| 8th Dalmatian Shock Corps | |
|---|---|
.svg) Flag of theFederal State of Croatia, used by Partisans in Croatia | |
| Active | 7 October 1943– 2 March 1945 |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Branch |  Yugoslav Partisan Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Corps |
| Part of | 4th Army |
| Nicknames | Dalmatian Udarni (shock) |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Vicko Krstulović Sreten Žujović Pavle Ilić Petar Drapšin |
The8th Dalmatian Shock Corps (Serbo-Croatian:8. dalmatinski korpus) was a corps of theYugoslav Partisans formed on 7 October 1943. It was formed from the 9th, 19th, 20th, and 26th Dalmatian divisions, and was named after the region ofDalmatia.[1] Upon creation it had 13,049 soldiers.[2] The corps operated in theIndependent State of Croatia,Governorate of Dalmatia, andAdriatic Littoral, where they foughtItalians,Chetniks, theUstaše, andGermans.
On 30 November 1944 the 8th Dalmatian Corps, without the military command, had 34,548 soldiers, out of which 25,127 wereCroats, 4,806Serbs, 236Muslims, 61Jews, and 4,318 others, mostlySlovenes andMontenegrins.[3] In February 1945 Corps numbered over 45,000 fighters, of which about 70% were Croats and the other 30% wereSerbs, Muslims, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Italians and others.[4]
The 8th Corps participated in the liberation ofDalmatia,Herzegovina, westernBosnia,Istria,Kvarner,Lika,Slovenian Littoral, andTrieste. Upon liberation ofKnin in December 1944, the corps was namedUdarni ('shock'), while the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Dalmatian Strike Brigades received theOrder of the People's Hero.[5] On 2 March 1945 the corps became part of the4th Army of the Yugoslav Partisans, together with the 7th and 11th Corps, while having 45,524 soldiers.[1][6] On 20 March 1945, the Dalmatian divisions began a great battle fromLika toSoča, this offensive was in area long over 300 kilometers. In this military operation the 8th Dalmatian Corps had about 5,000 dead and over 15,000 wounded fighters. The enemy from this corps suffered heavy losses of about 100,000 dead and captured. The 8th Corps gave great contribution for liberationCroatia, parts ofBosnia and Herzegovina andSlovenia.Josip Broz Tito on 13 September 1953, in Split said that this corps"has played historical role in history of our People's Liberation War, that is why he deserves gratitude and recognition"[4]
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