Partisan attack on Ledenice. Exhausted Germans, members of the 334th Regiment, 181st Infantry Division, surrender to the fighters of the Littoral Operational Group in Ledenice, 18 November 1944. It took 13 and a half days for the Partisans to conquer the strongest German stronghold in the Bay of Kotor. One of the most memorable descriptions of these extremely difficult battles was left by Vuko Radonjić, assistant political commissar of the III Company, III Battalion, I Boka Brigade (the attack on the Grkavac stronghold): "In the period between 7 and 12 November, when the fortress fell, every day the III company launched an attack two to six times a day. Each time we attacked, we reached the fortress walls, but that was all we were able to do. We threw grenades into the fortress courtyard, but the Germans were not there. They were inside the fortress, shooting at us effectively through the loopholes. The fortress was sealed. The Germans had a good control over the entrance and we were left to fire at the fortress loopholes, causing almost no damage to the enemy. The loopholes were narrow and useful only to those using them on the inside. The fortress walls were extremely strong and resisted not only our light weapons but also the British artillery that fired directly into the fortress... From the way the German soldiers in the fortress acted, we concluded that they were using their ammunition very carefully. They did not fire at all if they were not sure that they would hit the target. Almost all of our comrades who died attacking the fortress were shot in the head from very close range." (The German 334th Fusilier Regiment was almost completely smashed during the fighting in the Risan–Ledenice sector; according to the regimental commander, the unit numbered only 400 men after the battle was over.)
Text: Ivan Ž.; Vuko Radonjić.
Photographer: unknown.
Date: 18 November 1944.
Location: Ledenice (district of Kotor), Yugoslavia.
Original caption: unknown.
Sources: Veselin Đuranović (ed.), Crna Gora 1941–1945, Pobjeda, Titograd, 1966, p. 213; Dušan Živković, Prva bokeljska NOU brigada, Opštinski odbor SUBNOR-a Kotor, 1984, pp. 162–165, 169.
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Napad NOVJ na Ledenice. Iscrpljeni Nemci, pripadnici 334. puka 181. pešadijske divizije, predaju se borcima Primorske operativne grupe u Ledenicama, 18. novembra 1944. godine. Trinaest i po dana bilo je potrebno partizanima da osvoje najjače nemačko uporište u Boki Kotorskoj. Jedan od najupečatljivijih opisa ovih izuzetno teških borbi ostavio je Vuko Radonjić, pomoćnik političkog komesara III čete III bataljona I bokeljske brigade (napad na uporište Grkavac): "U vremenu od 7. do 12. novembra, kada je tvrđava pala, svaki dan je III četa napadala od dva do šest puta na dan. U svakom napadu dolazili smo do samih zidina tvrđave, ali to je bilo sve što smo mogli učiniti. Bacali smo bombe u dvorište tvrđave, ali tu nijesu bili Njemci. Oni su bili u tvrđavi i kroz puškarnice mogli efikasno da nas gađaju. Tvrđava je bila zatvorena. Ulaz su Njemci dobro kontrolisali i nama je preostajalo da gađamo puškarnice na tvrđavi, što neprijatelju nije zadavalo skoro nikakve gubitke. Puškarnice su napravljene koso i korisne su samo onome ko ih sa unutrašnje strane koristi. Zidovi tvrđave bili su strahovito čvrsti i odolijevali su ne samo našem lakom naoružanju nego i engleskoj artiljeriji, koja je tukla direktno u tvrđavu... Po dejstvu njemačkih vojnika iz tvrđave mogli smo zaključiti da strogo vode računa o utrošku municije. Nijesu uopšte pucali ako nijesu bili sigurni u pogodak. Skoro svi naši drugovi koji su poginuli na ovoj tvrđavi pogođeni su u glavu iz neposredne blizine." (Nemački 334. fizilirski puk skoro je potpuno razbijen u borbama na sektoru Risan–Ledenice; prema izjavi komandanta puka, po završetku borbi brojno stanje jedinice iznosilo je samo 400 ljudi.)
Tekst: Ivan Ž.; Vuko Radonjić.
Fotograf: nepoznat.
Datum: 18. novembar 1944.
Mesto: Ledenice (srez Kotorski), Jugoslavija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.
Izvori: Veselin Đuranović (ured.), Crna Gora 1941–1945, Pobjeda, Titograd, 1966, str. 213; Dušan Živković, Prva bokeljska NOU brigada, Opštinski odbor SUBNOR-a Kotor, 1984, str. 162–165, 169.
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