The bombing of

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

was carried out by the Allies from 1943 to 1944 at the request of the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...

Background

Between the two

World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

, Podgorica had a population of 13,000.History of Podgorica
On 6 April 1941, the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

was invaded by the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. The state was de facto dissolved, and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, in which Podgorica was the largest city, became independent as a protectorate of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. That arrangement lasted until the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

on September 8, 1943, and the fascist Italian forces capitulated.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

then occupied Montenegro. Until Germany's involvement, the city had not been bombed. During the last years of the war, Podgorica was one of the largest cities on the route of German troops withdrawing from

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and so the decision was made by the Allies to bomb the city.

Initial stage of bombing

The Podgorica airfield was bombed by

P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

s of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

on 25 October 1943. By December, the German troops had begun setting off bomb sirens in the city, which resulted in many citizens taking shelter in nearby caves.

Bombing of 5 May 1944

The most intense bombing of Podgorica occurred on 5 May 1944. 116

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B-24 Liberators participated in the attack, which dropped 270 tonnes of bombs on the city. The attack resulted in only four German casualties and approximately 100 Chetnik deaths, and 400 Montenegrin civilians were killed.Kovačević, Branislav. ''Savezničko bombardovanje Crne Gore 1943. - 1944. godine''. Svjedočanstvo. Podgorica, 2003. (pg. 57) Chetnik casualties included major

Đorđije Lašić Đorđije Lašić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђије Лашић; 5 May 1906 – 5 May 1944) was a Montenegrin Serb military officer of the Royal Yugoslav Army. During the Second World War he participated in the 1941 Uprising in Montenegro, but h ...

. During the course of the bombing, a Catholic church and an Orthodox cemetery were damaged, and the Glavatović mosque was destroyed. The Allied bombing was of questionable legality.Bombing of the European Axis powers
(pg 345) International law dictates that a country's recognized government has the right to bombard any of its cities that is occupied by enemy forces. However, when Anglo-American forces bombed the city, they still officially recognized the Yugoslav royal government-in-exile as the legitimate national government, not Tito, who ordered the bombings.

Final stage of bombing

On 6 November, 72

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

planes bombed the city.Op 30 - Podgorica Town
/ref> Reportedly, 700 German troops were killed and 150 German vehicles were smashed during this the attack. On 7 November, 124

P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

strafed Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

Axis troop concentrations in and around the city.

Aftermath

The Allied bombing almost completely destroyed the city. Approximately 4,100 people died in the attacks. Partisans took over Podgorica on 19 December 1944. Damages were estimated in 1946 as 1.06 billion

Yugoslav dinars The dinar (Cyrillic script: динар) was the currency of the three Yugoslav states: the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (formerly the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the Federal Republic of Yu ...

.Kovačević, Branislav. ''Savezničko bombardovanje Crne Gore 1943. - 1944. godine''. Svjedočanstvo. Podgorica, 2003. (pg. 647)

References

{{Campaignbox Yugofront 1940s in Montenegro

1943 in Europe 1944 in Europe 20th century in Podgorica