Knight's move in Bosnia and the British rescue of Tito: 1944

Abstract

In a few weeks in May and June 1944, the future course, of Yugoslavia's history hung in the balance as the Germans attempted to come to terms with Yugoslav Partisan activity by planning the elimination of the Partisan leader, Tito. They were foiled by the work of the British Military Mission in Yugoslavia, who engineered Tito's escape. In this narrative account, Michael McConville describes the background to British involvement with the Partisans, as well as with the Royalist Mihailović. He traces the work of SOE and the decisions which led to the backing of Tito over his rival. McConville highlights the role during the rescue of the costly British Commando diversion on the Island of Brac, which cost, perhaps unnecessarily, over 50 per cent casualties. The author concludes that but for Tito's escape and subsequent return to the fray after two weeks, the future of Yugoslavia, probably under direct Soviet rule, would have been much different.