Operation Southeast Croatia
Operation Southeast Croatia | |||||||
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Part of World War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
The Mount Igman plateau that the 1st Proletarian Brigade crossed to escape destruction | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Partisans | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
30,000–35,000 troops | 8,000 troops | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Operation Southeast Croatia (
The insurgents in the area of operations included some groups of the
The failure of the Axis forces to decisively engage the Partisans during these operations necessitated a further major offensive, Operation Trio, in the area immediately south of where Operations Southeast Croatia and Ozren had taken place.
Background
On 6 April 1941 the Axis powers
At the end of 1941, there were six
Planning
The orders from
The operation itself was led by the German
On 9 January 1942, the 718th Infantry Division issued orders to both its regiments that defined the following groups as hostile: all non-residents and residents that had been absent from their localities until recently; all identifiable Chetniks or communists with or without weapons or ammunition; and anyone concealing, supplying or providing information to those groups. Any captured Partisans were to be briefly interrogated and summarily shot, as were any other insurgents that had attacked the Germans, been caught carrying ammunition or messages, or who resisted or fled. Also, any houses from which shots were fired at German troops were to be burned.[12]
15–18 January
Operation Southeast Croatia commenced on 15 January 1942. The 342nd Infantry Division approached the area of operations from the Drina River valley to the east, with the 718th Infantry Division pushing east from assembly areas in Sarajevo and Tuzla.[13]
In the first days of the operation, the 697th Regiment of the 342nd Infantry Division, supported by the Croatian 3rd Home Guard Regiment and four batteries of artillery, thrust out of their bridgehead over the Drina at Zvornik and cleared the high ground southwest and south of that town, and south along the Drina valley road, hindered by roadblocks and destroyed bridges. It then followed up the retreating insurgents, mopping up the
The 738th Regiment of the 718th Infantry Division (less its II. Battalion) was reinforced by two battalions of the Croatian 13th Home Guard Regiment,
When the local leaders appointed by overall Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović, Majors Boško Todorović and Dangić, became aware of the commencement of Operation Southeast Croatia, they advised other Chetnik commanders that the operation was targeted at the Partisans, and there was no need for the Chetniks to get involved. Following this, their units withdrew from their positions on the front line, let the Germans pass through their areas, or went home.[17] Many withdrew across the Drina into the German-occupied territory of Serbia to avoid being engaged,[18] which severely weakened the Partisan positions with the result that they suffered significant casualties and lost a great deal of territory. These actions severed any remaining cooperative links that remained between the Chetniks and Partisans in eastern Bosnia.[17]
The insurgents in the area of operations destroyed villages to deny supplies and shelter to the Germans who were operating in mountainous terrain with snow up to one metre (3.3 ft) deep and facing extreme temperatures approaching −30 °C (−22 °F). The Partisans proved very difficult to pin down, aided by excellent communication and supported by the local populace. During the operation, the decisive engagements with the Partisans were mainly in the Romanija region.[16][19] The Romanija Detachment made up forty percent of all Partisans in eastern Bosnia and bore the brunt of most of the fighting during the operation.[10]
19–23 January
Map of the eastern areas of the Independent State of Croatia showing towns captured during Operation Southeast Croatia. Mount Igman is also shown, this is where the 1st Proletarian Brigade evaded Axis forces.After their initial advances, the 342nd Infantry Division spent the next few days mopping up the areas they had entered.[15] The 697th Regiment advanced south from Vlasenica through the Javor Mountains, meeting little resistance and capturing Han Pijesak on 22 January. Elements of the 697th Regiment pushed west towards Olovo the same day. The 698th Regiment cleared the area around Rogatica, killing 50 and capturing 200 insurgents, and liberating 63 captured Croatian Home Guard soldiers. The 699th Regiment patrolled the area as far as Vlasenica and Srebrenica. These mopping up operations achieved little, as most of the insurgents had escaped the encirclement before it was completed.[15]
The 718th Infantry Division was assisted in their subsequent operations by air support from the
On 21 January, Bader dramatically altered his previous orders regarding the treatment of those encountered in the area of operations, directing that those who did not resist and surrendered or merely had weapons in their houses, were to be treated as
After temporarily improving the Partisan defences against the German and NDH forces, the
Because the Chetniks failed to assist the Partisans in the battle, the Central Committee of the Communist Party ceased all further attempts to cooperate with them and issued a declaration on 22 January to "Bosnians! Serbs, Muslims, Croats!" that Chetnik leaders Boško Todorović,
Faced with overly ambitious objectives and atrocious weather,[24] the combined operation failed to destroy the Partisan forces and was called off on 23 January 1942,[9] with the Germans having suffered casualties of 25 dead, 131 wounded, and one missing,[25] as well as around 300 cases of frostbite. The NDH forces lost 50 soldiers killed or seriously wounded.[16] The Germans captured 855 rifles, 22 machine guns and four artillery pieces, along with livestock and draft animals.[8] The Partisans had lost 531 killed and between 1,331[8] and 1,400 captured,[16] in addition to the frostbite casualties suffered by the 1st Proletarian Brigade while crossing Mt. Igman.[21] A total of 168 NDH and 104 Italian troops that had been captured by the Partisans were freed during the operation.[26] The Supreme Headquarters entered Foča on 25 January and stayed there for three-and-a-half months.[10]
Operation Ozren
Operation Ozren | |||||||
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Part of World War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Axis: Germany Independent State of Croatia |
Allies: Partisans | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Johann Fortner Artur Gustović Jure Francetić |
Josip Broz Tito Todor Vujasinović | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000–30,000 troops five Panzer platoons one armoured train | 2,000 troops |
Operation Ozren (German: Unternehmen Ozren) was aimed at clearing an estimated 2,000 Partisans from the area between the Bosna and Spreča Rivers, and was effectively an extension of Operation Southeast Croatia employing elements of the force used in that operation. The main force used was Fortner's 718th Infantry Division reinforced by a regiment of the 342nd Infantry Division, supported by a number of NDH units, including a battalion of the Ustaše Black Legion. The force was also supported by five tank platoons and an armoured train. Around 20,000 Axis troops were committed to the operation. It commenced several days after Operation Southeast Croatia ended on 23 January 1942.[9]
The Germans advanced north and west from Kladanj towards a cordon established by ten Croatian Home Guard battalions supported by their own artillery.[9] The Germans believed they had thoroughly sealed off the area, and checked the Croatian cordon every night, but the majority of Partisans were able to evade the cordon and escape by breaking up into small groups and infiltrating through the cordon via seemingly impassable terrain. The Germans also believed that some Partisans merely withdrew into the mountains, concealing their numbers by walking in each other's footprints in the snow, in order to return to the valleys when the Axis forces left.[22] The operation concluded on 4 February 1942.[9]