By December 1942, the German High Command chose to deploy the division in the Balkans to fight Tito's Communist Partisans. Its first major combat operation took place during Operation Weiss in northern Bosnia, it then participated in Operation Schwartz from 15 May to 16 June 1943, the two largest anti-guerrilla operations conducted by the Wehrmacht during the war. After the capitulation of Italy, the division operated alongside another Croatian Legion, the 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division as well as the Waffen-SS Division “Prinz Eugen”, a division consisting mainly of Volksdeutsche from the NDH and the Banat, and other German and Croatian units.