Fight on Čelopek | |||||||
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Part of Serbian Chetnik Organization | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Serbian Chetnik Organization | Local Ottoman army and Albanian bashi-bozuks | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Borko Paštrović Aksentije Bacetović Ilija Jovanović Lazar Kujundžić Pavle Mladenović Ljubomir Jezdić |
N/A | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
120–130 | 200+ | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 or 4 dead, 8 captured | over 200 dead and wounded | ||||||
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The Fight on Čelopek (Serbian: Borba na Čelopeku/Борба на Челопеку) or Battle on Čelopek (Bitka/Битка) was fought at the Čelopek plateau near Kozjak between the Serbian Chetnik Organization, a Serbian rebel faction, and Ottoman officers accompanied by Ottoman Albanian bashi-bozuks, on April 16, 1905.
After the fights in Tabanovce, Savatije Milošević, Lazar Kujundžić and Aksentije Bacetović-Baceta left their offices as organizators of the action, wanting to feel the Chetnik lifestyle "from within" as voivodes. Baceta was to replace the then Chief of Upper Staff, Ilija Jovanović. Baceta and Savatije, by mid-April, had moved 107 fighters across the border.
At dawn on Holy Saturday (15 April [O.S. 2 April]), the two large bands of Belgrade and Kragujevac arrived at the village of Dubočica. There, they were awaited by the bands of Ilija Jovanović, Lazar Kujundžić, Čiča-Pavle Mladenović and Ljubomir Jezdić. The Kragujevac Band was led by captain (kapetan) Borko Paštrović and had the sub-lieutenants (potporučnici): Vojin Popović-Vuk, Dušan Jezdić, Petar Todorović and Dušan Putniković. The Belgrade Band was led by Baceta, and included Savatije, officers (oficiri) Janićije Mićić, Bogdan Jugović Hajnc, Vojislav Tankosić, Branivoj Jovanović and non-commissioned officers (podoficiri) Jović, Radul Kosovac, Novica Leovac, Radoš Vasiljević, Trajko and Radivoje Ilić. They were also accompanied with the bands of Stevan Nedić and Doksim Mihailović, which had been returned to western Povardarje after vacationing in Belgrade.