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Operation Kugelblitz

Operation Kugelblitz
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
DateLate 1943 and early 1944
Location
Northern Montenegro, Sandžak, southern Dalmatia, and eastern Bosnia
Result

Axis victory

  • Limited gains made by Axis
Belligerents
 Germany
 Bulgaria
Chetniks
Commanders and leaders
Units involved

  • 24th Infantry Division

Strength
c. 75,000 troops c. 12,000 troops
Casualties and losses
c. 2,700 casualties c. 11,000 casualties[1]

Operation Kugelblitz ("ball lightning") was a major anti-Partisan offensive orchestrated by German forces in December 1943 during World War II in Yugoslavia. The Germans attacked Josip Broz Tito's Partisan forces in the eastern parts of the Independent State of Croatia in an attempt to encircle and destroy them, thereby preventing the Partisans from entering the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia. Operation Kugelblitz was followed up immediately by Operation Schneesturm (Blizzard) which sought to capitalise on the initial success of Operation Kugelblitz. Both operations are associated with the Sixth Enemy Offensive (Serbo-Croatian: Šesta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva) in Yugoslav historiography.

The offensive

Operation Kugelblitz

Operation Kugelblitz, the first of the two offensives, was executed by the 5th SS Mountain Corps. The aim of this operation was to dismantle and consequently destroy Partisan units in eastern Bosnia. The operation ultimately was unsuccessful because the German forces were unable to completely destroy all the Partisan troops. Because of the terrain, large area, and lack of Axis manpower to adequately cover the encirclement, Partisan forces evaded complete destruction by slipping through large gaps in the narrowing encirclement. However, the partisans still suffered severe casualties.

Operation Schneesturm

Operation Schneesturm was initiated immediately upon the completion of Operation Kugelblitz. This operation included twin drives from the Bosnia area. One drive headed westwards towards the Adriatic Sea. The other headed to the northwest and towards the border with Italy. While this operation ended late in December and the Partisans once again survived, the cost was high. The Partisans suffered about 2,000 additional casualties. Although badly battered, the majority of the Partisan units retained their cohesion. Tito's army, in the opinion of some, could still be considered an effective fighting force.

Results

Such in general outline was the sixth offensive on liberated territory in Yugoslavia. The fact that British observers were by this time plentiful on the ground meant that the fighting was adequately reported abroad—as it had never been before—and the conclusion of the campaign coincided with a great wave of publicity for the partisans in England and the United States.[2]


For the Germans their sixth offensive was entirely inconclusive. They had failed to do more than merely interrupt the free development of the resistance movement, and although they burnt large numbers of villages and killed whomever they laid hands on they scarcely reduced the numbers of those who were fighting, and they laid the basis, indeed, for a great increase in those numbers. No reliable estimates of partisan casualties are available; and similarly it is impossible to do more than guess at German casualties. The only statement that can be made without fear of contradiction is that the ratio was heavily in favour of the partisans.[3]

References

  1. ^ Roland Kaltenegger, The Mountain Troops of the Waffen-SS, 1941-1945, Schiffer Publishing, Limited, 1995, ISBN 0887408133, p. 21.
  2. ^ Davidson, p. 175
  3. ^ Davidson, p. 177

Sources

See also

operation, kugelblitz, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, sept. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Operation Kugelblitz news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Serbo Croatian July 2019 Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Serbo Croatian Wikipedia article at sh Operacija Kuglasta munja see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated sh Operacija Kuglasta munja to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Operation KugelblitzPart of World War II in YugoslaviaDateLate 1943 and early 1944LocationNorthern Montenegro Sandzak southern Dalmatia and eastern BosniaResultAxis victory Limited gains made by AxisBelligerents Germany Bulgaria ChetniksYugoslav PartisansCommanders and leadersArtur Phleps Vojislav LukacevicPeko Dapcevic Kosta NađUnits involved1st Mountain Division 7th SS Mountain Division Prinz Eugen 369th Croatian Infantry Division 2nd Brandenburger Regiment 187th Reserve Division Motorized Grenadier Regiment 92 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 1st Italian Panzergrenadier Lehr Regiment 901 24th Infantry Division2nd Proletarian Division 5th Krajina Division 17th East Bosnian Division 27th East Bosnian DivisionStrengthc 75 000 troopsc 12 000 troopsCasualties and lossesc 2 700 casualtiesc 11 000 casualties 1 Operation Kugelblitz ball lightning was a major anti Partisan offensive orchestrated by German forces in December 1943 during World War II in Yugoslavia The Germans attacked Josip Broz Tito s Partisan forces in the eastern parts of the Independent State of Croatia in an attempt to encircle and destroy them thereby preventing the Partisans from entering the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia Operation Kugelblitz was followed up immediately by Operation Schneesturm Blizzard which sought to capitalise on the initial success of Operation Kugelblitz Both operations are associated with the Sixth Enemy Offensive Serbo Croatian Sesta neprijateljska ofenziva ofanziva in Yugoslav historiography Contents 1 The offensive 1 1 Operation Kugelblitz 1 2 Operation Schneesturm 2 Results 3 References 4 Sources 5 See alsoThe offensive EditOperation Kugelblitz Edit Operation Kugelblitz the first of the two offensives was executed by the 5th SS Mountain Corps The aim of this operation was to dismantle and consequently destroy Partisan units in eastern Bosnia The operation ultimately was unsuccessful because the German forces were unable to completely destroy all the Partisan troops Because of the terrain large area and lack of Axis manpower to adequately cover the encirclement Partisan forces evaded complete destruction by slipping through large gaps in the narrowing encirclement However the partisans still suffered severe casualties Operation Schneesturm Edit Operation Schneesturm was initiated immediately upon the completion of Operation Kugelblitz This operation included twin drives from the Bosnia area One drive headed westwards towards the Adriatic Sea The other headed to the northwest and towards the border with Italy While this operation ended late in December and the Partisans once again survived the cost was high The Partisans suffered about 2 000 additional casualties Although badly battered the majority of the Partisan units retained their cohesion Tito s army in the opinion of some could still be considered an effective fighting force Results EditSuch in general outline was the sixth offensive on liberated territory in Yugoslavia The fact that British observers were by this time plentiful on the ground meant that the fighting was adequately reported abroad as it had never been before and the conclusion of the campaign coincided with a great wave of publicity for the partisans in England and the United States 2 Basil Davidson For the Germans their sixth offensive was entirely inconclusive They had failed to do more than merely interrupt the free development of the resistance movement and although they burnt large numbers of villages and killed whomever they laid hands on they scarcely reduced the numbers of those who were fighting and they laid the basis indeed for a great increase in those numbers No reliable estimates of partisan casualties are available and similarly it is impossible to do more than guess at German casualties The only statement that can be made without fear of contradiction is that the ratio was heavily in favour of the partisans 3 Basil DavidsonReferences Edit Roland Kaltenegger The Mountain Troops of the Waffen SS 1941 1945 Schiffer Publishing Limited 1995 ISBN 0887408133 p 21 Davidson p 175 Davidson p 177Sources EditDavidson Basil 1946 Partisan Picture Bedford Bedford Books Ltd See also EditMilitary history of Bulgaria during World War II Seven anti Partisan offensives Resistance during World War II Anti partisan operations in World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Operation Kugelblitz amp oldid 1133468007, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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