ХАУБИЦА

At the time of Prijedor’s liberation by the Partisans on May 16, 1942, the Ustaše and Home Guard garrison in the town consisted of units from the 2nd, 10th, and 11th Infantry Regiments, as well as the 8th Artillery Detachment. The garrison commander was Colonel Mario Zlobec. The northeastern sector was commanded by Ivo Ljubimir, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Infantry Regiment, while the southwestern sector was led by Captain Josip Kropar, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment.

The rear area on the right bank of the Sana River was fully liberated, while the left bank remained under enemy control, consisting of armed Muslim villages. Guard posts were secured with trenches, some even reinforced with barbed wire. Prijedor maintained daily contact with Ljubija (three companies) and with Muslim villages whose frontline included Čarakovo – Hambarine – Mataruge (200 rifles). The town had otherwise been under blockade for several months.

The enemy garrison consisted of 1,200 Home Guards, Legionnaires, and 40 Ustaše. They were stationed in various buildings such as the Gymnasium (which served as the command headquarters), the „Umljenović“ Primary School, the „Balkan“ Hotel, the railway station, and the Glamočanin House and yard (where artillery was positioned). The Ustaše were specifically housed in the Croatian Home. Additionally, 13 gendarmes were stationed in the gendarmerie barracks, which also housed grenade launchers.

The attack on Prijedor was carried out in the form of two wedges, with units assigned clear objectives aiming for a stealthy entry into the town. The spearheads of these wedges reached the town center, while the main force eliminated peripheral guards. Simultaneously, three breakthrough operations and a demonstrative frontal assault were launched from the most heavily fortified side. The following day, Ljubija was also captured. Partisan forces remained in Prijedor for just under a month, until June 10, 1942, when a large-scale enemy offensive on Kozara began.

By order of German General Bader, a combat group named West- Bosnien was formed under the command of General Friedrich Stahl. Alongside German forces, significant Ustaše and Home Guard units were engaged—some of which had received specialized mountain warfare training in Germany. The “Borowski Combat Group” was assigned to carry out the main phase of the operation—the cleansing of Kozara—and included both Ustaše and Home Guard units. By Pavelić’s order on June 16, 1942, all Ustaše and Home Guard units in Western Bosnia were placed under the command of the West- Bosnien battle group headquarters.

Approximately 80,000 civilians, 450–500 wounded, and around 3,500 armed fighters were trapped inside the encirclement. The total enemy forces involved in the Kozara operation numbered about 45,000 troops, facing only around 3,500 Partisans. The enemy operation West-Bosnien, better known as the “Battle of Kozara” or the “Kozara Offensive,” began on June 10, 1942. During this Nazi-led campaign, the local population was subjected to one of the most horrific genocides in history, surpassing even the darkest chapters in the history of the Potkozarje region.

According to official data, during the offensive, 68,600 people from Kozara were interned in twelve collection and concentration camps, including 23,858 children. The exact number of casualties will never be known, as records were inadequately kept after World War II. When it comes to identifying child victims by name, Dragoje Lukić made the most significant contributions through his research. According to his 1988 findings, 13,138 children from the Kozara region died between 1941 and 1945. The worst year was 1942, when 81.24% of these children perished during the Ustaše-German offensive on Kozara.

Regarding military losses, a report by J. M. Šoša, commander of the Second Krajina Partisan Detachment, cites approximately 1,500–1,800 Partisan casualties, including the wounded.
The treatment of Serbian children from Kozara stands as one of the cruelest genocidal acts committed in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). On the memorial wall at the Mrakovica Monument—erected to honor the fallen fighters from the Kozara area (1941–1945)—9,921 names, or 95.8%, belong to Serbs.

According to participants’ recollections, enemy artillery was positioned near the grain storage facility (marketplace), enclosed by a tall wooden fence. During a brief attack, a group of fighters from Dragan Stanić’s unit captured two 105 mm howitzers (most likely 100 mm), one of which bore the serial number 23878. In the liberated town, it was agreed that one howitzer would be sent to the Grmeč Partisans and the other to the Kozara Partisans.

The howitzer assigned to the Kozara Partisans was operated by Ratko Bursać (gunner), Ratko Novaković (assistant), Nikola Marčeta, Nenad Kusonjić, Pero Sekulić, and Milorad Glamočanin. It was then moved in the direction of the enemy’s advance, toward Podvidača and Lušci Palanka, where it became part of a howitzer battery commanded by Dane Vujnović. The political commissar was Milan Majkić.

During the Grmeč Offensive, the crew was forced to abandon the howitzer. To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, they buried it on Klekovača. The crew then dispersed, joined other units, and eventually lived to see liberation.

After the war, they were eager to find out what had happened to their ‘artillery.’ With the assistance of the Museum of Kozara, Nenad Kusonjić located the howitzer in a military unit (VP 3566) in Zagreb. It was identified by bullet marks on its shields—evidence of enemy fire—that Nenad and his comrades had once repaired at a local blacksmith’s shop. As a gift from the Federal Secretariat for National Defense, the howitzer was eventually transferred to the Museum of Kozara in Prijedor.

The howitzer is mounted on a carriage (lafeta – affusto in Italian), which provides stability during firing and transfers the recoil force from the barrel to the ground when the weapon is discharged. This is the lower part of the system, equipped with wheels to allow transport and repositioning. Recoil-absorbing carriages began appearing in the late 19th century.

The 10 cm M.14 FN Feldhaubitze (Škoda howitzer vz. 14) was a dual-purpose field and mountain gun used by Austria-Hungary during World War I. It came in the original 14 model and the improved 14/19 version, which was later used by several countries, most notably Italy. It was a conventional design, although early versions had an outdated barrel made of forged bronze with a cast bronze jacket. Later versions featured standard steel barrels. The gun was produced from 1914 to 1918. It was used in both World Wars and was possessed by both Ustaše and Partisan forces in the Kozara region.

References: 

Ведрана Адамовић, Године страдања 1941/42, НДХ и њени злочини у Приједору и околини 1941/42. (Прилог проучавању злочина геноцида над српским народом у Поткозарју), Приједор–Бањалука 2020.

Dragutin Ćurguz, Milorad Vignjević, Drugi krajiški NOP (Kozarski) odred „Mladen Stojanović“, Prijedor 1982. 

Љубо Михић, Козара, природа – човјек – историја, Нови Сад 1987.

Kozarski vjesnik, 13. мај 1977.

Photographs:

Anđa Knežević – fearless underground fighter and member of the People’s Liberation Army, distinguished in the liberation of Prijedor on May 16, 1942.

The 1st Krajina NOP Assault Brigade in Lamovita on May 21, 1942. At its founding, it had 1,186 fighters, including 664 from Kozara, organized into four battalions and a support unit.

The first artillerymen of the liberated town.

Deportation of captured Serbs through central Prijedor during the Kozara offensive in the summer of 1942, heading toward execution sites, labor, and concentration camps.

Deportation of civilians from Kozara (Knešpolje) to collection and concentration camps.

Kozara machine gunner wearing the distinctive Kozara Partisan cap.

Milja Marin – nurse and fighter from Kozara. Her smile, a symbol of survival, endured great suffering. And still, the songs endured: “Oh, Kozara, sung with grace and pain, smiling through the darkest rain.”

Photo of the monument at Pećani dedicated to fighters who died during the 1942 liberation of Prijedor.