Part of the Anti-Partisan Operations in Croatia series by H.L. deZeng IV

Dates: 12 August – 2 September 1942. (1)

Objective: To destroy Dalmatian Partisan groups in the Biokovo area 40 to 50 kilometers east of Split.

Enemy Forces: Elements of the 1st Proletarian and 4th Montenegrin Brigades, Battalion “Jozo Jurčević” and the Central Dalmatian Partisan Detachment.

Axis Forces:
Italian
15th Infantry Division “Bergamo”
18th Infantry Division “Messina”
89th CCNN Bn.
29th Battalion “M”
MVAC Chetnik auxiliaries
Croatian
Local garrison troops (from 12th Infantry Rgt.?)

Conduct of Operations and Results: Sweeping through Biokovo and advancing toward the town of Arzano/45 km east of Split, the Italian troops burned down 10 villages and killed and arrested several hundred people. An official after-action report and casualty figures have not been found for this operation.

Footnotes
1. [Vojnoistorijski institute] - Hronologija oslobodilačke borbe naroda jugoslavije 1941-1945 (Belgrade, 1964), p.323; [Vojnoistorijski institute] - Oslobodilački rat naroda Juooslavije 1941-1945, 2 Vols (Belgrade: 1965), p.298.