Race for Trieste

Race for Trieste
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
and the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy

Tanks of the Yugoslav 4th Army in Trieste
Date30 April – 2 May 1945
(2 days)
Location
Trieste, Kingdom of Italy
Result

Allied Victory

Belligerents
 Yugoslavia
 New Zealand[1]
Italian Resistance		  Germany
Italian Social Republic Italian Social Republic
Chetniks Chetniks
Commanders and leaders
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Petar Drapšin
Dominion of New Zealand Bernard Freyberg
Ercole Miani		 Nazi Germany Odilo Globočnik[3]
Italian Social Republic Giovanni Esposito
Chetniks Momčilo Đujić Surrendered
Units involved
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia 4th Army
Dominion of New Zealand 2nd Division[1]

Nazi Germany 97th Corps

Nazi Germany 10th SS Police Regiment
Italian Social Republic 204th Regional Military Command
Chetniks Dinara Division
Chetniks Serbian Volunteer Corps
Strength
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia 68,601–84,000[4]:243
Dominion of New Zealand 19,423[5]		 Nazi Germany 20,000[4]:286
Italian Social Republic 5,000
Chetniks 13,000[6]
Casualties and losses
Dominion of New Zealand436 dead
1,159 wounded [5]
 2,842 killed
3,829–5,200 captured
99 cannons
74 AA guns
6,500–8,500 civilians killed[2][7]

The Race for Trieste (Italian: Corsa per Trieste),[8] also known as the Trieste Operation (Slovene: Tržaška operacija), was a battle during the Second World War that took place during early May 1945. It led to a joint allied victory for the Yugoslav Partisans and 2nd New Zealand Division and a joint occupation of Trieste, but relations soon deteriorated and led to a nine-year dispute over the territory of Trieste. This battle is also considered the last battle in which a considerable force of Chetniks fought, as 13,000 of the irregular troops under Momčilo Đujić surrendered to the New Zealand forces under Lieutenant General Sir Bernard Freyberg as the battle progressed.

  1. ^ a b New Zealand History: Faenza, Trieste, and home
  2. ^ a b Hedges, Chris (20 April 1997). "In Trieste, Investigation of Brutal Era Is Blocked". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Stanford University: The Trieste Crisis"
  4. ^ a b Anić, Nikola (2004). Povijest Osmog Korpusa Narodnooslobodilačke Vojske Hrvatske 1943–1945 [History of the Eighth Dalmatian Corps of the Croatian National Liberation Army: 1943–1945] (PDF) (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "1966 Encyclopedia of New Zealand: The Army"
  6. ^ "Vojska.net: Trieste operation"
  7. ^ San Sabba (2009). "Risiera di San Sabba. History and Museum." Committee of the Nazi Lager of Risiera di San Sabba, Trieste: 3. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. ^ Sir Geoffrey Cox, The Race for Trieste, London, Kimber, 1977.