User:OakMapping/sandbox/Bihać Operation

Bihać Operation was a military operation conducted by Yugoslav partisans against Independent State of Croatia and Nazi Germany during the World War II. Aim of the operation was to capture Bihać and surrounding towns in order to connect Partisan held areas in Bosanska Krajina and Knisnka Krajina. Battle for the city of Bihać lasted from 2nd to 4th November 1942, after capturing the city Partisans continued to fight in surrounding areas until 15th November. Operation resulted in a major Partisan victory with Bihać and surrounding areas being captured and NDH suffering significant casualties.

After Bihać was captured by the Partisans, Bihać Republic was formed which consisted of all Partisan held areas in NDH, which with capture of Bihać became connected. Bihać became center of the Yugoslav Partisan movement.

Background
Bihać came to the Axis control during the April war, and since then there have been many fights between Yugoslav Partisans and the Axis powers near Bihać. This caused Ustaše to put large efforts in fortifying the city and surrounding villages.

Supreme Headquarters of Yugoslav Partisans moved from Užice (in Serbia) to Foča (in Bosnia) in January 1942. On 10 May 1942, Supreme HQ moved further west in order to more easily coordinate operations in Bosnia. Partisan operations in Bosnia were a success and many towns were under their control by August 1942. In Bosnia, towns of Drvar, Bosanski Petrovac, Ključ, Glamoč and Mrkonjić-Grad were under Partisan control. In Croatia, Partisans held towns of Korenica, Vojnić and Vrginmost, as well as many other smaller places.

On 1 November 1942, Tito gave on order for Yugoslav partisans to be reformed into a regular army. There were several reforms in the army, the most important were: more autonomy for local headquarters and formation of the.

Yugoslav Partisans
Four Partisan brigades from Bosnia and three from Croatia were involved in Bihać Operation. The operation was led by Kosta Nađ. In total, 7000 soldiers participated in the operation.

Units from Bosnia
The 1st Krajina Assault Brigade was formed on the 21st of May, 1942, in Lamovita. It was involved in multiple battles in Bosnia before the Bihać Operation, in which the brigade was mostly successful. All but one battalion in the brigade, the 4th battalion, did not participate in the battle.

The 2nd Krajina Assault Brigade was formed on the 2nd of August, 1942, in the village of Bošnjaci, near Sanski Most. Before the Bihać Operation, the brigade was involved in, and several other battles. The entire Brigade participated in the operation. was a commander of the 2nd Krajina Assault Brigade during the operation.

The 3rd Krajina Assault Brigade was formed on the 22nd of August, 1942, in the village of Kamenica. The Bihać Operation was the first major battle involving the brigade. All of its four battalions participated in the operation. Nikola Karanović was the commander of the brigade.

The 5th Krajina Assault Brigade was formed on the 22nd of September, 1942, in the village of Palež on the Kozara mountain. The Bihać Operation was the first military engagement of the brigade. The entire battalion took part in the battle. was the commander of the brigade during the operation.

Only one battalion, the 3rd, of the 6th Krajina Assault Brigade participated in the operation. the Operation was its first military engagement.

Units from Croatia
The 8th Banovina Assault Brigade was formed on the 7th of September, 1942, in Obljaj. The brigade was involved in multiple battles before the Bihać Operation. All three battalions of the brigade participated in the operation. was commander of the brigade during the operation.

The 4th Kordun Assault Brigade was formed on 20 August 1942 in. Before the Bihać Operation the brigade was involved in several military engagements the most significant being liberation of the Jastrebarsko children's camp. All of its three battalions were involved in the operation. led the brigade during the Bihać Operation.

The 2nd Lika Assault Brigade was formed on 19 August 1942 in Laudonov gaj. It was involved in multiple military engagements before the Bihać Operation. All of its four battalions were involved in the operation. The brigade was led by.

Axis powers
One brigade of Ustaše militia, two regiments of Croatian Home Guard and one German infantry division fought partisans during the Bihać Operation. They were led by. In total around 4000 soldiers fought during the operation.

Four out of five battalions of the 4th Standing Active Brigade of Ustaše militia were defending Bihać, those were: 19th Ustaše Battle Battalion, 31st Ustaše Battle Battalion, 32nd Ustaše Battle Battalion and 33rd Ustaše Battle Battalion. The brigade was commanded by.

Two battalions of 2nd and 12th of Croatian Home Guard infantry regiments were stationed in the city.

