2000/12/01 by Charles D. Melson · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Balkan and Eastern European Studies #Infantry #RAID #German #Knight #Citizen journalism #Law #Political science #History #Ancient history #Economic history #Computer science #Archaeology #Physics
paper · doi:10.1080/13518040008430462
openalex publication_date 2000/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
German airborne employment after the large‐scale invasion of Crete in 1941 was confined to battalion‐size actions for limited objectives. A unique operation, both for obscurity and daring, was the effort to oust Balkan guerrilla chief Josip Broz, ‘Marshal Tito’. With Operation Knight's Move, the late Yugoslav president's career might have ended on his 52d birthday, 25 May 1944. On that day, Axis forces executed an airborne raid on partisan supreme headquarters at Drvar, Bosnia that almost succeeded in getting Tito.’ Today, it can provide an example of using light infantry in low‐intensity or special operations, with consequences similar to those experienced by Americans in Somalia against irregular opponents.2