Battle of the Crna Bend (1917)

Battle of the Crna Bend (1917)
Part of Macedonian front (World War I)
Date5–9 May 1917
Location
Crna Loop
Result Central Powers victory
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
  • Central Powers:[1]
  • Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946) 27 battalions
  • 19 batteries
  • 115 machine guns
  • German Empire 13 battalions
  • 15 batteries
  • 131 machine guns
  • Total: 40 battalions
  • 34 batteries (122 guns, 8 mortars)
  • 246 machine guns
  • Allies:[1]
  • French Third Republic 45 battalions
  • 54 batteries
  • 312 machine guns
  • Kingdom of Italy 18 battalions
  • 32 batteries
  • 171 machine guns
  • Russian Empire 6 battalions
  • 14 batteries
  • 32 machine guns
  • Total: 69 battalions
  • 100 batteries (412 guns)
  • 515 machine guns
Casualties and losses
  • Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946) 1,626
  • German Empire Unknown
  • French Third Republic 1,700
  • Kingdom of Italy 2,400
  • Russian Empire 1,325
  • Total: 5,425

The Battle of the Crna Bend was a significant military engagement fought between the forces of the Central Powers and the Entente in May 1917. It was part of the Allied Spring Offensive of the same year that was designed to break the stalemate on the Macedonian Front. Despite the considerable numerical and material advantage of the attackers over the defenders, the Bulgarian and German defence of the positions in the loop of the river Crna remained a formidable obstacle, which the Allies were unable to defeat not only in 1917 but until the end of the war.

  1. ^ a b Дошкинов 1935, pp. 114–133