THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMEHT
 
      Printed for the War Cabinet. July 1943.
 
      
 
 
The circulation of this paper has been strictly limited. It 
      is issued for the personal use of
 
      
 
 
WAR CABINET.
 
      
 
 
RECENT ACTIVITIES AND PRESENT STRENGTHS (JULY 1943) OF OPPOSING 
      FORCES IN YUGOSLAVIA, ALBANIA AND GREECE.
 
      
 
 
REPORT BY THE JOINT INTELLIGENCE SUB-COMMITTEE, 14TH JULY, 
      1943.
 
      
 
 
I.--YUGOSLAVIA. (See Sketch Map A.)
 
      1. IN order to make the present situation intelligible it is 
      necessary to retrace the course of operations in the last half-year. 
      The final months of 1942 saw a considerable extension of guerrilla 
      activity in Yugoslavia· over anything that had taken place 
      previously in that year, more especially on the part of the "Partisans" 
      in Bosnia; and 1943 opened with an extensive operation against 
      them by the Axis forces. This operation began towards the end 
      of January. Initially four German divisions, three Italian divisions 
      and two Croat mountain brigades were employed; and subsequently 
      one further German and four additional Italian divisions were 
      involved. We know that some of these formations suffered considerable 
      losses, and in the case of the Italians, divisions had to withdraw 
      for periods of many weeks to build up again. The strain on the 
      Italians was at one time so great that they refused to respond 
      to strong German demands for an additional division; and their 
      refusal resulted in the postponement for several weeks of another 
      operation to take place in Montenegro. This further operation 
      was eventually staged, and elements of five German and three 
      Italian and one Bulgarian divisions took part.
 
      
 
 
2. The operation which began towards the end of January was 
      designed as a converging attack on the Partisans' headquarters 
      in the Grimec Planina, the mountains between the upper Sava River 
      and the Dalmatian coast. The three Italian divisions advanced 
      towards the Sava from the coastal fringe, with the object of 
  %     driving the outlying Partisans into the hills, where a net in 
      the form of four German divisions was prepared for them. Of these, 
      only three were heavily engaged; the fourth was to guard against 
      a Partisan breakthrough to the North-East between the Vrbas and 
      Una Rivers. It was apparently hoped to encircle and annihilate 
      the Partisans by mid-February. The German forces moving down 
      from the North at first made rapid progress, but despite the 
      obvious superiority of the Axis in all the heavy weapons of war 
      and despite their complete control of the air it is quite clear 
      that the guerrillas maintained a formidable resistance and probably 
      caused as many casualties as they received. An even more stalwart 
      defence was made against a subsequent drive directed northwards 
      by German and Croat troops, which with difficulty advanced 10 
      miles in as many days.
 
      
 
 
3. The Partisan resistance was, in fact, so strong that a 
      gap was left between the prongs of the intended German pincers, 
      through which the Partisans began to withdraw in mid-February. 
      Moving southwards they captured first Glamoc and Livno and then 
      several other considerable towns. Italian communications between 
      Mostar and Sarajevo were cut, and, worse still, from the Axis 
      point of view, the valuable bauxite mines South and west of Mostar 
      were [25822!