page_title: Operation Rösselsprung (1944)
section_title: Ground force assault and Partisan withdrawal
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Rösselsprung (1944) / Operation / Ground force assault and Partisan withdrawal
caption_attribution_description: English: cropped map showing the deployment and lines of attack of Kampfgruppe Willam on 25 May 1944 during Operation Rösselsprung
context_page_description: Operation Rösselsprung was a combined airborne and ground assault by the German XV Mountain Corps and collaborationist forces on the Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisans located in the Bosnian town of Drvar in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. The operation was launched on 25 May 1944, and was aimed at capturing or killing the Partisan leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito and destroying the headquarters, support facilities and co-located Allied military missions. It is associated with the Seventh Enemy Offensive in Yugoslav history, forming part of the Seven Enemy Offensives historiographical framework. The airborne assault itself is also known as the Raid on Drvar.
  Operation Rösselsprung was a coup de main operation, involving direct action by a combined parachute and glider-borne assault by the 500th SS Parachute Battalion and a planned subsequent link-up with ground forces of the XV Mountain Corps converging on Drvar. The airborne assault was preceded by heavy bombing of the town by the Luftwaffe. The ground forces included Home Guard forces of the Independent State of Croatia along with collaborationist Chetniks.
context_section_description: Although its total strength was estimated at 185,500 men in late May 1944, the 2nd Panzer Army was not able to rally more than 16,000 troops for Operation Rösselsprung due to ever-increasing Partisan activity throughout the country. The Germans had to rely on special forces and improved tactics. The Partisans defended the territory they controlled with significant demolition and mining of roads. Roadblocks were manned by patrols and smaller detachments, whose task was to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived. During Operation Rösselsprung, the Germans rendered these tactics ineffective by combining strong and fast motorised columns with adequate pioneer support. This combination was especially successful for the column led by the 92nd Motorised Regiment. The second German tactical innovation was the employment of five reconnaissance battalions for independent operations deep inside Partisan-controlled territory.
caption: The assault by Kampfgruppe Willam on 25 May 1944
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