Battle of the Neretva

Battle of the Neretva
Part of the Yugoslav Front of World War II

Bridge on the Neretva river, repaired and twice-destroyed during the battle. Today, a monument.
Date January – April 1943
Location Vicinity of the Neretva river, Herzegovina, occupied Yugoslavia
Result Partisan retreat and heavy losses, Chetnik defeat, Axis failure to achieve strategic goals
Belligerents
Axis:
 Germany
 Italy
 Independent State of Croatia
Chetniks		 Allies:
Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Löhr
Draža Mihailović[1]
Branko Ostojić		 Josip Broz Tito
Strength
150,000 men
including 12,000-15,000 Chetniks[1]
200+ aircraft		 Unknown
(about 20,000 men)
Casualties and losses
German, Italian, and Ustaše losses are unknown 8,000

The Battle of the Neretva (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Slovene 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.[2] It is named after the nearby river, the Neretva.

The operation is generally known as the Fourth anti-Partisan Offensive, while it is also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva, Slovene četrta sovražnikova ofenziva) or the Battle for the Wounded (Bitka za ranjenike) in ex-Yugoslav sources.

Contents

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 and 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:[3]

During the battle, the Partisans were caught in a pocket with their backs to the Neretva river. On their - western - side, were German forces, including several elite units and supported by panzer brigades. The eastern side (opposite the Partisan pocket) was guarded only by Chetnik formations, who were acting in coordination with the Germans. To reach this side the Partisans would have to cross one or more of the five bridges on the Neretva river. If the Partisans could cross the river they would be relatively safe; however, they had insufficient time to cross as the Axis forces were preparing for their final push.

In order to counter this strategic "checkmate", the Partisan commander, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, prepared an elaborate deception. He ordered his sappers to actually blow up all the bridges on the river. When air reconnaissance brought this information to the German command, they concluded that the Partisans must be preparing a final dash north of their current position (along the western shore of the Neretva), and had blown up the bridge to prevent desertion as well as attack by Chetnik forces from the other side of the river. They thus began a redeployment of troops in the area to block the anticipated movement.

This redeployment gave the Partisan engineers 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 correct their mistake and prepare a serious attack in time, because of their previous redeployment orders. With their rearguard fighting off an increasingly powerful German advance, the Partisans crossed the river under intense air bombardment (the Axis deployed large Luftwaffe formations), but the mountainous landscape prevented accurate destruction of the makeshift bridge. After the escape was complete, the weak bridge was finally rendered useless to prevent pursuit. The humiliating strategic defeat was amplified by Tito being able to keep his well known pledge not to leave the wounded behind, as they faced certain execution at the hands of the Axis (which later actually happened in the aftermath of the Battle of the Sutjeska).[4]

Aftermath

By the end of March, the Axis forces had killed about 8,000 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.

Alistair MacLean's 1968 thriller novel Force 10 From Navarone, subsequently filmed, also brings forth the fight of outnumbered Partisans against Germans and Chetniks, and the blowing up of the Neretva bridge. But the actual historical events are not in play, and the story is entirely fictional.

Order of battle

Allied order of battle

Yugoslav Partisans

Axis order of battle

 Germany[5]

 Italy

 Croatia

Chetniks (nominally as Italian Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, Volume I: Chetniks. San Francisco: Stanford University Press. pp. 232–241. ISBN 0804736154. 
    "The high point of Chetnik collaboration with the Axis powers was reached during the Battle of the Neretva in the winter of 1943, which was the final phase of Fall Weiss or, in Yugoslav terminology, the Fourth Enemy Offensive. (p.232)... In the final phase, the Battle of the Neretva River, the total number of Chetnik auxiliaries and other Chetnik formations closely working together with the Italians was between 12,000 and 15,000 men. (p.236)... Apparently to make sure that the crucial operation on the Neretva would be carried out successfully, and also to be present at the scene of the kill, Mihailović himself moved from Montenegro to Kalinovik where he joined Ostojić, who had up to this point been in command of operations in Herzegovina. On March 9 Mihailović wrote to Colonel Stanišić: 'I manage the whole operation through Branko [i.e. Branko Ostojić, Mihailović's Chief of Operations]. No action is ordered without my approval. Branko is keeeping me informed of even the smallest details. All his proposals are reviewed, studied, approved or corrected...' (p.241)
    Note 122: But at his trial Mihailović stated that 'there the operations were led by Ostojić, because I had no time to occupy myself with these matters, since I had really come to visit my troops and get acquainted with the real state of affairs.'"
  2. ^ Operation WEISS – The Battle of Neretva
  3. ^ Battles & Campaigns during World War 2 in Yugoslavia
  4. ^ Operation SCHWARZ – Battle of Sutjeska
  5. ^ Operation WEISS – Axis order of battle