27th Infantry Division Savska
The 27th Infantry Division Savska was an infantry formation of the Royal Yugoslav Army. It formed part of the 4th Army during the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. The division was largely made up of Croat troops, many of whom saw the Germans as potential liberators from Serbian oppression during the interwar period. It had a wartime strength of 26,000–27,000 men, as compared to contemporary British infantry divisions of half that strength.
About 27th Infantry Division Savska in brief
The 27th Infantry Division Savska was an infantry formation of the Royal Yugoslav Army. It formed part of the 4th Army during the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. The division was largely made up of Croat troops, many of whom saw the Germans as potential liberators from Serbian oppression during the interwar period. In a single day, the German panzers, with overwhelming air support, brushed aside the remnants of the division and captured Zagreb, covering nearly 160 kilometres and meeting little resistance. On that day the divisional headquarters was captured, and the division effectively ceased to exist. It was named for the Sava river, a tributary of the Danube that flows along the northern border of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. In peacetime, the division was laid out in the Savskal district, which was under the control of the4th Army. The organisation of the VKJ in wartime included the division: The divisional district was also headquartered in Zagreba, under control of VKJ: Sava Sava district, also under VKJ control. The VKJ was formed around the nucleus of the victorious Royal Serbian Army, as well as armed formations raised in regions formerly controlled by Austria-Hungary. The army was dominated by ethnic Serbs, who saw it as a means by which to secure Serb political hegemony. It had a wartime strength of 26,000–27,000 men, as compared to contemporary British infantry divisions of half that strength. Its weaknesses included reliance on draught animals for transport and the large size of its formations.
It also lacked modern arms and sufficient ammunition, and was not equipped nor trained to resist the fast-moving combined arms approach used by the Germans in their invasions of Poland and France. In the 1930s, the army budget remained tight, and as tensions rose across Europe during the 1920s, it became difficult to secure weapons and munitions from other countries. Attempts to address the disunity within Yugoslavia were too late to ensure it was a cohesive force. According to regulations issued in 1935, only from the Ustaše and ethnic German minorities came to the country to ensure that the country was not only a serious, but not serious, country to the Germans. The Army of the Serb, Croats and Slovenes was established to defend the new state in the immediate aftermath of World War I. In 1929, King Alexander changed the name of the country to the Kingdom Of Yugoslavia, at which time the army was renamed the Royal Yugoslavia Army. Many former Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers became members of the new army. The army’s development was hampered by the kingdom’s poor economy, and this continued during the1920s. In September 1939, the Army had several serious weaknesses, which included reliance upon draught animal transport for transport. These characteristics resulted in slow, unwieldy formations and the inadequate supply of arms and munitions. Even the very large Yugoslav formations had low firepower.
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