Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseUpon turning Romania and Bulgaria against Germany, Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front (under Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin) and Bulgarian troops marched into eastern Yugoslavia on 14 Sep, engaging positions held by German 7th SS Mountain Division troops, Chetnik fighters, and Serbian Front Guard troops along the way. On 28 Sep, Soviet 57th Army began a separate advance toward Belgrade from the south, also aided by Yugoslavian troops. To the north of Belgrade, Soviet 46th Army of Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front provided indirect support by taking transportation hubs along the Tisa River in southern Ukraine, Hungary, and Yugoslavia to prevent German supplies from flowing into Belgrade and to prevent Axis troops from fleeing north along the Tisa River. Soviet 4th Guards Mechanized Corps of 3rd Ukrainian Front and Yugoslavian 12th Corps were the first forces to reach Belgrade, penetrating Axis defenses south of the city on 14 Oct 1944. On 19 Oct, German forces began evacuating the city, and Soviet and Yugoslavian troops marched in on the following day. Because Soviet forces had blocked transportation routes north of the Serbia region of Yugoslavia, the German forces were forced to move westward over mountainous terrain through Bosnia and Croatia regions of Yugoslavia, thus these troops would not be able to play a role in the Budapest Strategic Offensive Operation that the Soviets were about to launch against Hungary. Most German formations would be wiped out or driven out of eastern Yugoslavia by the end of Nov 1944, and the Soviets would turn north toward Hungary.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Jan 2013
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Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation Timeline
| 14 Sep 1944 | Soviet and Bulgarian troops marched into eastern Yugoslavia from Bulgaria. |
| 15 Sep 1944 | Soviet 17th Air Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front began a six-day campaign attacking railroad bridges near Niš, Skopje, Kruševo and other towns in southern Yugoslavia of transportation importance to isolate German troops in southern Yugoslavia and nothern Greece. |
| 16 Sep 1944 | Soviet troops, Bulgarian troops, and Yugoslavian partisans defeated Chetnik fighters and Serbian Frontier Guards and captured Vlasotince, Yugoslavia. |
| 28 Sep 1944 | In Moscow, Russia, Josip Tito formally authorized Soviet troops to enter Yugoslavia. Soviet 57th Army began marching toward Belgrade, Yugoslavia in three columns, with 64th Rifle Corps crossing the Morava River at Paracin, 68th Rifle Corps advancing from Vidin toward Mladenovac, and 75th Rifle Corps advancing from Turnu toward Pozarevac. |
| 1 Oct 1944 | Red Army units crossed the Danube River into Yugoslavia. |
| 8 Oct 1944 | Bulgarian troops engaged German troops at Bela Palanka, Yugoslavia. Elsewhere in Yugoslavia, Yugoslavian troops captured two German bridgeheads on the Morawa River near Velika Plana and Palanka. |
| 9 Oct 1944 | Bulgarian 1st Army attacked Nis, Yugoslavia. |
| 10 Oct 1944 | Red Army cracked the German line in the Serbia region of Yugoslavia en route to Belgrade. |
| 12 Oct 1944 | Bulgarian troops captured Leskovac, Yugoslavia. Elsehwere in Yogoslavia, Soviet 4th Guards Mechanized Corps began advancing toward Belgrade from the bridgeheads at Velika Plana and Palanka. |
| 14 Oct 1944 | Soviet 4th Guards Mechanized Corps and Yugoslavian 12th Corps, accompanied by Yugoslav partisans, penetrated Axis defensive lines south of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. |
| 17 Oct 1944 | Bulgarian troops captured Kursumlija, Yugoslavia. |
| 19 Oct 1944 | German troops evacuated Belgrade, Yugoslavia. |
| 20 Oct 1944 | Soviet troops and Yugoslavian partisans liberated Belgrade, Yugoslavia in a joint operation known as the Belgrade Offensive; Dubrovnik was captured by Yugoslavian partisans. |
| 2 Nov 1944 | After halting the Soviet advance near Kresevo, Yugoslavia, German 2.Panzerarmee established a defensive line west of Belgrade. |
| 5 Nov 1944 | Bulgarian troops captured Podujevo, Yugoslavia. |
| 6 Nov 1944 | Yugoslav partisans captured Monastir, Yugoslavia (now Bitola, Macedonia) which gave them complete control over the Greco-Yugoslav border. |
| 13 Nov 1944 | German forces withdraw from Skopje, Yugoslavia. |
| 19 Nov 1944 | Evacuating Germans faced an 85-mile traffic jam after the RAF destroyed the Drina bridge near Visegrad, Yugoslavia. |
| 21 Nov 1944 | Bulgarian troops captured Pristina, Yugoslavia. |
| 23 Nov 1944 | The Macedonian area of Yugoslavia was declared free of Germans. |
| 19 Jun 1945 | The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet created the Medal for the Liberation of Belgrade for those who participated in the successful Sep-Nov 1944 operation. |
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12 Jan 2016 11:16:50 PM
verry good