Draft:Battle of Baška grapa
| Battle of Baška Grapa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
 Bersaglieri of the 1st battalion during the battle, late June 1944 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Italian Social RepublicSupported by:  Nazi Germany |
 Yugoslav Partisans Slovene Partisans | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Unknown |
Stanko Petelin | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
Bersaglieri and Alpini 1st Battalion "Mussolini"[1][4] Gebirgsjäger |
30th Division 31st Division Artillery of the 9th Corps | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Total: ~1,500 men[5] 450[1]–500 Bersaglieri of the 1st Battalion[6][5] ~30 Gebirgsjäger 3 anti–aircraft cannons and 3 81mm mortars Reserve support:
|
Total: 5,000–7,000 men[a]
Elements of the 4th Army Anti-fascist volunteers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
44 bersaglieri killed and 73 wounded[10] 3 Alpini killed[11] 6 Gebirgsjäger dead 30 brandenburgers dead or wounded[10] 1 Panzer I and an armored car destroyed[12]  65 dead and 44 wounded (Slovene claim)[13] |
~500 killed, wounded or missing[10] 30 prisoners, of which 21 executed[10][14] | ||||||
The Battle of Baška Grapa (in Italian: Battaglia del torrente Baccia; in Slovenian: Bitka pri Baški grapa) was a pitched battle fought on the right bank of the Isonzo, in present-day Slovenia, between 29 June and 3 July 1944 between the Army of the Italian Social Republic, supported by the Wehrmacht, and Slovene Partisans, during the World War II.
Background
[edit]
During 1943, following the Allied invasion of Italy, as a consequence of the strengthening of Tito 's partisans, tensions at the gates of Friuli grew more and more.
In the Battle of Baška Grapa, during the autumn of 1943, the Bersaglieri of the 1st "Mussolini" Battalion, belonging to the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment, were sent and distributed in various strongholds placed to defend the territory. From the very beginning, the young Bersaglieri had to face repeated attacks launched by the IX Korpus of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.
In the summer of 1944, the IX Korpus set itself the objective of expanding its movement zone, which was hindered by the presence of the railway line, which passed right through the middle of the partisan deployment, the latter being thus divided in two for a stretch of 20 km. A hypothetical annihilation of the Mussolini battalion would have led to the complete occupation of the Baška Grapa by the Slovene Partisans, followed by a heavy moral blow to the Italians.[15]
The forces of the parties
[edit]The stretch of road and railway from Gorizia to Podbrdo were controlled by 1,500 men, acoording to the Slovenians.[5]
Most na Soči–Bovec–Tolmin section
[edit]A few hundred Italian Alpine troops covered the Most na Soči–Bovec–Tolmin pass.[10] The great attack of the IX Slovenian Korpus took place at the end of June 1944 and developed from railway toll booth 92, around the Bača river, up to railway toll booth 107 near the Podbrdo tunnel.[6][16]
Italian-German Forces
[edit]The defensive deployment included 1,100 men of which 800 from the 1st "Mussolini" Bersaglieri Battalion and 200 from the Alpini Battalion "Val Tagliamento".[3]
About 450 men were those who supported the great attack for 4 days.[17][1]
According to Petelin, the defenders were around 500. While other sources claim that the attack was supported by 700 men.[3]
Slovene Forces
[edit]The attack took the defenders completely by surprise, who had never imagined an attack of such magnitude, the soldiers of the IX Korpus were masters in concealing their vehicles and logistics, to transport in total silence an attack force of between 5,000 and 7,000 men.[a] The Slovene Partisans included the "Kosovel", "Triestina", "Bazoviška", "Gradnik", "Vojko" and "Preseran" brigades.
