Operation Berta

Bertha

'Berta' was an Axis unrealised operation against the partisan forces of Josip Broz Tito in the German puppet state of Croatia in German-occupied Yugoslavia (6/8 January 1943).

The undertaking’s objective was the destruction of the 1st 'Krajinski' Assault Brigade of the 5th Assault Division in the triangle bounded by Prijedor, Bronzani Majdan and Sanski Most in western Bosnia.

The German contribution included parts of the 721st Grenadierregiment, 741st Grenadierregiment and 661st Artillerieabteilung of Generalleutnant Josef Reichert’s 714th Division, and the Volksdeutschbataillon 'Ludwig von Baden', while that of the Croats included the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 2nd Mountain Brigade and the 4th Battalion of Pukovnik Franjo Gjoić's 3rd Mountain Brigade.

Planned as successor to the fighting two days earlier in the vicinity of Sanski Most, this operation was evidently cancelled, possibly as a result of heavy falls of snow or probably as it lay in the direct path of the much larger 'Weiss' (ii) scheduled to begin two weeks later.