| Mostar Operation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofWorld War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
 8th Yugoslav Partisans' Corps in liberated Mostar, February 1945 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Yugoslav Partisans |  Germany Independent State of Croatia Chetniks | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Petar Drapšin | Georg Reinicke | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 32,800 men | 15,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 515 killed 336 missing 1,600 wounded[1] | Several thousand killed, wounded or captured[1] | ||||||
TheMostar Operation was a series ofYugoslav Partisan military operations inHerzegovina from February 6–15, 1945.
Most of central Herzegovina was part of theDistrict of Hum in theIndependent State of Croatia. Mostar was also home to an air field of theAir Force of the Independent State of Croatia.
The Partisans took theUstaše bastion ofŠiroki Brijeg from theGermans and Croats on February 7.[2]
After the loss ofŠiroki Brijeg, the German line was reduced to the immediate defense of the city ofMostar from the west and south. The 370th Infantry Regiment with parts of the 369thPanzerjägerAbteilung Armored Battalion occupied infantry positions west of the city, and artillery position was established on the Varda Hill five kilometers south of the city. The area between these positions was filled with elements of theNDH Ninth Mountain Division. In these positions for five days, variable fights were conducted with a large number of limited penetrations and counterattacks.
The headquarters of the Partisan Eighth Corps issued an order on February 12 to direct an all-out attack on Mostar. According to the command, the 29th Division was to liberateNevesinje and close the hoop around Mostar on the east and northeast sides, the 19th division was to break the resistance from the south, the 26th division from the west and the 9th Division form the north, cutting off the escape route towardsSarajevo. The focus of the attack was on the action of the 26th Division.[3]
The attack began Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Units from the 9th, 19th and 26th divisions advanced systematically, breaking the persistent resistance of the Germans and Croats and destroying the resistance points one by one. The Germans and Croats suffered great losses. In addition to numerous soldiers, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 370th Regiment, Captain Hampel, was killed. He was replaced by Lieutenant Mattiba, who was also killed. The Partisans captured theChetnik stronghold ofNevesinje on the night of February 13/14.[2]
On February 14, the fighting moved into the city itself. During his occupation of the western part of the city, the commander of the 370th Regiment, Major Becker, was also killed. During the afternoon, the Germans were evicted from the western part of the city, retaining only the easternmost part of the bridge in order to allow troops from Nevesinje,Buna andBlagaj to retreat. Attacks by the First, Sixth and Eleventh Dalmatian Brigades at 6 pm, liquidated this bridgehead, and attempts to demolish theNeretva bridges were prevented. In doing so, Mostar was liberated.[4]
Upon entering the city, the Partisans took sevenFranciscans, including the head of theFranciscan Province of HerzegovinaLeo Petrović, from the Church of Saint Peter and Paul and executed them.[5] Their bodies were subsequently dumped into the Neretva river.
369th (Croat) Infantry Division9th Mountain Ustashe Home Guard Division
Nevesinje Chetnik Corps (approximately 600 troops)[6]
