Battle of the Sutjeska

Date	May 15 – June 16, 1943
Location	Vicinity of the Sutjeska river, southeastern Bosnia, occupied Yugoslavia
Result	Axis failure in archieving mission goals, heavy Partisan casualties

Battle of the Sutjeska
	Part of the Yugoslav Front of World War II
	; Partisan column during the Battle of the Sutjeska
Date	May 15 – June 16, 1943
Location	Vicinity of the Sutjeska river, southeastern Bosnia, occupied Yugoslavia
Result	Axis failure in archieving mission goals, heavy Partisan casualties
Belligerents
Germany; Italy; Independent State of Croatia; Bulgaria	Yugoslav partisans
Commanders
Alexander Löhr; Rudolf Lüters	Josip Broz Tito
Strength
127,000 men; 300+ aircraft	18,000 men
Casualties and losses
comparably low	6,391 + 2000 civilian

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The Battle of the Sutjeska (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian: Bitka na Sutjesci), codenamed Fall Schwarz, was a joint attack by the Axis taking place from 15 May to 16 June 1943, which aimed to destroy the main Yugoslav Partisan force, near the Sutjeska river in south-eastern Bosnia. The failure of the offensive marked a turning point for Yugoslavia during World War II.
The operation is generally known as the Fifth anti-Partisan Offensive, while it is also known as the Fifth Enemy Offensive (Peta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva) in ex-Yugoslav terminology. Codenamed Fall Schwarz, it immediately followed Fall Weiss which had failed in accomplishing the same objectives: to eliminate the central Partisan formations and capture their commander, Josip Broz Tito, also known by his Comintern codename as "Walter".

[edit] Operation

The Axis rallied 127,000 land troops for the offensive, including German, Italian, NDH, Bulgarian, Greek forces under Georgos Poulos (Officially SS) and Cossack (in ex-Yugoslav sources also called: "Čerkezi") units, and over 300 airplanes, under German operative command, against 18,000 soldiers of Yugoslav National Liberation Army operational group in 16 brigades. After a period of troop concentration, the offensive started on 15 May 1943. The Axis troops used the advantage of better starting positions to encircle and isolate the partisans on the Durmitor mountain area, located between the Tara and Piva rivers in the mountainous areas of northern Montenegro and forced them to engage in a fierce month-long battle on waste territory.

On June 9th, Tito was nearly killed, as a bomb fell near the leading group and wounded him in the arm. The popular post-war report of the event credited Tito's German shepherd dog Luks, for sacrificing his life to save Tito's.

Facing almost exclusively German troops, the Yugoslav National Liberation Army (YNLA) finally succeeded in breaking out across the Sutjeska river through the lines of the German 118th and 104th Jäger and 369th (Croatian) Infantry divisions in the northwestern direction, towards Eastern Bosnia. Three brigades and the central hospital with over 2000 wounded were surrounded. Following Hitler's instructions, German commander in chief General Alexander Löhr ordered and carried out their annihilation, including the wounded and the unarmed medical personnel. In addition, YNLA troops suffered from severe lack of food and medical supplies, and many were struck down by typhoid.

In total there were 6,391 partisan casualties, more than a third of the initial force. The German commander in field, general Rudolf Lüters in his final report described the so-called "communist rebels" as "well organized, skillfully led and with combat morale unbelievably high".

According to the post-war Yugoslav sources, the successful Partisan breakout helped their reputation as a viable fighting force with the local populace. Consequently they were able to replenish their losses with new recruits, regroup, and mount a series of counterattacks in Eastern Bosnia, clearing Axis garrisons of Vlasenica, Srebrenica, Olovo, Kladanj and Zvornik in the following 20 days.

The battle marked a turning point toward Allied control of Yugoslavia, and became an integral part of the Yugoslav post-war mythology, celebrating the self-sacrifice, extreme suffering and moral firmness of the partisans.