Battle on Lijevče field

Battle of Lijevče Field

Retreat of Đurišić's (1) forces

Date	March 30 – April 8, 1945
Location	Lijevče Field, Independent State of Croatia (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Result	Independent State of Croatia victory

Belligerents

Chetniks

Independent State of Croatia

Commanders and leaders

Pavle Đurišić (POW)

Petar Baćović (POW)

Zaharije Ostojić (POW)

Vladimir Metikoš

Marko Sučić

Strength

17,000

27,940

Casualties and losses

7,000 killed
5,000 captured
5,000 deserted

1,200 killed
2,000 wounded
300 missing

The Battle of Lijevče Field (Serbo-Croatian: Bitka na Lijevča polju, Битка на Лијевча пољу) was a battle fought between March 30 and April 8, 1945 between the Croatian Armed Forces (HOS, the amalgamated Ustaše militia and Croatian Home Guard forces) and Chetnik forces on the Lijevče Field near Banja Luka in what was then the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

The HOS forces were led by General Vladimir Metikoš, while the Chetniks were led by Lieutenant Colonel Pavle Đurišić.

The combined Chetnik force was defeated by an NDH force. Chetnik leaders, Đurišić, Zaharije Ostojić and Petar Baćović, and ideologue Dragiša Vasić were captured in an apparent trap set by the NDH forces and Sekula Drljević after being induced to negotiate. They were then executed along with a number of Serbian Orthodox priests.

In the fall of 1944, the Chetniks were scattered across the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Divisions of the Red Army had entered the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia and were assisting Yugoslav forces in capturing and destroying the Chetniks.

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