April 23rd, 1944
Operation Plunder - The Heer rebels
Danube and Sava valleys - After the very big fight of the previous day, the intensity of the fighting in the region of Pécs - without any talk of appeasement. After the defeat of the previous day against the 6th Armoured, the Heer returns to a strict defensive position, and does its best to ward off the blows coming from its left and its right while retreating towards the north. The 199. ID of Walter Wißmath must nevertheless eventually concede the banks of the Drava and continues to retreat against Horace Robertson's 1st Australian Armored - in doing so, it is losing Novi Bezdan, Beremend, Harkány in one day, and is also forced to abandon the Darda sector (the confluence south of Beli Manastir), now untenable. The weak dam against the army of the Antipodes is taking water on all sides ...
This defeat is certainly not a rout but it was no less worrying. To such an extent that it forces the 1. Panzer of Walter Krüger to clear the Danube more and more in front of a 6th Armoured that already regained its colors! Almost strangled the day before, the division of Vyvyan Evelegh already probes the sector of Mohács and especially that of Dunaszekcső (where the British sappers are trying to build a temporary bridge). Of course, this attitude does not seem to be a success: it must be admitted that the large unit had suffered heavy losses the day before. Cameron Nicholson's Nickforce deplores more than 900 dead in 24 hours, and at least as many wounded! The division at the Mailed Fist is a bit tired... but on the other side, the Germans have little to oppose it.
It is in vain that Lothar Rendulic throws his last forces in the battle. In an attempt to worry the Allies and to divert possible reinforcements, he launches again his infantry to the assault. This attempt fails: for once, it is the Kiwis and the warriors of the 6th Indian who are solidly installed in defense and can again benefit from a comfortable superiority in artillery and aviation. And if they really needed it, it was always possible to abandon a village to reposition themselves a little further. There are 40 kilometres to the Danube - the Heer has no way of crossing it with so few resources. Therefore, continuing these operations did not open up any prospects.
Pécs now clearly threatened, von Weichs sees no other solution than to hold on until the Brandenburg and the LXVIII. Armee-Korps come. It is a matter of two or three days... painful but not fatal, because his counter-offensive of the day before must have hurt the British. In this context, the Saxon prefers to refuse the deployment of the SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Brigade Kama, which had been offered to him the day before. The quality of this reinforcement appears to him to be uncertain, to say the least, not to mention the disorder that the arrival of the SS in the command of the 20. GebirgsArmee. That it should go south, to help free Rendulic's right wing - that would be useful! The Heer must be taken out of Bosnia, as soon as possible!
Faced with this rebuff, the Schutzstaffel, offended, will not fail to make known this proud refusal to those who are entitled to it, and in particular to the highest personalities. The HG E refuses reinforcements! What arrogance! However, we will not insist too much... Since the operations on the Danube become a dangerous wasp as well as the objective quality of the Kama, it is better to remain in the posture of the outraged virgin.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Sava Valley, the 6th Australian still does not move.
Jack Stevens receives the emissaries of the AVNOJ, after some small incidents without gravity (several shots in their direction - it is true that they had not announced themselves...).
Nevertheless, apart from the fact that he does not appreciate the communists, the Australian considers that he did not have the authority to follow up. The general therefore sends the matter back to Lavarack, who sends back to O'Connor, who consulted with Montgomery while informing Horrocks...
Finally, it is agreed that all this will be the business of the XIIIth Corps (Horrocks is delighted with the gift...), which must take over in this sector within one or two days ! In the meantime, the partisans need only continue to keep quiet. The Commonwealth Army is not there to help with their plans of operation, but to carry out its own. Obviously, this was not exactly the answer they had hoped for... But the Titists have no other argument, except to say that the Allies could advance without opposition at least until Slavonski Brod, 30 kilometers from here, and that it will not last forever.
Meanwhile, the three divisions of the LXVIII. Armee-Korps (Hellmuth Felmy) have reached Samac, where they start to cross the Sava river. The German forces are then confronted with...the right wing of the 6th Australian, not very strong but very quickly reinforced, which forces them westward, in order to cross the Bosnia river at Modriča, all under Allied bombing and strafing. In fact, the German army does not have the time nor the energy for an assault across the river, especially on the way to the retreat...
Behind, the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps (Julius Ringel) is still trying to make an illusion. His 264. ID (Albin Nake) is positioned towards Dubrave, with the remains of the 162. ID (Johann Fortner) on his left and waiting for the 164. ID (Karl-Heinz Lungerhausen) towards Tuzla. This is obviously a provisional position, since the Australians are towards Dakovo.
Opposite, the XIIIth Corps is advancing, with Horace Birks' 10th Armoured Brigade bypassing the 264. ID to the north to cross the Tinja at Lončari before finally arriving at Obudovac during the night.
In the second line, covered by the 32nd Army Tank Brigade (A.C. William) in the Ulovic sector, the 4th Indian (Arthur Holworthy) completed securing Brčko. The port in the far north of Bosnia, a cosmopolitan city contested by almost all the ethnic groups of the region, falls without further fighting*... Finally, to the south, Charles Bullen-Smith's 51st Highlands Infantry reaches Karakaj through the Drina Gorge. Without encountering too much resistance and now covered by the 1st Greek Corps of Giorgios Kosmas, it now advances through the infamous roads to Caparde and - eventually - Tuzla.
Operation Veritable - The one nobody wanted
Eastern Bosnia and Montenegro - On roads deserted by the enemy, the 1st ID (Vasileios Vrachnos) and the 6th Mountain Brigade (colonel Pafsanias Katsotas) reach Vlasenica. As expected, these two formations split up: the first one goes down the Tišča towards the northwest, in the direction of Kladanj. The second obliques southward, in order to go up the Povlenska, towards Sokolac, northeast of Sarajevo.
Meanwhile, the 164. ID hurries up to reach Živinice (south of Tuzla) in the evening. Lake Modrac is now defended... as long as it is useful!
