Operation Goilo

(Croat area)

'Goilo' was a Yugoslav operation by the partisan forces of Josip Broz Tito in the puppet state of Croatia in German-occupied Yugoslavia (6 September 1942).

In order to spread partisan activities to northern and central Croatia, the partisan general staff in Croatia sent the 1st 'Slavonia' and 'Banija' Partisan Detachments to the Moslavina area to reinforce the 'Moslavina' Partisan Detachment and carry out large-scale attacks. The choice for the reinforced partisan units' first target fell on Goilo, which had an important oil and natural gas field which the Germans were already exploiting and also expanding in capacity. The village and pumping station were defended by company of the Croat home defence forces totalling 170 men, reinforced by a 50-man detachment of Germans and about 20 Ustase and gendarmerie auxiliaries as well as a number of local ethnic Germans. The attack was carried out on 6 September, the oil wells and 23 towers being torched and nearly all the other associated installations being destroyed.

The operation was followed by other partisan attacks, whose increasing strength forced the Croat authorities to redeploy Pukovnik Josip Solc’s 1st Mountain Brigade and Pukovnik Stjepan Grlić's 4th Mountain Brigade of Pukovnik Artur Gustović's 1st Mountain Division from Bosnia to central Croatia, Moslavina and western Slavonia.