18th (Croatian) Eastern Bosnian brigade
Operation ZIETHEN
Soviet 236th Rifle Division
Hellgate: London
France Pirc (1899 - 1954)
Operation RATWEEK
(Nedelja pacova)
History
Simply refereed to by Partisan Supreme Headquarters as Destruction of communications on Yugoslav front from 1 to 7 September 1944, operation Ratweek was major joint effort of Allied air forces and Yugoslav partisans.
Agreement was made during talks between Josip Broz Tito, Winston Churchill and Henry Maitland Wilson from 6 to 14 August 1944 in Caserta and Naples. Goal was to destroy communication network (road and railway) in entire Yugoslavia simultaneously by using eight Partisan Corps (24 division and one operational group with 79 brigades, totaling 120,000 soldiers), four Partisan operational zone and units of regional staffs supported by Allied Balkan Air Force and 15th United States Army Air Force.
Aftermath
15th USAAF made 1373 sorties and drooped 3000 tons of bombs, while BAF made some 600 fighter sorties. Allied air force destroyed 112 locomotives, 243 motorized transports and 413 railway carts, also attacks on the airfields destroyed 94 aircraft crippling Luftwaffe strength in Yugoslavia. The Long Range Desert Group and the Special Boat Service destroyed bridge near Gruda and attacked coastal targets in Dubrovnik region, while Royal Navy harassed German sea traffic.
Yugoslav partisans amongst other things, captured eight communication centers, 49 railway stations or strongholds, destroyed 77 kilometers of railroad tracks, 97 road and railway bridges, also cut 77 kilometers of phone and telegraph lines.
Axis forces had 4187 killed, around 2000 wounded and 5782 captured soldiers. Railway traffic was interrupted for two to three weeks during vital period of German retreat from Balkan (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania) in front of advancing Soviet army.
Send in additions, new information's or corrections you have! If you have updates, new info, you have found factual error, error in translation, grammar error or only simple typing error. Please let us know! Fill in the form and send it back. Your help is greatly appreciated.