In the Goražde sector, the 7. SS-Gebirgs-Division Prinz-Eugen continues to make a front, but with increasing difficulty, in the face of air and artillery bombardments, infiltrations and (this is new) the planing blows inflicted by the Allies on its position. A movement which, moreover, is not necessarily well coordinated! In fact, the collaboration between the different Allied formations and those of the AVNOJ remains at the very least perfectible, both because of the differences in military culture and the language barrier - without even mentioning political issues. The Greek officers do not appreciate, visibly, the presence of the titists in the joint staff conferences. Nevertheless, they make the best of it, because their mere presence allows them to save blood. That and the support offered by the Royal Hellenic air force!
All day long, Sqn 335 and 336 send their Bucephalus to charge the Nazi lines, in order to reduce one after the other the SS strongpoints. This is not without losses - for example, the squadron leader Epaminondas Kottas, of the 335, was killed while strafing about thirty vehicles on the road to Hrenovica, after a second passage that was bold to say the least. The Flak was able to adjust and shoot down his aircraft, which crashed on the side of the mountain, taking its valiant pilot to the realm of Hades**.
But the SS suffers... the SS retreats. And if, on the left, the 14. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgsjäger Rgt Reinhard-Heydrich is still holding on the road to Sarajevo, the situation of the 13. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgsjäger Rgt Artur-Phleps - confronted with two Allied divisions and two communist corps! - becomes on the other hand frankly worrying. Finally, in the evening, Oberkamp obtains from Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger the authorization to evacuate the whole of the Prinz-Eugen to Podgrab and Foča. His two regiments are to join up with the Polizei and the Handschar, always with the objective of defending Sarajevo. Quickly, before it is too late - it is to be hoped that the Allies and Bolsheviks will have paid dearly their mediocre common success. Which could nevertheless be the first of a series!
Obviously, the first preoccupation of the Franco-Greeks will be to evaluate the German withdrawal... contrary to the AVNOJ, which thinks only to exploit, head down! Great discussions are therefore to be expected with the Titist leaders, notably Koča Popović, of the famous 1st "Proletarian" Corps!
Meanwhile, in Montenegro, the I Ustashi Corps has reached Kolašin. It must support there, before perhaps relieving, the 373rd ID Tigar divizija of Nikolaus Boicetta, still facing the strikes of the 1st Czechoslovak ID (Alois Liška) and the 4th RST (colonel Roux). These ones continue to eat away at its perimeter as well as its ammunition - even in the suburb of Selišta as far as the Tunisians are concerned! As for the Czechs, they blow up the locks up to Bijeli Potok. Not glorious... But Alois Liška is not in a hurry. On his right, the 5th ID of Georgios Stanotas and the 1st Armored Brigade of Socrates Demaratos are already in Mojkovac - so they will probably be north of Kolašin tomorrow evening.
Naturally, the concentration of important Ustasha forces in such a small town generates some difficulties of supply. Especially with such a restless rear. Of course, the ZNDH tries to limit them, within its weak means, by organizing parachute drops or the deposit of containers by a crowd of small planes. A rather vain task, and one that is not without risk... For everyone ! This is how a "torpedo bomber" Fi 167 leaving the base of Banja Luka is caught above Sisak by NA-93 of the GC II/39, which believes to see in him an easy prey. Unfortunately, the biplane is piloted by the narednik Bozidar Bartulovic, an ace with 8 victories from the Eastern Front, who ensured this mission for lack of other pilots***.
Maneuvering his slow and vulnerable biplane with skill, the Croatian aviator manages to allow his gunner to severely damage an overeager NA-93 with a well-aimed burst, before being shot down by the other Tricolor planes. The two Croats parachute out, but Bartulovic, hit in the neck, lost the use of his right eye. He never flew again****. As for the Mustang, it crashed on landing - pilot unhurt, but plane destroyed.
Fortunately for the Ustasha logistics, the mediocre III Corps of Ivan Markuli (2nd IMD and 5th ID), finally assemble, breaks camp in the direction of Šavnik. It should arrive there within two or three days. This frees up some space, which is something! But on the other side, it is decided to send to Šavnik its 2nd "Proletarian" Division, commanded by the leader himself - it will pass through Žabljak and Mount Bobotov, in an isolated area where no fascist uniform has not been seen for a long time.
Operation Veritable - Uncertain Allegiance
Kolašin area (Montenegro) - While the Allied side has not yet decided what to do with Krsto Popović's offer of service, the situation in the rear of the Ustasha troops is becoming increasingly tense, as the risk of a real bloodbath increases.
In such dramatic circumstances, the Montenegrin hand - somewhat stained with blood, but cordially extended - is not seized by the Allies. This is an affront! From which we can certainly recover, but still...
All are informed: Tirana, Marseille and soon Athens (Antoine Béthouart and Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos, at least, because no one will bother Monty with this !). But they all pass the buck: nobody knows exactly what to do with this embarrassing file. On the spot, the Allies play the clock: Kolašin will fall, it is a simple question of time. The rest is political, to be settled between politicians...
Already very irritated to lose time in this way, the Greens are not more relieved to learn that General Borisav Ristic - from the Šubašić team - is supposed to come and meet them tomorrow. The local fighters do not see what this Serbian could do for them!
And meanwhile, clashes continue between Croats - legionnaires or not - and members of the Montenegrin National Army of Sekula Drljević. The tension rises as Kolašin seems to become the assembly center of a large part of the Axis forces in the area. However, if the population increases, the food supply remains the same - and it is the local civilians who once again bear the brunt.
Operation Veritable - The Eagle and the Checkerboard
Montenegro and northern Albania - At five o'clock in the morning, under the rain from the Adriatic, a very violent artillery bombardment broke the calm of the dawn. It aims at the positions of the 392nd ID Plava divizija (Artur Gustovic), under Mount Rumija. The 2nd Polish Corps attacks, and it attacks very hard, sending to the coal almost all the 5th ID of General Bolesław Bronisław-Duch, supported by numerous vehicles of the 1st Polish Armored Brigade (Stanisław Maczek)
The British left behind by the Bucknall mission, after the initial surprise, do not go to oppose it. After all, Veritable is not formally stopped in this sector and then, after all, if the Polacks finally want to make an effort... the monitors are always there to help them ! For the Croats, on the other hand, it is a catastrophic surprise after days of false serenity, in spite of the concerns of the German advisor Johann Mickl, who did not cease to alert Ivo Herenčić about the lack of reserves in the KLAK. In fact, the Croatian had undoubtedly made the most logical decision in the first place by placing his weakest division in the most defensible position... The problem is that, now that the 373. ID is in Kolašin, he has no one left to support the 392. ID in the face of a determined effort that was no longer expected.
