HISTORY:
** Following the Axis invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia in April 1941, a brutal insurgency (based both on ethnic and political affiliations) broke out in the German- and Italian-occupied areas. The result was a protracted multi-partite struggle. The key forces opposing the Axis occupation were Tito's communist Partisans and, initially, Draža Mihailovic's royalist Chetniks, with Allied allegiances shifting over time. Widespread ethnic cleansing and ideological warfare were waged by the occupiers and their internal allies under the 'anti-Partisan' moniker. In 1942, the first of seven major counter-insurgency operations was carried out by Axis forces. These took place in every part of the country, aiming to annihilate the main core of resistance.
With stunning artwork, detailed maps and period images, this book reveals the military cultures of the wide range of opposing forces involved. It also covers the planning and execution of each operation, from the autumn 1941 offensive against the Republic of Užice through to the final attack in western Bosnia in spring 1944. The result is a unique visual exploration of one of the most complex and least studied offensives of World War II. **
** Quoted from the back cover of the book.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released Yugoslavia 1941-44, Anti-Partisan Operations as Number 418 in their Campaign series. It is a soft cover book with 96 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white photographs, full color illustrations, 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’, color maps, detailed captions and more. It has a 2025 copyright, a publication date of July 17, 2025, and the ISBN is 978-1-4728-6537-3.
THE CONTENTS:
Origins of the Campaign
Chronology
Opposing Commanders
- German
- Italian and Croatian
- Partisan
Opposing Forces
- German
- Italian
- Croatian and Bulgarian
- Partisan
- Orders of Battle
Opposing Plans
- German and Italian
- Partisan
The Campaign
- The beginning of the Insurgency
- Anti-partisan operations in the first half of 1942
- Reorganization in the second half of 1942
- 1943: Operation Weiss and the battle of Neretva
- Final clash: Operation Schwarz
- Summer 1943: reorganization and the Italian collapse
- Winter operations
- Last attempt: Operation Rösselsprung
- Endgame: August to October 1944
Aftermath
- Conclusions
Further Reading
Index
The Osprey Publishing website states that the contents list shown with the book listing is “subject to confirmation”. The contents listing I have provided has been quoted from the book and is accurate.
THE TEXT:
Author Pier Paolo Battistelli has written an excellent history about anti-partisan warfare in Yugoslavia during the years of 1941 through 1944 during World War II. The text goes into very specific detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing that I have provided for the subjects that are covered throughout the book. The author details and discusses the anti-partisan operations carried out by German and Italian forces against the partisan forces in Yugoslavia well. He covers various operations that were conducted and provides information from both the partisan and Axis perspective. The author provides the Order of Battle for each of the operations from each side of the conflicts showing which military units were used to make up the main combat forces. Specific information is provided such as the make-up of the units were such as infantry, cavalry, SS troops, etc., the actions taken during the conflicts, specific types of support the troops had such as artillery, armor, etc., and what the end results of the conflicts were. A portion of the book discusses the Italian surrender in 1943 and how this affected the German military presence and how it benefitted the partisans in the way of a great number of Italian weapons and supplies were made available to them. Numbers tallied after the conflicts are listed and the author provides the number of combat losses of military personnel of those that were killed, wounded or captured. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on warfare between allied partisan forces and German and Italian forces in Yugoslavia during World War II to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 75 black and white photographs are included in this volume. No color photographs are included. The photographs are a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer and range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. The close-up photographs show items such as German, Italian and partisan uniforms to include helmets, soft caps, medals and military ribbons. Also shown are several small arms to include rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, mortars, and others. There are various tanks and armored vehicles shown such as an Italian Autoblindo AB41 armored car, an Italian ‘Autoprotetto’ armored lorry, an Italian L6 Light Tank, Italian CV33 tankette, German (captured French) Hotchkiss R39 tank Various soft-skinned vehicles such as motorcycles, trucks, buses and staff cars. Also shown are artillery pieces, military bicycles and various items of horse tack. Most of the photographs are well done, however there are some that have an out-of-focus look to them, and some appear to be too dark and others too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history, and the quality of the photographs is no fault of the author and does not take anything away from the book. One thing that I was appreciative of with the photographs is that a good majority of them are not overused photographs that tend to turn up in other publications dealing with the same subject. Author Pier Paolo Battistelli chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be excellent reference material for the scale figure modeler due to the details they contain. The military historian, and the military uniform and smalls arms enthusiast will benefit from the excellent photographs as will anyone that is interested in World War II partisan warfare in Yugoslavia during the years of 1941 through 1944.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are three color illustrations by illustrator by Johnny Schumate provided in this volume. Each of the color illustrations is a two-page action illustration and on the following page is a smaller black and white copy of the same illustration that describes the scene and points out and details key areas of interest. The illustrations are very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
The Uprising in Montenegro, Winter 1941
- A two-page action color illustration depicting Italian soldiers shooting at partisan forces from inside an improvised wooden bunker. The Italian troops are using rifles and a 8mm Brda machine-gun.
Plate B
‘Prinz Eugen’ Division Fighting the Partisans, February 1943
- A two-page action color illustration depicting German soldiers of the ‘Prinz Eugen’ Division, supported by a captured Hotchkiss H35-39 light tank, engaging partisan forces.
** A portion of this illustration is shown on the front cover of the book.
Plate C
Partisans Fighting the “Devil Division’, Summer 1943
- A two-page action color illustration depicting partisan forces engaging members of the Croatian Vražja ‘Devil’ Division legionnaires at a rocky banked stream. The partisan forces are wearing a mixture of British and German uniform items and equipment as well as a mixture of British, American and captured German weapons.
** I have provided a scan of the smaller black-and-white copy of the color illustration.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the specific individuals shown and their military rank and military unit they are assigned to, the types of uniforms and accoutrements they are wearing, types of small arms and larger weapons, types of armored vehicles, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. I was impressed by Pier Paolo Battistelli’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
THE MAPS:
There are seven full-colored maps by Bounford.com included in this volume. Each map comes with a detailed key as well as a map/cartographic distance scale. The maps are of:
- Axis occupation of Yugoslavia 1941 (deployment as of December 1941)
- Anti-partisan operations, 1941-42
- Axis deployment, 26 July 1942
- Anti-partisan operations, 1943
- Axis deployment, end of September 1943
- Axis deployment, September 1944
- Partisan deployment, September 1944
THE 3D BIRDS-EYE-VIEWS:
There are two 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’ by Paul Kime included in this volume. Both of the ‘bird’s-eye-views’ have a detailed listing of events in chronological order as well as two keys that point out areas of interest for both the Axis and Partisan forces. The ‘bird’s-eye-views’ are of:
- Operation Weiss I, 20 January – 15 February 1943
- Operation Schwarz, 15 May – 16 June 1943
INFORMATION CHARTS:
There are 2 informational charts included in this volume, and they are:
- Key to military symbols
- Key to unit identification
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions, maps and more, all detailing the anti-partisan operations undertaken in Yugoslavia from the years of 1941 through 1944 during World War II. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
Osprey Publishing also offers Yugoslavia 1941-44, Anti-Partisan Operations as:
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6534-2
and
Ebook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6535-9
Osprey Publishing’s, Yugoslavia 1941-44, Anti-Partisan Operations is also available as a Kindle version through Amazon.
PRICE:
UK £16.99 / US $25.00 / CAN $33.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
