Operation Bergwiese

mountain meadow

'Beregwiese' was a German and Croat operation against the partisan forces of Marshal Josip Broz Tito in the puppet state of Croatia in German-occupied Yugoslavia (2/7 March 1944).

The undertaking’s objective was the clearance of partisan forces (8th 'Dalmatia' Brigade of the 20th Division and the 'Sibenik-Trogir' Partisan Detachment) from the Primosten peninsula just to the south of Sibenik on the Dalmatian coast.

The German forces involved in this operation were elements of Generalleutnant Otto Lüdecke’s 264th Division, parts of the 92nd Grenadierregiment (mot.) and 105th SS Artillerieabteilung, and the Croat contribution comprised the Ustase garrisons of Primosten and Rogoznica.

The operation was a considerable success, the partisans removing themselves from the peninsula to avoid battle and withdrawing into the Mosec mountain region some 15.5 miles (25 km) to the east of Sibenik. The Germans admitted the loss of one man killed and nine wounded, and claimed two partisans killed, one wounded and 20 captured. In addition, 332 men fit for military service were rounded up in the local villages and 450 civilians were 'evacuated' or, more probably, arrested as partisan sympathisers and moved to a confinement camp in Split.