The consequences of this neglect are not long in coming. From the canyon of Medjurec, the Poles surge northward towards the shrine of Sergius of Radonezh, almost reached in the evening after a succession of particularly fierce battles. Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksander Stefanowicz, Maczek's deputy at the armored brigade, said: "I saw an infantry that was really enraged by the British insults, the passivity of the last few days and - above all - the news of the events that were taking place on the Motherland. The Croats were blocking our way and claiming to have driven us away? They were going to see - they wore German uniforms and, however Catholic they claimed to be, they would pay for the other greens."******
Once the assault was made, the action quickly degenerates into a succession of small tactical engagements - the fault of a terrain that remained difficult, which did not facilitate refueling either.
The ammunition starts to run out, and one of the officers ordered his men to shoot only at point-blank range. And, as soon as their cartridges were exhausted, the Poles fight with knives, bayonets, helmets, bare hands and even bottles.
In the undergrowth, we see duels with grenades from tree to tree! A great, expensive and magnificent moment of pride, ridiculing both German propaganda and the contempt of the British, who claimed together that the exiled army did not want to fight anymore.
A sublimely useless gesture, like the whole Operation Storm and the Warsaw uprising... but much less bloody - at least for the Poles.
In fact, concentrated in this way, their effort has every chance of succeeding if they insist.
Of course, at the end of the day, the assault is more difficult, due to the entrenchments and the camouflaged positions. But the Croatian legionnaires are not German parachutists, just the elite of the NDH army. In Zagreb, moreover, they are perfectly aware of this. And that is why, in response to the pleas of a well-recovered Ivo Herenčić, an air strike by the ZNDH for tomorrow morning, first thing in the morning...
Operation Veritable - Dry Dismissal (but not too dry)
Tirana - At the very moment when General Anders decides to raise the glove that had been thrown in his face, the French 2nd Army decides to withdraw the Polish 2nd Corps from Yugoslavia. The decision was not easy to make... In reality, one can say that the French general staff - if not the government, in Marseille - worked hard to obtain an acceptable solution, that would allow everyone to save face. Montgomery indicated that the 2nd Corps had been "worthless and misbehaving at the front" - but this statement will be passed over in silence. With no mention of punishment, the Anders Corps would simply be removed from the 2nd Army and sent to France for "recompletion" before a new deployment "in an operation to be determined" that no one knows about - but everyone suspects that the French general staff would not be short of ideas.
The Poles will be replaced, at the explicit request of Marseille, by French units.
Indeed, the 192nd DIA, the 107th RALCA and the 4th RST were all supposed to leave the Balkans at the end of May to join France. In addition, the 2nd GTM (Augustin Guillaume), currently in Italy, will join them shortly. These four units and the 1st Czechoslovakian ID will form the "Balkan Division Grouping" (BDG), whose COS will be General Camille Caldairou, former COS of the 2nd Corps, and the nominal commander General Béthouart.
Thus, the Republic replaces an army corps intended for the liberation of its national soil by a Polish corps. This was sure to be the talk of the town in the corridors of the War Ministry. It is also rumored that the final decision came from the President of the Council himself! The General was indeed moved by the weakening of the French position in Yugoslavia, however reputed to be his historical ally and that a French presence could help to... make the right choices after the war (or even during it). "A French army without a French unit is like a meal without wine and cheese - it makes no sense. Are we really one army corps away from chasing the Germans out of what remains to be liberated in our country? With the world on our side?" The world, starting with a Polish corps... And two air wings, since the Poniatowski fighter wing and the Sobiewski bomber wing will leave the Balkans for France in May.
Moreover, it is more than likely that De Gaulle was also annoyed by the numerous jabs at the situation in the Balkans, where "The Empire does everything, while the Republic pretends to do the same."
Besides, the solution is rather elegant: Montgomery was rid of "those damned Polish mule-heads" and kept a simulated Franco-Czech army corps that is further reinforced (two infantry divisions, a mechanized regiment, a group of tabors and a RALCA, all very well adapted to the war in difficult terrain), whereas he should have lost the 192nd DIA, the 4th RST and even the RALCA. The Republic also saves face while showing that it was still interested in the Balkans and especially in Yugoslavia. As for the French front, it gained in the affair a corps that is certainly tested, but always presumed to be highly motivated to confront the Germans - not to mention the two air squadrons. Finally, the Poles were freed from British tutelage and free to go to war elsewhere!
After Perun - Relaxation
Balkans - Not much to report today in the skies over Yugoslavia. After the big banquet, the Balkans Air Force remains modest and is content to send the Banshees of Sqn 213 to hit the port of Split to destroy what is left of German ships in the Adriatic. They find nothing, except some worthless barracks and a Flak which cost an engine to one of the Banshees.
During the night, taking over from the Americans who had come to strike the pearl of the Danube the day before, the Wellingtons of the 202nd Wing join a Bomber Command Home raid on the port of Budapest. Cloudy skies without rain - a Wellington is shot down, victim of flak from Csepel Island. Two other twin-engines are damaged.
AVNOJ
The final struggle
Slovenia - After several days of climbing in vain and without a clear objective in the Bočko Mountains, the Slovenian Domobranci go back down to the plain, in the area of Celje and still in order to secure the roads to Maribor, Ptuj and Lubjana. Governor Leon Rupnik made his choice, in full agreement with Obergruppenführer Rösener: there is no point in hunting down the Bolsheviks in difficult terrain. If the adversary does not have the means to come and get their men in useful terrain, let them stay on their heights and rot there! By doing so, the local head of the Nazi administration does not forget to safeguard his armed arm, which could well be useful tomorrow, in perhaps more difficult circumstances... He has the possibility - just as he has the possibility to judge, by simply observing his Croatian neighbors, the misfortune of a less prudent strategy. So why bother?