The 714th Infantry Division of Nazi Germany was also involved in the battle, it was led by.

Plan of the defense of Bihać
At the time of the operation Bihać was controlled by Ustaše who heavily fortified the city because of its strategic importance and common fights in the city's environs. The Ustaše had the following plan for the defense of Bihać: They placed the defense in a wider area around the city, relying mostly on Una, this was did in order to not allow the attacker to rise and quickly penetrate the city. During the a potential attack, the defense of external strongholds should have created the necessary time to collect reserves and carry out counterattacks in order to repel the attackers. Counterattacks from the city, or, in the last resort, by occupying fortified objects of the narrower belt of defense, the attackers would be repelled. If forces and reserves from Bihać and surrounding places would not be able to repel, reinforcements from the surrounding garrisons would be brought.

The defense of Bihać was circular, in two belts. The goal of such a defense was to close the approaches to the city, prevent a sudden attack, and to retain the control of the city at all costs because of its strategic importance. The outer belt of defense included several villages (Kurtovo Selo, Ostrožac, Prošiće, Brekovica, Pokoj, Ličko Petrovo Selo, Zavalje, Skočaj, Dobrenica and Golubić), and the inner several strongholds (Ribić, Rasadnik, Cekrlije, Vinica, Založje, Cavkiće, Bakšaiš, Hatinac, Žegar, Somišlje and Privilica). The Ustaše planted these defensive belts with groups of their forces, and their wings were set against Una. The strongholds were very well fortified, especially Somišlje and Žegar with Žegar alley and Borik on the left bank of the Una. In addition, in the city itself, the Ustaše turned almost every larger and more solid building into a fortification. The strongholds were set up for circular defense, reinforced with wire barriers. The Ustaše, especially in the second half of October, hastily brought in cement, iron and other materials to strengthen the existing and build new defense facilities. On the left bank of the Una, where the center and most of the city are today, was the center of the Ustaše's defense. There, the Ustaše grouped its forces more strongly and had a larger number of stronger objects. In the city itself, the Ustaše kept a reserve on standby, in order to provide assistance to strongholds outside the city, should it be attacked. In addition, they counted on their forces in Bosanska Krupa, Cazin, Slunj and Lički Petrovo Selo, which, in the event of an attack on Bihać, could intervene quickly.

Planning of the operation
On 18 October supreme commander of Yugoslav Partisans, Josip Broz Tito accepted a suggestion Main Staff of the National Liberation Army of Bosnia for an attack on Bihać. A day after, Main Staff of the National Liberation Army of Bosnia sent a detailed plan to the Supreme Headquarters. Their suggestion was for the operation to take place on 29 October 1942, four days after a detailed plan would be made together with Staff of Lika Brigades.

"One Krajina brigade would have the task of capturing Ostrožac, Jezero and Spahići and defending the onslaught of enemy forces from Bosanska Krupa and Cazin towards Bihać. Two Krajina brigades will attack the enemy stronghold of Bihać via Pokoj, Založje, Čekrlija, Golubić. One Krajina and one proletarian brigade will attack Bihać from Golubić via Dobrenica, Skočaj, Zavalje - Bihać. One Lika brigade should descend through the slopes of Plješivica to the communications Ličko Petrovo Selo - Zavalje, with the direction of the advance towards Ličko Petrovo Selo. The Second Lika Brigade should move from Plitvice Lakes across Prijeboj and attack Ličko Petrovo Selo and join forces with the First Lika Brigade; after the capture of Petrovo Selo, these brigades would continue to clear enemy villages from Petrovo Selo to Bihać. The Third and Fourth Lika Brigades should put pressure on the enemy strongholds between Kladuša and Petrovo Selo, on Gata, Bugar, and Vrnograč. The Banija forces - no larger than two battalions - would press on Bužim. After the capture of Bihać, the Krajina forces would head in two directions: one towards Cazin, and the other towards Bosanska Krupa with the task of capturing the same strongholds, using panic with the enemy. Lika forces should close the area from Ličko Petrovo Selo to Kladuša in one part, and they should close the second part according to the development of the situation. For the action, they would use 4 howitzers that would directly target the city itself and the enemy strongholds of Zavalje - Zegar, since they are considered to be the strongest enemy strongholds. The howitzers would be deployed at the Grabež position - from Pritočki Grabež to Kućište. From these positions, all enemy strongholds can be directly beaten. Anti-aircraft guns would be assigned to brigade headquarters to liquidate harder strongholds."

