Battle of Kozara

Kozara Offensive

Battle of Kozara Memorial near Prijedor

Date	10 June – August 1942
Location	Kozara mountain, northwestern Bosnia
Result	Axis victory; Partisan force severely damaged

Belligerents

Axis:

Germany

Independent State of Croatia

Hungary

Allies:

Partisans

Commanders and leaders

Friedrich Stahl

Kosta Nađ

Strength

some 15,000 German troops
22,000 Independent State of Croatia troops
5 Hungarian monitors

3,000 troops aided by local volunteers and recruits

Casualties and losses

7,000 casualties

25,000 civilians and fighters killed (1,700 killed in action)

The Kozara Offensive, also known as Operation West-Bosnien by the Axis, was fought in 1942 on and around the mountain of Kozara in northwestern Bosnia. It was an important battle of the Yugoslav Partisan resistance movement in World War II. It later became an integral part of Yugoslav post-war mythology, which celebrated the courage and martyrdom of outnumbered and outgunned Partisans and civilians. Certain sources mistakenly identify the Kozara Offensive as part of Operation Trio.

In the spring of 1942, Yugoslav Partisans in central and west Bosnia liberated Bosanski Petrovac, Drvar, Glamoč and Prijedor. On 20 May the 1st Krajina Assault Brigade was founded, and the next day it obtained tanks and a modest air force. The free territory stretched from the river Sava south across the mountains Kozara and Grmeč. During the winter, Partisans inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans. A great loss for the Partisans was the death of their capable and distinguished commander, Mladen Stojanović, known as "Komandant Mladen", who was killed in March 1942 by the Chetniks under Rade Radić.

The German and Ustaše authorities realized that the city of Banja Luka and the iron mine in Ljubija were in danger and organized an offensive to destroy the movement. The Germans engaged 15,000 soldiers, the Independent State of Croatia (the Ustaše) about 22,000 soldiers, the Chetniks about 2,000 soldiers, and the Hungarians participated with 5 monitor ships. The Partisan group had about 3,000 soldiers, but recruited reserves from the 60,000 civilians in the free territory.

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Wikipedia