In doing so, however, the Slovenes also offer Lado Ambrožič's 9th Corps a nice welcome. Absolutely not neutralized and relatively safe in its redoubts, it can therefore quietly gather his forces before going on the attack again, tomorrow or the day after. Routine, in the Balkans...
Routine also, alas, in Brod Na Kupi and Petrina, who the SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Brigade Karstjäger finally seized after almost five days of fighting. Furious about this long and bloody clash - and the road to Karlovac has not even been cleared yet! - the SS took hostage 40 women among the inhabitants considered "non-Slovenes". Then they enter in other houses a little bit randomly to machine-gun all those whom they find there.
It is true that Standartenführer-SS Hans Brandt, although a scientist, is not known for his for his greatness of spirit. In 1937, he was one of the people responsible (if not the main driving force...) for the downfall of his fellow speleologist of "Jewish origin" Benno Wolf and his deportation to the camp of Theresienstadt, where he was to die*******...
In any case, in Brod Na Kupi and Petrina, there were 51 deaths, including five children from 2 to 5 years old. As for the hostages, they were of course raped collectively before being executed with a bullet in the neck. None of the participants in this massacre will ever be worried********.
Otherwise, on the road to Delnice, the war continues...
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Croatia (north-west) - The Hrvatsko domobranstvo does not finish growing on the road to Donji Žirovac... Faced with a 10th AVNOJ Corps that no longer avoids combat in battle - all the more so as it is, for the first time, reinforced by a number of volunteers from neighboring towns as well as deserters, the Ustasha force goes from obstacle to difficulty. Certainly, nothing is insurmountable! We manage to do everything with time, blood and ammunition (well, especially the first two ingredients, we lack the third). But still, the Ustashi won't go further than a small village lost in the woods and called Brubno.
.........
Croatia (north), Sava valley - In this sector of the front, the Ustashi try to reinforce themselves, but with measured means.
On its side, considering itself now covered on its left by the presence of the Australian capitalists, the 12th "Slavonic" Division (6th "Slavonic" Corps) relaunches violent actions of infiltration in the direction of Lužani and Batrina (thus of the road to Zagreb!) by taking advantage of the fact that the bulk of the cavalry brigade of Colonel Aurel Schlacher left to reinforce the Black Legion towards Slavonski Brod. These attacks are a great success: between mobilized, volunteers and... rallies (there are more and more in this region), the Titists are not far from benefiting from a clear numerical superiority locally. And in the evening, the road to the east is closed: the Black Legion as well as the Croatian cavalry are thus completely isolated in their fortified position on the banks of the Sava river. A great success! Even if tomorrow, the 6th ID of colonel Ivan Sarnbek will certainly come to try to clear the area from Nova Gradiška...
It is therefore not possible to speak of a permanent maneuver, let alone an encirclement. The purpose of the AVNOJ operation may therefore seem obscure to an uninformed observer. But in reality, Petar Drapšin's main hope in doing so is to encourage his neighbor, Slavko Rodić, and his new friends to act as quickly as possible to defeat an opponent he cannot fight alone. The partisan leader is probably unaware of the "complications" related to cooperation with the Commonwealth troops... Unless he doesn't care - which is the same thing. For AVNOJ, only one thing matters in this region: to win, liberate, rally and (also) cut to pieces an Ustasha V Corps no longer very far from the precipice of defeats and lack of support as well as perspective.
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Croatia (west), between Gospić and Knin - At the end of the day, after a new offensive having pushed back the 8th Kordun Division until it threatened the crossroads of Gračac, the 28th. Waffen-Gebirgsjäger Rgt suspends its actions. Sturmbannführer Hans Hanke achieved his goal: to drive the collectivists away from Knin, while inflicting enough casualties on them so that they learned their lesson: not to mess with the SS. Soon, his troop will head back east, to prepare for a global redeployment of the Handschar in support of the Prinz-Eugen, which seems to be in difficulty towards Sarajevo. Risky, it is true... but the turn of the battle leaves them no choice. As soon as they arrive, their new Dutch and Cossack comrades will make up for their departure!
Further north, the 173. ID has not moved since the day before, not even approaching Gospic. Notwithstanding to displease to the fears of some, the Axis does not really have the means nor the leisure to even pretend to threaten the Partisans on this lost plateau...
Discreet (but authorized) assistance
Over Bosnia - Continuation of DESTROMO operations to the Titist forces. The LeO 451-T sneak between clouds and mountains to go to support as close as possible the Partisans of the AVNOJ fighting at the side of the "Fabvier" army. After all, it is them, more and more often, who lead the way! We might as well give them the tools to do so - even if it implies to deliver a part of the kingdom to a power competing with Belgrade... In coordination, it is true, with the Administration of Yugoslav territories liberated of Ivan Šubašić.
* OTL, Brčko will be a major sticking point in the Dayton Accords. Assigned to the Federation of Bosnia after a first period under the colors of the Bosnian Serb Republic, its future remains to this day the subject of very lively controversy.
** A true legend of the Greek support forces, Epaminondas Kottas had started on Blenheim in 1936, before making the '41 campaign on Battle! A 1st class war cross and DFC, he had accumulated more than 1,300 hours in combat.
***These were still being trained by German instructors, who were in no hurry since a Fi 167 piloted by Commander Romeo Adum had deserted the day before to the island of Vis, under Allied control!
**** Bozidar Bartulovic survived the conflict. Captured on his hospital bed in Zagreb, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Yugoslav court. Released in 1953, he eventually emigrated to Germany where he worked as an engineer. He died in 1985.
***** Perhaps a little depressed by the recent rallying of the Polish government to the USSR, Stefanowicz is also said to have said his entourage: "Gentlemen, this is the end. It is useless to surrender to the Reds. Let's win or die for the memory of Poland and civilization.
****** Wolf's archives were later to serve Brandt in his own work for the SS-Ahnenerbe, in a register very close to plagiarism. Today, Benno Wolf is considered to be one of the most important speleologists of the interwar period, a brilliant scientist whose work, paradoxically, played an essential role in the Reichsnaturschutzgesetz (Reich Nature Conservation Act), parts of which are still in force today!
******* The prosecution was dropped in 2007 after the death of the last member of the Karstjäger - although he had been identified for a long time. Nowadays, every April 23rd, a march commemorates the event...
