Probably the most successful partisan movement against the Germans was that which was run in Yugoslavia during WWII. The one best known was by Tito. Not that Tito's group was the only one as there were others who were loyal to the King, but Tito's seemed to be the best organized. The partisans there were fairly well trained and equipped by the Soviets and other allies. Their operations tied up German units that could have easily been used elsewhere. As usual, the Germans dropped the ball after taking over the country in 1941 by letting others handle the anti-partisan duties and not aggressively going after the partisans. They also alienated the local population, making things even more difficult.

This was perfect for Tito's partisan groups. It allowed them to not only grow, but to be able to control rather large areas of the country where the Germans and their Allies did not usually go. By mid 1944, the Germans decided to do away with Tito once and for all. Thanks to intelligence, they knew that Tito was in or near the town of Drvar.

Drvar was in a rather difficult area to access so it was planned to use mostly SS troops and raid the area with air and glider drops. Unfortunately for the Germans, they had not much in the way of transports so the units would have to be dropped in several sections. It was thought that Tito was located near a cemetery in town. Actually, he was in caves overlooking the town.

The initial German landing was quite successful, with a rather intensive aerial bombardment by Ju-87s prior to the landing. Most gliders reaching the ground and most paratroopers also landing safely. Meanwhile, on the ground, other forces were coming by road and having a lot of difficulty doing so, thanks to partisan road blocks and mines laid in the road.

Tito and his commanders realized they were in trouble once the cave was discovered. Tito was about to give up when his second in command told him he needed to use the escape route to get out of there. All partisan spaces had alternate ways to leave in case things got tight. So Tito and his group escaped out of the cave down to a nearby river and they were eventually able to make their way to safety. Fortunately for Tito, the Germans did not land the second wave of troops on the plateau above the cave for if they had, they would have caught Tito.

To make a very exciting story short, the Germans were unable to capture Tito, though they were able to destroy a considerable cache of weapons, ammunition and other supplies. Tito was forced to flee to Italy, leaving behind a considerable number of dead and wounded troops.

The entire tale is very much like a chess game with one side making moves and the other countering them. It was as much sheer luck that Tito got away and thanks to Allied bombing of airfields in the area, the Germans were never able to get together enough aircraft  to repeat the exercise on Vis, where Tito holed up for the rest of the war.

Superbly illustrated with period photos taken by the Germans during the mission and 3D Maps we are drawn into the battle and eventual excape of Tito. I know you will thoroughly enjoy this one and as such I highly recommend this book to you.

August 2012

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