Operation Draufgänger

The Operation Draufgänger (German for "daredevil"; Serbian: Операција Драуфгенгер/Operacija Draufgenger) was a German Wehrmacht military operation against the Yugoslav Partisans at the Montenegrin-Serbian border area, aimed at breaking the Partisan foothold on the Lim river which was a potential penetration point into Serbia. In turn, it was a Partisan counter-operation, known as the Andrijevica Operation (Serbian: Андријевичка операција/Andrijevačka operacija). The operation began on 18 July on the Čakor–Gusinje–Andrijevica–Berane line, when Kampfgruppe E burnt down at least 16 villages and killed several hundreds inhabitants.[1] From different directions, German troops attacked villages and a part approached Andrijevica, pushed out parts of two Partisan brigades, and then took over the town on 19 July and continued attacking. The staffs of the Partisan brigades assessed the combined German forces as inadequate and self-initiatively decided to attacks, resulting in great German losses. With the possibility to surround and destroy, the II Assault Corps gave the operational command on 23 July on general attack. From different directions the German troops were surrounded in the wider region of Murino on 24 July. On 28 July the Partisan 2nd, 5th and 17th divisions were ordered to move across the Ibar, which gave the opportunity for the 14th Regiment SS to break through Čakor towards Peć, while larger part of the 21st Division SS broke and many Albanians deserted. The German troops were decisively defeated, and the Partisans moved for action in Serbia. Operation Rübezahl followed.

Operation Draufgänger
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Exhausted partisans after defeating Germans and breaking into Serbia, 4 August 1944
Date 18 July–1 August 1944 Location parts of German-occupied Montenegro and Albania (northeastern Montenegro and southwestern Serbia) Result Yugoslav Partisan victory
Belligerents
Germany Bulgaria Albania	Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Artur Phleps	Peko Dapčević
Units involved
21st SS Skanderbeg and support units	Parts of the II Assault Corps
Strength
25,000	10,000
Casualties and losses
1,000+	c. 500
500+ civilians (mostly Montenegrins and Serbs)

At Velika, on 28 July the 21st Division made up of Albanians killed at least 428 civilians, mostly children, women and elderly, as a reprisal to local support for the Partisans.[2]