- Plan for Bihać Operation by Main Staff of the National Liberation Army of Bosnia sent to the Supreme Headquarters (translated to English from Serbo-Croatian)

The Head of Supreme Headquarters, Josip Broz Tito, accepted the plan but postponed the operation for later and on 27 October made additions and changes to the proposed plan. He also sent orders for movement to several brigades involved in the operation. On this day he also further discussed the plan for the operation with the Head of the Main Staff of the National Liberation Army of Bosnia and the leader of the operation, Kosta Nađ. A day later, Tito sent an order of how shall units from Croatia be used in the operation, in this order final decision about which units from Croatia will participate in the operation was made as well as the last additions to the plan for Bihać overall.

The operation
The movements of Yugoslav Partisan units towards Bihać begun on 29 October as they had to cross a significant distance, they marched during the night and trough the forests in order to remain unnoticed. The attack on the city begun on 9:30 PM, 2 November with the 1st battalion of the 2nd Krajina Assault Brigade attacking the city itself and the 3rd battalion of the 8th Banovina Assault Brigade breaching the defenses and quickly advancing towards the railroad station. The battle for the city continued during the night, bobmaši groups played a major role in breaking the bunker defenses of the villages surrounding Bihać. By the morning of 3 November, Ustaše lost the control of all of the city on the west coast of Una except for the important bridgehead on the river, which was captured in the afternoon hours of 3 November. During the fighting for the bridgehead,, deputy of the 1st battalion of the 1st Krajina Assault Brigade was killed, he was posthumously awarded with Order of the People's Hero. Around 4 PM on 4 November, Bihać and all of the villages surrounding it were captured by the partisans and 700 Ustaše fighters escaped from the city. Josip Broz Tito, the supreme commander of the National Liberation Army praised all brigades who fought in the battle, he also specifically praised who commanded the 2nd Krajina Assault Brigade.

After capturing the city, all brigades were given new orders in order to secure areas around the city, the 3rd Krajina Assault Brigade and 1st Krajina Assault Brigade remained in the city to defend it in a case of an attack. The 2nd Krajina Assault Brigade was headed towards Bosanska Krupa, but Ustaše forces in the city heard of this and decided to abandon the city, they evacuated to Bosanski Novi. The 4th Kordun Assault Brigade, 8th Banovina Assault Brigade and the 3rd battalion of 6th Krajina Assault Brigade advanced towards Cazin and Velika Kladuša. The 2nd Lika Assault Brigade was joined by 1st Lika Assault Brigade, and they headed by the route Ličko Petrovo Selo - Slunj. The 5th Krajina Assault Brigade was sent to Sanski Most in order to help the 6th Krajina Assault Brigade with defending the territory in control of the Partisans.

Operation concluded on 15 November and it resulted in Partisans capturing Bosanska Krupa, Otok, Cazin, Bužim, Slunj, Cetingrad, Velika Kladuša, Vrnograč and many other smaller places. During the operation 860 Ustaše fighters and members of Croatian home guard were arrested, and 650 Axis soldiers were killed. Partisans seized 4 Howitzers, 3 Anti-tank Artillery pieces, one mountain gun, two mortars, 1000 rifles, over one million pieces of ammunition, as well as many other supplies such food and clothes.

Aftermath
On 4 October, after Partisans captured Bihać, the so called Bihać Republic was proclaimed, it consisted of all territories held by Partisans in NDH.

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed on 26 November in Bihać and its first session was held there. On this session, the AVNOJ adopted the principle of a multi-ethnic federal state as the basis for the country's future government and appointed an Executive Council.

was also formed in Bihać, it consisted of all anti-fascist youth movements in Yugoslavia. The first session of its congress was held in the city between 27 and 29 December, this session was opened by Josip Broz Tito. It involved delegates from all Yugoslav countries except for Slovenia and Macedonia, Slovenian delegates were stopped by an Axis offensive while Macedonian delegates didn't come because of difficulty of such travel.

After the operation, Bihać became the both military and political center of the resistance by the Yugoslav Partisans.

Bihać was re-captured by the Axis on 29 Ocotober 1943, during the Fourth Enemy Offensive. It remained in Axis control until 26 March 1945, when after the Battle of Bihać it was again captured by the Partisans.