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Operation Herbstgewitter
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Date October 1943 – January 1944 Location Pelješac, Korčula, Mljet, Brač, Šolta and Hvar Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Nikola Martinović  † Bogdan Pecotić
Units involved
7th SS Division Prinz Eugen 118th Jäger Division	26th Division

Operation Herbstgewitter (German: Unternehmen Herbstgewitter, lit. Operation Autumn Thunderstorm) was a series of German offensives carried out during the autumn and winter of 1943/44 against the Yugoslav Partisans on the Pelješac peninsula and the nearby islands. Following the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, the Partisans were successful in capturing large areas of Dalmatia previously occupied by the Royal Italian Army. Faced with the possibility of an Allied landing along the eastern Adriatic, the Germans launched a number of operations aimed at recapturing the Dalmatian coastline from the Partisans. After securing major population centres, the Germans turned their attention to the remaining areas and the islands still under Partisan control. The Germans planned to conduct Herbstgewitter in six phases with the goal of securing Pelješac (I), Korčula (II), Mljet (III), Hvar (IV), Brač (V) and Šolta (VI).

The first phase codenamed Herbstgewitter I commenced on 23 October with a two-pronged German attack on Pelješac. Elements of the 7th SS Division carried out a amphibious landing from Ploče while the elements of the 118th Division advanced from Ston. The peninsula was defended by the 13th Dalmatian Brigade of the 26th Division. After three days of fighting, the 13th was pushed towards Trpanj. The Partisans responded by deploying the 1st Dalmatian Brigade from the mainland to Pelješac. After over ten days of heavy fighting, the Partisans retreated from Pelješac on 9 November with the 1st Brigade relocating to Podgora and the 13th Brigade to Korčula. German Forces suffered 350 and the Partisans 250 casualties. Following the conclusion of the first phase, the Germans concentrated their efforts on securing northern Dalmatia, the Dalmatian hinterland and the Livno area. Once this was completed, Herbstgewitter II was launched on 22 December with amphibious landings on Korčula by elements of the 118th Division and accompanying units. Partisan Forces on Korčula consisted of the 13th Dalmatian Brigade, the 1st Overseas Brigade and the Korčula Partisan Detachment, later reinforced by two battalions of the 1st Dalmatian Brigade. The Partisans suffered considerable losses: the 13th Dalmatian Brigade managed to evacuate only half of its personnel, the 1st Overseas Brigade sustained approximately 300 casualties, and the 26th Division commander, Niko Martinović, died from wounds sustained during the fighting.

Following the costly defeat on Korčula and faced with a numerically and technologically superior enemy, the Partisans decided to abandon the defense of the remaining islands and focus solely on the defense of Vis; the island was heavily fortified and defended by the entire 26th Division aided by Allied Forces. The Germans continued their advances and on 31 December launched Herbstgewitter III with an unopposed landing on Mljet. Largely unopposed landings continued with the remaining three islands, albeit under changed operational names: Morgenwind (lit. Morning Wind) secured Brač on 13 January, Morgenwind II Šolta on 12 January and lastly Hvar in operation Walzertraum (lit. Waltz Dream) on 19 January.

Background

Following the Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Dalmatia was partitioned between the Kingdom of Italy and the newly-established Axis puppet state of Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna država Hrvatska – NDH). In accordance with the treaties of Rome signed on 18 May 1941, Split, Šibenik, Ravni Kotari and all of the Dalmatian islands excluding Brač and Hvar were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian surrender in September 1943 gave way to a large scale Partisan uprising in Dalmatia; The Partisans were successful in taking control of most of Dalmatia and all of its islands, capturing large amounts of materiel of the Royal Italian Army in the process. Faced with the possibility of an Allied amphibious landing along the eastern Adriatic, German Forces began executing plan Achse which sought to secure Dalmatia and disarm the Italian troops. The 7th SS Division Prinz Eugen was tasked with capturing Split and the 118th Jäger Division with capturing Zadar and Šibenik. By 12 September the Germans were successful in securing Knin, Drniš, Zadar, Šibenik, Dubrovnik, Metković and Ploče while the Ustaše held Omiš and Makarska. Split was heavily defended by the Partisans until 27 September when they were forced to retreat towards the Dalmatian Hinterland and the islands.

Despite these successful advances, the German were unable to easily supply their troops or mount an effective coastal defense due to the Partisan control of the islands and their persistent attacks on German lines of communications on the mainland. To counter this, the 2nd Panzer Army planned a series of anti-Partisan operations with the goal of securing the islands and the coast: operation Seeräuber (lit. Pirate) aimed to secure the eastern part of Brač, Herbstgewitter Pelješac, Patz Prvić and Zlarin while Landsturm sought to secure Biokovo and the coastline from Omiš to Zaostrog. Seeräuber commenced on the night of 21/22 October by landing an Ustaše battalion from Makarska on the western part of Brač, but were quickly repelled by the 1st Battalion of the 12th Dalmatian Brigade.

Prelude

Initial order of battle

German Forces tasked with conducting the initial phase of Herbstgewitter against the Partisans on Pelješac consisted of two reinforced battalions of 7th SS Division tasked with landing

Order of battle

Herbstgewitter I: 23 October – 14 November 1943

Herbstgewitter II: 22–25 December 1943

Herbstgewitter III: 31 December 1943

Morgenwind:

Walzertraum

• Pelješac:

• 1st Dalmatian
• 3rd Dalmatian

• 1st Battalion

• 13th Dalmatian

• Korčula:

• 1st Overseas
• 1st Dalmatian
• 13th Dalmatian

Raid

Vis

Lastovo

Mljet

Split

Korčula

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Map of the NDH following the Italian Armistice.

Notes

Footnotes

References

• Brzica, Stijepo (1966). "Otkriven spomenik prvom partizanskom desantu na južnom Jadranu" ["Memorial to the First Partisan Raid in the Southern Adriatic Unveiled]. Naše More (in Croatian). 13 (6). University of Dubrovnik: 251–252. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
• Rako, Milan; Družijanić, Slavko (1987). Jedanaesta dalmatinska udarna brigada [Eleventh Dalmatian Strike Brigade]. Biblioteka monografije (in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 8. Split: Institut za historiju radničkog pokreta Dalmacije. ISBN 9788672390063.
• Huljić, Veseljko (1979). Vis 1941-1945 (in Serbo-Croatian). Split: Institut za historiju radničkog pokreta Dalmacije.
• Kvesić, Sibe (1979). Dalmacija u narodnooslobodilačkoj borbi [Dalmatia During the People's Liberation War]. Institut za historiju radničkog pokreta Dalmacije. OCLC 8928598.
• Novović, Mirko; Petković, Stevan (1985). Prva dalmatinska proleterska NOU brigada [First Dalmatian Proleterian NOU Brigade] (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnoizdavački zavod.
• Pribilović, Kažimir (1988). Četvrti Pomorski Obalni Sektor Mornarice Narodnooslobodilačke Vojske Jugoslavije: 1943-1945 [Fourth Coastal Sector of the NOVJ Navy] (in Serbo-Croatian). Split: Vojnoizdavački novinski centar - Beograd. OCLC 165705818.
• Ferenca, Ivo; Pribilović, Kažimir (1980). Brodovi čeličnih posada [Ships of Steel Crews]. Slobodno more (in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 2. Belgrade: Narodna armija. OCLC 444097517.