Operation Plunder - The Heer rebels
Danube and Sava valleys - After the very big fight of the previous day, the intensity of the fighting in the region of Pécs - without any talk of appeasement. After the defeat of the previous day against the 6th Armoured, the Heer returns to a strict defensive position, and does its best to ward off the blows coming from its left and its right while retreating towards the north. The 199. ID of Walter Wißmath must nevertheless eventually concede the banks of the Drava and continues to retreat against Horace Robertson's 1st Australian Armored - in doing so, it is losing Novi Bezdan, Beremend, Harkány in one day, and is also forced to abandon the Darda sector (the confluence south of Beli Manastir), now untenable. The weak dam against the army of the Antipodes is taking water on all sides ...
This defeat is certainly not a rout but it was no less worrying. To such an extent that it forces the 1. Panzer of Walter Krüger to clear the Danube more and more in front of a 6th Armoured that already regained its colors! Almost strangled the day before, the division of Vyvyan Evelegh already probes the sector of Mohács and especially that of Dunaszekcső (where the British sappers are trying to build a temporary bridge). Of course, this attitude does not seem to be a success: it must be admitted that the large unit had suffered heavy losses the day before. Cameron Nicholson's Nickforce deplores more than 900 dead in 24 hours, and at least as many wounded! The division at the Mailed Fist is a bit tired... but on the other side, the Germans have little to oppose it.
It is in vain that Lothar Rendulic throws his last forces in the battle. In an attempt to worry the Allies and to divert possible reinforcements, he launches again his infantry to the assault. This attempt fails: for once, it is the Kiwis and the warriors of the 6th Indian who are solidly installed in defense and can again benefit from a comfortable superiority in artillery and aviation. And if they really needed it, it was always possible to abandon a village to reposition themselves a little further. There are 40 kilometres to the Danube - the Heer has no way of crossing it with so few resources. Therefore, continuing these operations did not open up any prospects.
Pécs now clearly threatened, von Weichs sees no other solution than to hold on until the Brandenburg and the LXVIII. Armee-Korps come. It is a matter of two or three days... painful but not fatal, because his counter-offensive of the day before must have hurt the British. In this context, the Saxon prefers to refuse the deployment of the SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Brigade Kama, which had been offered to him the day before. The quality of this reinforcement appears to him to be uncertain, to say the least, not to mention the disorder that the arrival of the SS in the command of the 20. GebirgsArmee. That it should go south, to help free Rendulic's right wing - that would be useful! The Heer must be taken out of Bosnia, as soon as possible!
Faced with this rebuff, the Schutzstaffel, offended, will not fail to make known this proud refusal to those who are entitled to it, and in particular to the highest personalities. The HG E refuses reinforcements! What arrogance! However, we will not insist too much... Since the operations on the Danube become a dangerous wasp as well as the objective quality of the Kama, it is better to remain in the posture of the outraged virgin.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Sava Valley, the 6th Australian still does not move.
Jack Stevens receives the emissaries of the AVNOJ, after some small incidents without gravity (several shots in their direction - it is true that they had not announced themselves...).
Nevertheless, apart from the fact that he does not appreciate the communists, the Australian considers that he did not have the authority to follow up. The general therefore sends the matter back to Lavarack, who sends back to O'Connor, who consulted with Montgomery while informing Horrocks...
Finally, it is agreed that all this will be the business of the XIIIth Corps (Horrocks is delighted with the gift...), which must take over in this sector within one or two days ! In the meantime, the partisans need only continue to keep quiet. The Commonwealth Army is not there to help with their plans of operation, but to carry out its own. Obviously, this was not exactly the answer they had hoped for... But the Titists have no other argument, except to say that the Allies could advance without opposition at least until Slavonski Brod, 30 kilometers from here, and that it will not last forever.
Meanwhile, the three divisions of the LXVIII. Armee-Korps (Hellmuth Felmy) have reached Samac, where they start to cross the Sava river. The German forces are then confronted with...the right wing of the 6th Australian, not very strong but very quickly reinforced, which forces them westward, in order to cross the Bosnia river at Modriča, all under Allied bombing and strafing. In fact, the German army does not have the time nor the energy for an assault across the river, especially on the way to the retreat...
Behind, the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps (Julius Ringel) is still trying to make an illusion. His 264. ID (Albin Nake) is positioned towards Dubrave, with the remains of the 162. ID (Johann Fortner) on his left and waiting for the 164. ID (Karl-Heinz Lungerhausen) towards Tuzla. This is obviously a provisional position, since the Australians are towards Dakovo.
Opposite, the XIIIth Corps is advancing, with Horace Birks' 10th Armoured Brigade bypassing the 264. ID to the north to cross the Tinja at Lončari before finally arriving at Obudovac during the night.
In the second line, covered by the 32nd Army Tank Brigade (A.C. William) in the Ulovic sector, the 4th Indian (Arthur Holworthy) completed securing Brčko. The port in the far north of Bosnia, a cosmopolitan city contested by almost all the ethnic groups of the region, falls without further fighting*... Finally, to the south, Charles Bullen-Smith's 51st Highlands Infantry reaches Karakaj through the Drina Gorge. Without encountering too much resistance and now covered by the 1st Greek Corps of Giorgios Kosmas, it now advances through the infamous roads to Caparde and - eventually - Tuzla.
Operation Veritable - The one nobody wanted
Eastern Bosnia and Montenegro - On roads deserted by the enemy, the 1st ID (Vasileios Vrachnos) and the 6th Mountain Brigade (colonel Pafsanias Katsotas) reach Vlasenica. As expected, these two formations split up: the first one goes down the Tišča towards the northwest, in the direction of Kladanj. The second obliques southward, in order to go up the Povlenska, towards Sokolac, northeast of Sarajevo.
Meanwhile, the 164. ID hurries up to reach Živinice (south of Tuzla) in the evening. Lake Modrac is now defended... as long as it is useful!
