Strength of HOS Divisions 1944-1945

[KissMyAsthma]

Is there any German or Croatian made assessment of the strength and capabilities of armed forces of Independent State of Croatia in early 1945? Is it possible that Ustasha Militia fielded around 20 brigades and Home Guard almost as much, plus one Shock Division (1. Division), Ustasha Defense Brigade, and Poglavnik Guard Division, especially because those troops didn't exist months before and Ustasha lost grip on their army and lands long ago? Dizdar and other right wing historians claim that there were 250-300 000 or more men in HOS at that time, Tomashevic list strength of 16 divisions somewhere at 90-100 000, excluding Poglavnik Division, Airforce and Ustasha Defense (this number match partisan assessments). If there were so many new brigades, how come they haven't put up any effective defenses against ever growing partisan forces? Not to mention that entire brigades defected to the partisans in Autumn 1944 and defections continued even after that.

[G. Trifkovic]

Hi,

did you check the main Axis History site? It contains probably the best coverage of the NDH armed forces in English language, the work of our long-standing member Larry D.:

https://www.axishistory.com/axis-nations/croatia

Best,

Gaius

[KissMyAsthma]

Hi,

did you check the main Axis History site? It contains probably the best coverage of the NDH armed forces in English language, the work of our long-standing member Larry D.:

https://www.axishistory.com/axis-nations/croatia

Best,

Gaius

I did, thank you. That is one of the reason why I am asking. Larry D. has made really commendable job, putting all different and scattered sources on various branches of HOS together from fragmented and scattered sources. This is one of the reasons why it seems that some entries on structure of some of these brigades might be misidentifications of certain battalions by their enemies, Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. This is more prominent in troops that weren't in tight supervision of German commands or didn't have German training battalion attached to them (Brigades that sprung from Ustasha Railway Brigades and 1. battalion of VIII. Ustasha brigade seems to be misidentified as 1. battalion of VII. Brigaded near Bihać in December 1944). Also, I find it incredible that Ustasha Defense Brigade had some 13 000 men and 6 batteries, especially considering other sources. Party committee in Jasenovac Camp made detailed assesments of those units and put them significantly lower in June 1944, and pay list from HDA dated March 1945 mentions 367 members of Mobile Group while strength on Axis History is given as 1120. For Croatian Shock Division, strength in combat report from the end of 1944 is given as some 5000 for example, but such reports are rare and similar reports usually only mention actions of the few companies and battalions (maybe rest wasn't fully formed/combat ready). I know that this is being kind of too suspicious, but it is hard to make accurate assessment of them because of scattered and seemingly contradicting sources, not to mention bias of authors on the topic.

[FlyingStukas]

Hi,

did you check the main Axis History site? It contains probably the best coverage of the NDH armed forces in English language, the work of our long-standing member Larry D.:

https://www.axishistory.com/axis-nations/croatia

Best,

Gaius

I did, thank you. That is one of the reason why I am asking. Larry D. has made really commendable job, putting all different and scattered sources on various branches of HOS together from fragmented and scattered sources. This is one of the reasons why it seems that some entries on structure of some of these brigades might be misidentifications of certain battalions by their enemies, Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. This is more prominent in troops that weren't in tight supervision of German commands or didn't have German training battalion attached to them (Brigades that sprung from Ustasha Railway Brigades and 1. battalion of VIII. Ustasha brigade seems to be misidentified as 1. battalion of VII. Brigaded near Bihać in December 1944). Also, I find it incredible that Ustasha Defense Brigade had some 13 000 men and 6 batteries, especially considering other sources. Party committee in Jasenovac Camp made detailed assesments of those units and put them significantly lower in June 1944, and pay list from HDA dated March 1945 mentions 367 members of Mobile Group while strength on Axis History is given as 1120. For Croatian Shock Division, strength in combat report from the end of 1944 is given as some 5000 for example, but such reports are rare and similar reports usually only mention actions of the few companies and battalions (maybe rest wasn't fully formed/combat ready). I know that this is being kind of too suspicious, but it is hard to make accurate assessment of them because of scattered and seemingly contradicting sources, not to mention bias of authors on the topic.

Hello

You're definitely right on the account of scattered information. Facts which have been falsified too, deliberately or not. You always have to take into account that the late war paperwork did not function as at the war's beginning. If you want to search for something specific, try asking the Croatian Archives and be specific about your insert. They are very helpful and precise on the topic.

Cheers,
Filip

[DougW60]

the following website has a descent amount of data regarding Croatia: WW2 in Yugoslavia

http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/