Siege of Kraljevo

The rebels organized their last larger attack on Kraljevo on 31 October, using two tanks previously captured from German forces, but failed after suffering heavy casualties.

The official Partisan historiography considered Chetniks as most responsible for the failed siege, presenting them as deceitful and untrustworthy with minimal combat value.

The attack on Kraljevo was one of the battles waged during the anti-Axis uprising in German-occupied Western Serbia, then part of the Axis occupied Yugoslavia.

At the beginning of October 1941 military units of Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland and groups of communist rebels established Operational Headquarters (Serbian: Оперативни штаб) after they first captured German-occupied Čačak.

[12] On 3 October 1941 German military commander of occupied Serbia Franz Böhme ordered to unconditionally defend Kraljevo.

[23] The German right wing attacked rebels forcing them to retreat and encircling Jelica Chetnik Detachment which was almost completely annihilated.

[27] The rebel artillery shelled western and central part of the town on 19 and 20 October from Partisan held positions on Ružić hill.

[29] Two German battalions reinforced with two tanks attacked Partisan positions on Ružić hill in early morning of 21 October.

[36] Chetnik Lieutenant Sima Uzelac and about a dozen of his soldiers were killed by machine gun while trying to cross barbed wires during their charge on an Axis bunker.

The information that about 200 Partisans attacked Chetnik security forces of the Preljina airport was quickly reported to Major Đurić who held positions at the Kraljevo siege on the same night.

[42] Deroko and Chetnik detachment under his command headed toward Čačak through the village of Mrčajevci and easily took over Preljina from Partisans, crossed river Čemernica and positioned his forces that also included artillery on Ljubić hill, near the monument to Tanasko Rajić.

On 20 November 1941, the communist forces and Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland signed truce while the German offensive in December 1941 defeated both parties.

The Communists retreated to Montenegro and Bosnia while Mihailović and a small number of his soldiers was forced to flee constant German chases.

[46] The Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland and Partisans held each other as morally responsible for Kragujevac and Kraljevo massacres while Mihailović decided to resolve the communist question once for all.

[47] At the beginning of 1942 some Chetniks legalized with Nedić administration buried Deroko besides the grave of Tanasko Rajić in Ljubić, but communists dig out his body in 1945 and disposed it on unknown location.

The political commissar of the Čačak partisan detachment , Ratko Mitrović , speaks to the partisan units ahead of their departure to Kraljevo front.
After receiving the weapons from the factory in Užice, the Partisan Battalion of Takovo leaves for the front by train in October 1941.
Serbian Partisans of the Trnava Battalion are marching to the siege of Kraljevo.
Memorial cemetery Kraljevo October