In the Goražde sector, the 7. SS-Gebirgs-Division Prinz-Eugen continues to make a front, but with increasing difficulty, in the face of air and artillery bombardments, infiltrations and (this is new) the planing blows inflicted by the Allies on its position. A movement which, moreover, is not necessarily well coordinated! In fact, the collaboration between the different Allied formations and those of the AVNOJ remains at the very least perfectible, both because of the differences in military culture and the language barrier - without even mentioning political issues. The Greek officers do not appreciate, visibly, the presence of the titists in the joint staff conferences. Nevertheless, they make the best of it, because their mere presence allows them to save blood. That and the support offered by the Royal Hellenic air force!
All day long, Sqn 335 and 336 send their Bucephalus to charge the Nazi lines, in order to reduce one after the other the SS strongpoints. This is not without losses - for example, the squadron leader Epaminondas Kottas, of the 335, was killed while strafing about thirty vehicles on the road to Hrenovica, after a second passage that was bold to say the least. The Flak was able to adjust and shoot down his aircraft, which crashed on the side of the mountain, taking its valiant pilot to the realm of Hades**.
But the SS suffers... the SS retreats. And if, on the left, the 14. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgsjäger Rgt Reinhard-Heydrich is still holding on the road to Sarajevo, the situation of the 13. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgsjäger Rgt Artur-Phleps - confronted with two Allied divisions and two communist corps! - becomes on the other hand frankly worrying. Finally, in the evening, Oberkamp obtains from Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger the authorization to evacuate the whole of the Prinz-Eugen to Podgrab and Foča. His two regiments are to join up with the Polizei and the Handschar, always with the objective of defending Sarajevo. Quickly, before it is too late - it is to be hoped that the Allies and Bolsheviks will have paid dearly their mediocre common success. Which could nevertheless be the first of a series!
Obviously, the first preoccupation of the Franco-Greeks will be to evaluate the German withdrawal... contrary to the AVNOJ, which thinks only to exploit, head down! Great discussions are therefore to be expected with the Titist leaders, notably Koča Popović, of the famous 1st "Proletarian" Corps!
Meanwhile, in Montenegro, the I Ustashi Corps has reached Kolašin. It must support there, before perhaps relieving, the 373rd ID Tigar divizija of Nikolaus Boicetta, still facing the strikes of the 1st Czechoslovak ID (Alois Liška) and the 4th RST (colonel Roux). These ones continue to eat away at its perimeter as well as its ammunition - even in the suburb of Selišta as far as the Tunisians are concerned! As for the Czechs, they blow up the locks up to Bijeli Potok. Not glorious... But Alois Liška is not in a hurry. On his right, the 5th ID of Georgios Stanotas and the 1st Armored Brigade of Socrates Demaratos are already in Mojkovac - so they will probably be north of Kolašin tomorrow evening.
Naturally, the concentration of important Ustasha forces in such a small town generates some difficulties of supply. Especially with such a restless rear. Of course, the ZNDH tries to limit them, within its weak means, by organizing parachute drops or the deposit of containers by a crowd of small planes. A rather vain task, and one that is not without risk... For everyone ! This is how a "torpedo bomber" Fi 167 leaving the base of Banja Luka is caught above Sisak by NA-93 of the GC II/39, which believes to see in him an easy prey. Unfortunately, the biplane is piloted by the narednik Bozidar Bartulovic, an ace with 8 victories from the Eastern Front, who ensured this mission for lack of other pilots***.
Maneuvering his slow and vulnerable biplane with skill, the Croatian aviator manages to allow his gunner to severely damage an overeager NA-93 with a well-aimed burst, before being shot down by the other Tricolor planes. The two Croats parachute out, but Bartulovic, hit in the neck, lost the use of his right eye. He never flew again****. As for the Mustang, it crashed on landing - pilot unhurt, but plane destroyed.
Fortunately for the Ustasha logistics, the mediocre III Corps of Ivan Markuli (2nd IMD and 5th ID), finally assemble, breaks camp in the direction of Šavnik. It should arrive there within two or three days. This frees up some space, which is something! But on the other side, it is decided to send to Šavnik its 2nd "Proletarian" Division, commanded by the leader himself - it will pass through Žabljak and Mount Bobotov, in an isolated area where no fascist uniform has not been seen for a long time.
Operation Veritable - Uncertain Allegiance
Kolašin area (Montenegro) - While the Allied side has not yet decided what to do with Krsto Popović's offer of service, the situation in the rear of the Ustasha troops is becoming increasingly tense, as the risk of a real bloodbath increases.
In such dramatic circumstances, the Montenegrin hand - somewhat stained with blood, but cordially extended - is not seized by the Allies. This is an affront! From which we can certainly recover, but still...
All are informed: Tirana, Marseille and soon Athens (Antoine Béthouart and Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos, at least, because no one will bother Monty with this !). But they all pass the buck: nobody knows exactly what to do with this embarrassing file. On the spot, the Allies play the clock: Kolašin will fall, it is a simple question of time. The rest is political, to be settled between politicians...
Already very irritated to lose time in this way, the Greens are not more relieved to learn that General Borisav Ristic - from the Šubašić team - is supposed to come and meet them tomorrow. The local fighters do not see what this Serbian could do for them!
And meanwhile, clashes continue between Croats - legionnaires or not - and members of the Montenegrin National Army of Sekula Drljević. The tension rises as Kolašin seems to become the assembly center of a large part of the Axis forces in the area. However, if the population increases, the food supply remains the same - and it is the local civilians who once again bear the brunt.
Operation Veritable - The Eagle and the Checkerboard
Montenegro and northern Albania - At five o'clock in the morning, under the rain from the Adriatic, a very violent artillery bombardment broke the calm of the dawn. It aims at the positions of the 392nd ID Plava divizija (Artur Gustovic), under Mount Rumija. The 2nd Polish Corps attacks, and it attacks very hard, sending to the coal almost all the 5th ID of General Bolesław Bronisław-Duch, supported by numerous vehicles of the 1st Polish Armored Brigade (Stanisław Maczek)
The British left behind by the Bucknall mission, after the initial surprise, do not go to oppose it. After all, Veritable is not formally stopped in this sector and then, after all, if the Polacks finally want to make an effort... the monitors are always there to help them ! For the Croats, on the other hand, it is a catastrophic surprise after days of false serenity, in spite of the concerns of the German advisor Johann Mickl, who did not cease to alert Ivo Herenčić about the lack of reserves in the KLAK. In fact, the Croatian had undoubtedly made the most logical decision in the first place by placing his weakest division in the most defensible position... The problem is that, now that the 373. ID is in Kolašin, he has no one left to support the 392. ID in the face of a determined effort that was no longer expected.
