Operation Schneegestöber (ii)

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Schneegestöber' (ii) was a German attempt to pin and destroy the 'Pohorje' Partisan Detachment and 14th Division of Marshal Josip Broz Tito’s forces in German-occupied Yugoslavia (6/10 December 1944).

The 4,000-man German force committed to this undertaking was centred on the 1/14th SS Polizeiregiment, 3/14th SS Polizeiregiment, 2/19th SS Polizeiregiment, 3/19th SS Polizeiregiment, elements of the 18th Regiment, men of the non-commissioned officer schools in Maribor and Slovenska Bistrica, the Wehrmannschaftbataillon 'Nord' and the Wehrmannschaftbataillon 'Mitte'.

After taking position along the lines linking Ruse and Smartno, and Phorje, Oplotnica, Vitanje, Dovze, Lehen and Pusčava in the Pohorje mountain region, the Germans undertook search operations on 6/10 December but failed to locate the 'Pohorje' Partisan Detachment.