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    Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure In Planning And Intelligence Support
    Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure In Planning And Intelligence Support
    Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure In Planning And Intelligence Support
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    Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure In Planning And Intelligence Support

    By Lieutenant-Colonel Wayne D. Eyre

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    About this ebook

    Operation RÖSSELPRUNG was a Second World War German operation conducted in Bosnia, which aimed at eliminating the leadership of the Partisan movement, namely Marshal Josip-Broz Tito. It was a direct action raid, which involved an airborne (parachute and glider) assault by 500 SS Fallschirmjäger (Parachute) Battalion on the suspected site of Tito’s Headquarters and a subsequent linkup with the German XV Mountain Corps converging from all directions.
    Operation RÖSSELPRUNG failed due to mediocre intelligence support and inadequate tactical level planning. Intelligence shortfalls were rooted primarily in poor German inter-organization relations and cooperation, including the sharing of intelligence, which resulted in missed opportunities and a failure to pinpoint Tito’s location with sufficient precision. Given the quality of intelligence provided, the plan for the airborne assault did not include sufficient flexibility for the execution of contingencies.
    There are three major conclusions from the failure of this operation that can be applied to contemporary operations of a similar nature:
    The first deals with tactics to be employed in the face of uncertain intelligence. The degree of intelligence certainty is critical in determining both the size of the force and the extent of the objective area in a direct action raid.
    The second is the requirement for contingency planning. Contingency planning provides commanders with flexibility once an operation has commenced to deal with the unexpected, and is especially vital in the face of uncertain intelligence.
    The third, and probably most critical, concerns the importance of interagency intelligence cooperation. It is vital that different intelligence organizations that are pursuing a similar goal, especially in the same theatre of operations, cooperate to the greatest extent possible.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782897958
    Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure In Planning And Intelligence Support

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      Book preview

      Operation Rösselprung And The Elimination Of Tito, 25 May 1944 - Lieutenant-Colonel Wayne D. Eyre

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2002 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      OPERATION RÖSSELPRUNG AND THE ELIMINATION OF TITO, 25 MAY 1944: A FAILURE IN PLANNING AND INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT

      by

      Lieutenant-Colonel Wayne D. Eyre, Canadian Army

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

      BACKGROUND 7

      The Rise of the Partisan Threat 7

      Counter-Guerrilla Operations 8

      Planning and Preparation 11

      Partisan Disposition 14

      Execution 16

      ANALYSIS OF FAILURE 20

      The Outcome 21

      Partisan Early Warning or Delayed Linkup—Fallacious Reasons for Failure 22

      The Tactical Planning Failure 29

      CONCLUSIONS 32

      Raid Tactics and Intelligence Uncertainty 32

      Contingency Planning 32

      Interagency Intelligence Support 33

      Finale 34

      ANNEX A — EXCEPTS FROM XV MOUNTAIN CORPS OPERATION ORDER, DATED 21 MAY 1944 35

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 37

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 38

      Primary Sources 38

      Archives 38

      Interviews 38

      Books 38

      Periodicals 38

      Secondary Sources 38

      Books 38

      Periodicals 40

      EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

      Thesis: —Operation RÖSSELPRUNG failed due to mediocre intelligence support and inadequate tactical level planning.

      Discussion: — Operation RÖSSELPRUNG was a Second World War German operation conducted in Bosnia, which aimed at eliminating the leadership of the Partisan movement, namely Marshal Josip-Broz Tito. It was a direct action raid, which involved an airborne (parachute and glider) assault by 500 SS Fallschirmjäger (Parachute) Battalion on the suspected site of Tito’s Headquarters and a subsequent linkup with the German XV Mountain Corps converging from all directions.

      Operation RÖSSELPRUNG failed due to mediocre intelligence support and inadequate tactical level planning. Intelligence shortfalls were rooted primarily in poor German inter-organization relations and cooperation, including the sharing of intelligence, which resulted in missed opportunities and a failure to pinpoint Tito’s location with sufficient precision. Given the quality of intelligence provided, the plan for the airborne assault did not include sufficient flexibility for the execution of contingencies.

      Conclusions: — There are three major conclusions from the failure of this operation that can be applied to contemporary operations of a similar nature:

      The first deals with tactics to be employed in the face of uncertain intelligence. The degree of intelligence certainty is critical in determining both the size of the force and the extent of the objective area in a direct action raid.

      The second is the requirement for contingency planning. Contingency planning provides commanders with flexibility once an operation has commenced to deal with the unexpected, and is especially vital in the face of uncertain intelligence.

      The third, and probably most critical, concerns the importance of interagency intelligence cooperation. It is vital that different intelligence organizations that are pursuing a similar goal, especially in the same theatre of operations, cooperate to the greatest extent possible.

      OPERATION RÖSSELPRUNG AND THE ELIMINATION OF TITO, 25 MAY 1944: A FAILURE IN PLANNING AND INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT

      By Lieutenant-Colonel Wayne D. Eyre

      Study and discussion of terrorist and other rogue organizations that use asymmetric means to achieve their aims has gained currency in the last decade, and has become extremely topical since the attacks of 11 September 2001. Military ‘special operations’ to eliminate the upper echelons of these organizations, generally conducted against irregular opponents and in environments of complex terrain containing a hostile or ambivalent civilian population, are becoming the norm. Operations of this type, however, are not new and lessons drawn from history can prove invaluable in their planning and execution.

      Operation RÖSSELPRUNG (‘Knight’s Move’ in English and named after the special movement qualities of the chess piece)

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