The consequences of this neglect are not long in coming. From the canyon of Medjurec, the Poles surge northward towards the shrine of Sergius of Radonezh, almost reached in the evening after a succession of particularly fierce battles. Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksander Stefanowicz, Maczek's deputy at the armored brigade, said: "I saw an infantry that was really enraged by the British insults, the passivity of the last few days and - above all - the news of the events that were taking place on the Motherland. The Croats were blocking our way and claiming to have driven us away? They were going to see - they wore German uniforms and, however Catholic they claimed to be, they would pay for the other greens."******
Once the assault was made, the action quickly degenerates into a succession of small tactical engagements - the fault of a terrain that remained difficult, which did not facilitate refueling either.
The ammunition starts to run out, and one of the officers ordered his men to shoot only at point-blank range. And, as soon as their cartridges were exhausted, the Poles fight with knives, bayonets, helmets, bare hands and even bottles.
In the undergrowth, we see duels with grenades from tree to tree! A great, expensive and magnificent moment of pride, ridiculing both German propaganda and the contempt of the British, who claimed together that the exiled army did not want to fight anymore.
A sublimely useless gesture, like the whole Operation Storm and the Warsaw uprising... but much less bloody - at least for the Poles.
In fact, concentrated in this way, their effort has every chance of succeeding if they insist.
Of course, at the end of the day, the assault is more difficult, due to the entrenchments and the camouflaged positions. But the Croatian legionnaires are not German parachutists, just the elite of the NDH army. In Zagreb, moreover, they are perfectly aware of this. And that is why, in response to the pleas of a well-recovered Ivo Herenčić, an air strike by the ZNDH for tomorrow morning, first thing in the morning...
Operation Veritable - Dry Dismissal (but not too dry)
Tirana - At the very moment when General Anders decides to raise the glove that had been thrown in his face, the French 2nd Army decides to withdraw the Polish 2nd Corps from Yugoslavia. The decision was not easy to make... In reality, one can say that the French general staff - if not the government, in Marseille - worked hard to obtain an acceptable solution, that would allow everyone to save face. Montgomery indicated that the 2nd Corps had been "worthless and misbehaving at the front" - but this statement will be passed over in silence. With no mention of punishment, the Anders Corps would simply be removed from the 2nd Army and sent to France for "recompletion" before a new deployment "in an operation to be determined" that no one knows about - but everyone suspects that the French general staff would not be short of ideas.
The Poles will be replaced, at the explicit request of Marseille, by French units.
Indeed, the 192nd DIA, the 107th RALCA and the 4th RST were all supposed to leave the Balkans at the end of May to join France. In addition, the 2nd GTM (Augustin Guillaume), currently in Italy, will join them shortly. These four units and the 1st Czechoslovakian ID will form the "Balkan Division Grouping" (BDG), whose COS will be General Camille Caldairou, former COS of the 2nd Corps, and the nominal commander General Béthouart.
Thus, the Republic replaces an army corps intended for the liberation of its national soil by a Polish corps. This was sure to be the talk of the town in the corridors of the War Ministry. It is also rumored that the final decision came from the President of the Council himself! The General was indeed moved by the weakening of the French position in Yugoslavia, however reputed to be his historical ally and that a French presence could help to... make the right choices after the war (or even during it). "A French army without a French unit is like a meal without wine and cheese - it makes no sense. Are we really one army corps away from chasing the Germans out of what remains to be liberated in our country? With the world on our side?" The world, starting with a Polish corps... And two air wings, since the Poniatowski fighter wing and the Sobiewski bomber wing will leave the Balkans for France in May.
Moreover, it is more than likely that De Gaulle was also annoyed by the numerous jabs at the situation in the Balkans, where "The Empire does everything, while the Republic pretends to do the same."
Besides, the solution is rather elegant: Montgomery was rid of "those damned Polish mule-heads" and kept a simulated Franco-Czech army corps that is further reinforced (two infantry divisions, a mechanized regiment, a group of tabors and a RALCA, all very well adapted to the war in difficult terrain), whereas he should have lost the 192nd DIA, the 4th RST and even the RALCA. The Republic also saves face while showing that it was still interested in the Balkans and especially in Yugoslavia. As for the French front, it gained in the affair a corps that is certainly tested, but always presumed to be highly motivated to confront the Germans - not to mention the two air squadrons. Finally, the Poles were freed from British tutelage and free to go to war elsewhere!
After Perun - Relaxation
Balkans - Not much to report today in the skies over Yugoslavia. After the big banquet, the Balkans Air Force remains modest and is content to send the Banshees of Sqn 213 to hit the port of Split to destroy what is left of German ships in the Adriatic. They find nothing, except some worthless barracks and a Flak which cost an engine to one of the Banshees.
During the night, taking over from the Americans who had come to strike the pearl of the Danube the day before, the Wellingtons of the 202nd Wing join a Bomber Command Home raid on the port of Budapest. Cloudy skies without rain - a Wellington is shot down, victim of flak from Csepel Island. Two other twin-engines are damaged.
AVNOJ
The final struggle
Slovenia - After several days of climbing in vain and without a clear objective in the Bočko Mountains, the Slovenian Domobranci go back down to the plain, in the area of Celje and still in order to secure the roads to Maribor, Ptuj and Lubjana. Governor Leon Rupnik made his choice, in full agreement with Obergruppenführer Rösener: there is no point in hunting down the Bolsheviks in difficult terrain. If the adversary does not have the means to come and get their men in useful terrain, let them stay on their heights and rot there! By doing so, the local head of the Nazi administration does not forget to safeguard his armed arm, which could well be useful tomorrow, in perhaps more difficult circumstances... He has the possibility - just as he has the possibility to judge, by simply observing his Croatian neighbors, the misfortune of a less prudent strategy. So why bother?
