Battle of Neretva

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Batlle of Neretva
partof=the Yugoslav Front of World War II


caption=The Bridge on the Neretva river, repaired and twice-destroyed during the battle.
date= January-April, 1943
place=Near the Neretva river, southern Bosnia, the Herzegovina region (today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia)
result=Offensive failed (Partisan HQ and field hospital not eliminated), strategic Partisan victory.
combatant1=


combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=150,000 men
200+ airplanes
strength2=Unknown
(about 20,000 men)
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown|

The Battle of Neretva (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: "Bitka na Neretvi"), codenamed "Fall Weiss", was a German strategic plan for a combined Axis attack launched in early 1943 against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War. The offensive took place between January and April 1943. [http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/operation/weiss-1943/ Operation WEISS - The Battle of Neretva ] ]
The operation is generally known as the Fourth anti-Partisan Offensive, while it is also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive ("Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva") or the Battle for the Wounded ("Bitka za ranjenike") in ex-Yugoslav sources.

Operation

The Germans aimed to destroy the central command of the Partisan movement, the Central Committee of Communist Party of Yugoslavia, as well as the main Partisan hospital. The Axis rallied nine divisions, six German, three Italian, as well as two Croatian divisions and a number of Chetnik and Ustasha formations. Estimated 150,000 Axis combatants engaged a much smaller partisan force.

The operation was carried out in three stages: [ [http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/battles-and-operations/ Battles & Campaigns during World War 2 in Yugoslavia ] ]
* Weiss I started on January 20, 1943, with the attack on Partisan-held areas in western Bosnia and parts of central Croatia.
* Weiss II followed on February 25, with fighting in western and southwestern Bosnia, and the Partisans retreating as far southeast as the Neretva river.
* Weiss III was launched in March, and centered around the areas of northern Herzegovina, but the targeted Partisans managed to break out from an encirclement into northern Montenegro, and the third phase was not successfully completed.

During the battle, the Partisans were caught in a pocket with their back to the Neretva river. On their side, the western side, were German forces accompanied with several elite units and supported by panzer brigades. The eastern side (opposite the Partisan pocket) was guarded only by the unorganised Chetnik formations, and was connected by a sole bridge. If the Partisans could cross the river they would be relatively safe. However, they had insufficient time to cross the bridge as the Axis forces were preparing for their final push. Faced with these seemingly insurmountable difficulties, the Partisan commander, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, prepared an elaborate ruse. He ordered his sappers to actually blow up the only bridge on the river. When this information reached the German command, they concluded that the Partisans must be preparing a final dash north of their current position (along the western shore), and had blown up the bridge as a morale boost and to prevent desertion. They, thus, began a complex redeployment of troops in the area to annihilate them as they attacked. They were, in fact, giving Tito's engineer corps the precious time needed to sufficiently repair the bridge and to eliminate the Chetnik troops defending its far side. The Germans, characteristically, quickly caught on, but were unable to prepare a serious offensive in time, because of their previous redeployment orders. The Partisans crossed the river under intense air bombardment (the Axis deployed large Luftwaffe units), but the mountainous landscape prevented accurate destruction of the makeshift bridge. After the escape was complete, the weak bridge was rendered finally completely useless to prevent pursuit. The humiliating strategic defeat was amplified by Tito being able to keep his (famous) promise to take even the wounded in the main Partisan hospital with him, as they faced certain execution at the hands of the Axis (which later actually happened after the Battle of Sutjeska). [ [http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/operation/schwarz-1943/ Operation SCHWARZ - Battle of Sutjeska ] ]

Aftermath

By the end of March, the Axis forces had killed about eight thousand Partisans, capturing another two thousand. Despite these heavy losses and a tactical victory for the Axis powers, the partisan formations secured their command and the hospital, and were able to continue operations. In fact, once they reached the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Partisans had to face only the Chetniks, and in turn almost entirely incapacitated them in the area west of the Drina river.

The next major operation in Yugoslavia was Operation Schwarz.

The 1969 Oscar-nominated motion picture "The Battle of Neretva" depicts these events.

Allied order of battle

* 1st Croatian Corps (16,000 men)
* 1st Bosnian Corps (11,500 men)
* Main Operational Group (14,500 men) consisting of
**1st Proletarian Division
**2nd Proletarian Division
**3rd Assault Division
**7th Banija Division (joined later)
**9th Dalmatian Division (joined later)

Axis order of battle [ [http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/operation/weiss-1943/order-of-battle/axis/ Operation WEISS - Axis order of battle ] ]

*7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division 'Prinz Eugen'
*369th Infantry Division
*714th Infantry Division
*717th Infantry Division
*one regiment from 187th Reserve Division

*12th Infantry Division 'Sassari'
*13th Infantry Division 'Re'
*57th Infantry Division 'Lombardia'

*2nd Croatian Home Guard Mountain Brigade
*3rd Croatian Home Guard Mountain Brigade

)
*around 20,000 troops

ee also

* Yugoslav Partisans
* Yugoslav People's Liberation War
* Seven anti-Partisan offensives
* List of anti-Partisan operations in Yugoslavia
* Sava Kovačević
* Resistance during World War II

References