I know I am meeting a World War 2 veteran. Nikola Kostadinov smiles and his extended arm meets mine for a firm handshake. Upon entering the coffee shop he selected for our meeting, I help him remove his stone-heavy canvas backpack as he orders a double espresso.

Looking at him, I begin to wonder how to fit his 86-year-long life in one page. How to cover the war experiences of one of Bulgaria’s first – and last – paratroopers? This is a veteran of what today forms the final remnants of a legendary parachute battalion formed in 1942. The unit acted as Special Forces during offensive actions designed to repel the Germans from the strategic Strazin-Stracin mountain hills. The positions were on the road to Skopje in Macedonia and had been German positions since the end of World War 1.

Bulgaria joins the Axis Powers in 1941 when the German troops amass at the border, preparing to invade Greece. In 1942, Kostadinov joined the army when he responded to an ordinance calling for the creation of a special parachute unit to be trained in Braunschweig, Germany. Undergoing land training for three months, the 284 Bulgarian soldiers were required to jump off models of Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 52, German-manufactured bombers. To complete the training three real jumps were required.

“It never crossed our minds that soon we would face the Germans as our enemy,” Kostadinov says. “But one fundamental truth is valid in war. Eliminate the one who points a weapon at you or you’ll be the first to fall. What matters is survival.” Then Kostadinov stops to think for a second. It seems like his way to differentiate another episode of his life coinciding with shifts in modern Bulgarian history.

On September 9 1944, Bulgaria was shaken by a coup that pushed the country from a loyal German ally to the side of the anti-fascist coalition. Soviet strategy was to use the entire Bulgarian army in Yugoslavia to cut off German access to the valley of Vardar River in Macedonia, which they used to withdraw from Greece. The Bulgarian offensive began on October 8 1944 with the seizure of Kriva Palanka.

In the next couple of days, the army reached Strazin-Stracin, where Kostadinov found himself marching alongside comrades from the parachute battalion as part of the advancing First Bulgarian Army. The paratroopers were required to cover a three-kilometre strip, which Kostadinov now says was like a death wish, because just short of 400 people was not nearly enough for the task. Attacking on October 18 at 6.01am, strong artillery fire pinned down the battalion. Eight hours later, the paratroops launched a second offensive involving hand-to-hand combat.

“I do not remember how I survived this moment,” Kostadinov says. “All I know is that at the end of the day we lost 35 comrades. That was almost impossible for me to bear. Counting the dead, carrying wounded friends out of the battlefield when I knew that most of them would not make it – that is the hardest thing to endure.”

Kostadinov blames poor battle reconnaissance, as well as their lack of training as storm troopers, for the deaths of so many soldiers. Despite the loss, he says that morale remained strong because “we all felt that somehow we were protecting our fatherland – guarding its borders in a way”.

Before the fighting for the second post, Stracin, began, Kostadinov and several volunteers embarked on a reconnaissance mission to try and pinpoint the enemy’s fire nests.

Heavy rains saved his life, the veteran says. While walking, he stumbled upon a wire ending with a mine. The mine popped up but does not explode, probably because of the dampness, Kostadinov thinks.

He does not consider himself to be an extraordinary hero despite the fact that he has been decorated with a military cross and other medals. “I fought for Bulgaria, to preserve the integrity of my country,” Kostadinov says. He fixes his gaze on his hands. “Some say that this war was pointless, especially when one has to count the casualties, which were about 34 000 people. Was it worth their lives? Back then, none of us seemed to question why we were there. Instead, we held fast to the conviction that it was our duty to take part in the combat.”

Kostadinov admits that he always talks about the heroism of one of his paratrooper comrades, Nikola Paskalev, who blew himself up in a German pillbox, killing three soldiers. “People like him should never be forgotten,” he says.

After Stracin falls to the Bulgarian army, all units continue marching to Kumanovo, where on November 11 1944, two bullets crush a bone of his left hand. Kostadinov is stranded on the battlefield until dusk when fighting quietens down. He is pulled away by a friend and treated at the military infirmary. Now he only has partial use of his hand. He says his only regret was that as paratroopers, his unit never got to actually do a parachute landing and use skills acquired during that training in Germany.

“But until this day I dream that I am flying, then jumping, fighting and being victorious... always dressed in my uniform,” Kostadinov says. “I live in such high spirits, for this is the only thing that sustains life in me.”