The battle
[edit]Initial Slovene attack
[edit]At 2 o'clock on 29 June the attack began.[18] While the main parts of the "Kosovel" Brigade, supported by artillery, attacked Kneža, the 1st and 3rd Battalions were instead charged with conquering Clavice. The "Triestina" Brigade attacked the toll booths 93 and 96 of the railway. In this sector the partisans concentrated their efforts using approximately 1,500 men, supported by 2 pieces of artillery, 4 47 mm cannons, 4 81 mm mortars, 12 light mortars. The assault on the Clavice station by the "Kosovel" brigade was unsuccessful, because the partisans were not familiar with the defences and encountered tangles of barbed wire on their way several times and, because of this, by dawn the Slovene Partisans had already suffered 10 casualties.[19]
Meanwhile, in Podmelec the situation was unstable: 5 bersaglieri had been knocked out by a targeted artillery strike while another squad was surprised by the partisans and lost two men. On the other hand, 4 fallen partisans were found.
In Kneža the partisan artillery hit the whole surrounding area although with poor precision,[20] in this sector the defenders suffered one casualty and 10 wounded while the attackers suffered heavy losses[21] due above all to the 81mm mortar and the anti-aircraft gun defending the area, which hit the side of the Koncarje ridge.[22]
From Most na Soči a truck was sent out with 1 officer and 7 riflemen, but when it reached Podmelec it was hit by partisan fire, the riflemen were almost all wounded and managed to find shelter in a house where they tried to resist, but once the partisans surrounded the house, the riflemen had no other solution than to surrender.[23] The same people were made prisoners and were shot in Ponivke the same day.[24] The partisans of the "Bazoviška" brigade and members of the 9th Korpus' artillery took part in the clash; due to the lack of further information it only appears that the partisans suffered one wounded during these battles.[25]
Sources
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "I BERSAGLIERI DI MUSSOLINI" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b Bers. Gianni Bortolon. "DAI SOCI E DAGLI AMICI" (in Italian). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Cucut, Carlo. Storia Militare 1943-1945: I bersaglieri sul confine orientale. pp. 21–28.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro (1999). "BATTAGLIONE BERSAGLIERI VOLONTARI "MUSSOLINI"" (in Italian). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Stanko Petelin (1968). Gradnikova Brigada. p. 435.
- ^ a b Stanko Petelin. Kronika vojkove brigade (in Slovenian).
- ^ Stanko Petelin (1968). Gradnikova Brigada. p. 290.
- ^ Mansutti, Aldo. Reggimento Alpini "Tagliamento". p. 43.
- ^ "Val Baccia – Bersaglieri del Battaglione Volontari "Mussolini" resistono vittoriosamente all'attacco di 5.000 partigiani comunisti slavi (29 Giugno 1944)". Archivio Digitale "Italica" (in Italian). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Francesconi, Teodoro. Bersaglieri in Venezia Giulia 1943-1945. pp. 204–205.
- ^ Mansutti, Aldo. Reggimento Alpini "Tagliamento". p. 44.
- ^ Stanko Petelin (1968). Vojkova Brigada. p. 298.
- ^ Stanko Petelin (1968). Gradnikova Brigada. p. 440.
- ^ Cucut, Carlo. Storia Militare 1943-1945: I bersaglieri sul confine orientale. p. 28.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro. Bersaglieri in Venezia Giulia 1943-1945. pp. 202–204.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro. La linea dell'Isonzo - Diario postumo di un soldato della RSI. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro. Bersaglieri in Venezia Giulia 1943-1945. p. 167.
- ^ Franjo Bavec Branko (1970). Bazoviška brigada. p. 313.
- ^ Radosav Isakovic Rade (1973). Kosovelova Brigada. p. 353.
- ^ Barral, Gianni (2007). Borovnica '45 - al confine orientale d'Italia - Memorie di un ufficiale italiano. Paoline. p. 51. ISBN 978-88-315-3191-7.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro. Bersaglieri in Venezia Giulia 1943-1945. p. 173.
- ^ Barral, Gianni (2007). Borovnica '45 - al confine orientale d'Italia - Memorie di un ufficiale italiano. Paoline. p. 52. ISBN 978-88-315-3191-7.
- ^ Franjo Bavec Branko (1970). Bazoviška brigada. p. 283.
- ^ Francesconi, Teodoro. Bersaglieri in Venezia Giulia 1943-1945. pp. 174–175.
- ^ Radosav Isakovic Rade (1973). Kosovelova Brigada. p. 355.