In doing so, however, the Slovenes also offer Lado Ambrožič's 9th Corps a nice welcome. Absolutely not neutralized and relatively safe in its redoubts, it can therefore quietly gather his forces before going on the attack again, tomorrow or the day after. Routine, in the Balkans...
Routine also, alas, in Brod Na Kupi and Petrina, who the SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Brigade Karstjäger finally seized after almost five days of fighting. Furious about this long and bloody clash - and the road to Karlovac has not even been cleared yet! - the SS took hostage 40 women among the inhabitants considered "non-Slovenes". Then they enter in other houses a little bit randomly to machine-gun all those whom they find there.
It is true that Standartenführer-SS Hans Brandt, although a scientist, is not known for his for his greatness of spirit. In 1937, he was one of the people responsible (if not the main driving force...) for the downfall of his fellow speleologist of "Jewish origin" Benno Wolf and his deportation to the camp of Theresienstadt, where he was to die*******...
In any case, in Brod Na Kupi and Petrina, there were 51 deaths, including five children from 2 to 5 years old. As for the hostages, they were of course raped collectively before being executed with a bullet in the neck. None of the participants in this massacre will ever be worried********.
Otherwise, on the road to Delnice, the war continues...
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Croatia (north-west) - The Hrvatsko domobranstvo does not finish growing on the road to Donji Žirovac... Faced with a 10th AVNOJ Corps that no longer avoids combat in battle - all the more so as it is, for the first time, reinforced by a number of volunteers from neighboring towns as well as deserters, the Ustasha force goes from obstacle to difficulty. Certainly, nothing is insurmountable! We manage to do everything with time, blood and ammunition (well, especially the first two ingredients, we lack the third). But still, the Ustashi won't go further than a small village lost in the woods and called Brubno.
.........
Croatia (north), Sava valley - In this sector of the front, the Ustashi try to reinforce themselves, but with measured means.
On its side, considering itself now covered on its left by the presence of the Australian capitalists, the 12th "Slavonic" Division (6th "Slavonic" Corps) relaunches violent actions of infiltration in the direction of Lužani and Batrina (thus of the road to Zagreb!) by taking advantage of the fact that the bulk of the cavalry brigade of Colonel Aurel Schlacher left to reinforce the Black Legion towards Slavonski Brod. These attacks are a great success: between mobilized, volunteers and... rallies (there are more and more in this region), the Titists are not far from benefiting from a clear numerical superiority locally. And in the evening, the road to the east is closed: the Black Legion as well as the Croatian cavalry are thus completely isolated in their fortified position on the banks of the Sava river. A great success! Even if tomorrow, the 6th ID of colonel Ivan Sarnbek will certainly come to try to clear the area from Nova Gradiška...
It is therefore not possible to speak of a permanent maneuver, let alone an encirclement. The purpose of the AVNOJ operation may therefore seem obscure to an uninformed observer. But in reality, Petar Drapšin's main hope in doing so is to encourage his neighbor, Slavko Rodić, and his new friends to act as quickly as possible to defeat an opponent he cannot fight alone. The partisan leader is probably unaware of the "complications" related to cooperation with the Commonwealth troops... Unless he doesn't care - which is the same thing. For AVNOJ, only one thing matters in this region: to win, liberate, rally and (also) cut to pieces an Ustasha V Corps no longer very far from the precipice of defeats and lack of support as well as perspective.
.........
Croatia (west), between Gospić and Knin - At the end of the day, after a new offensive having pushed back the 8th Kordun Division until it threatened the crossroads of Gračac, the 28th. Waffen-Gebirgsjäger Rgt suspends its actions. Sturmbannführer Hans Hanke achieved his goal: to drive the collectivists away from Knin, while inflicting enough casualties on them so that they learned their lesson: not to mess with the SS. Soon, his troop will head back east, to prepare for a global redeployment of the Handschar in support of the Prinz-Eugen, which seems to be in difficulty towards Sarajevo. Risky, it is true... but the turn of the battle leaves them no choice. As soon as they arrive, their new Dutch and Cossack comrades will make up for their departure!
Further north, the 173. ID has not moved since the day before, not even approaching Gospic. Notwithstanding to displease to the fears of some, the Axis does not really have the means nor the leisure to even pretend to threaten the Partisans on this lost plateau...
Discreet (but authorized) assistance
Over Bosnia - Continuation of DESTROMO operations to the Titist forces. The LeO 451-T sneak between clouds and mountains to go to support as close as possible the Partisans of the AVNOJ fighting at the side of the "Fabvier" army. After all, it is them, more and more often, who lead the way! We might as well give them the tools to do so - even if it implies to deliver a part of the kingdom to a power competing with Belgrade... In coordination, it is true, with the Administration of Yugoslav territories liberated of Ivan Šubašić.
* OTL, Brčko will be a major sticking point in the Dayton Accords. Assigned to the Federation of Bosnia after a first period under the colors of the Bosnian Serb Republic, its future remains to this day the subject of very lively controversy.
** A true legend of the Greek support forces, Epaminondas Kottas had started on Blenheim in 1936, before making the '41 campaign on Battle! A 1st class war cross and DFC, he had accumulated more than 1,300 hours in combat.
***These were still being trained by German instructors, who were in no hurry since a Fi 167 piloted by Commander Romeo Adum had deserted the day before to the island of Vis, under Allied control!
**** Bozidar Bartulovic survived the conflict. Captured on his hospital bed in Zagreb, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Yugoslav court. Released in 1953, he eventually emigrated to Germany where he worked as an engineer. He died in 1985.
***** Perhaps a little depressed by the recent rallying of the Polish government to the USSR, Stefanowicz is also said to have said his entourage: "Gentlemen, this is the end. It is useless to surrender to the Reds. Let's win or die for the memory of Poland and civilization.
****** Wolf's archives were later to serve Brandt in his own work for the SS-Ahnenerbe, in a register very close to plagiarism. Today, Benno Wolf is considered to be one of the most important speleologists of the interwar period, a brilliant scientist whose work, paradoxically, played an essential role in the Reichsnaturschutzgesetz (Reich Nature Conservation Act), parts of which are still in force today!
******* The prosecution was dropped in 2007 after the death of the last member of the Karstjäger - although he had been identified for a long time. Nowadays, every April 23rd, a march commemorates the event...
