Hristo Botev Partisan Battalion

The Hristo Botev Partisan Battalion was a Bulgarian partisan detachment created by deserted Bulgarian servicemen which operated during the partisan movement in Bulgaria from 1941 to 1944.

Hristo Botev Partisan Battalion
Memorial to the Battle of Batulia, where the Battalion was defeated.
ActiveDecember 1943 - May 1944
DisbandedMay 1944
Country Bulgaria
AllegianceBulgarian Partisans
TypeInfantry
RolePartisans
SizeDetachment, Battalion.
EngagementsBattle of Batulia
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Dicho Petrov

It was named after Bulgarian writer, Partisan and national icon Hristo Botev.

Biography

The detachment was formed by soldiers from the 1/15 border subdivision in the village of Konsko, Gevgelija region, led by its commander Lieutenant Dicho Petrov on December 14, 1943. Its initial composition was 62 Bulgarian soldiers and 9 Macedonian partisans. The commander was Lieutenant Dicho Petrov, the Deputy Commander was Nikola Gruev, the Political Commissioner was Hristo Bayaltsaliev and the Deputy Political Commissioner was Mito Mitsaikov.

Until entering the old borders of Bulgaria, the detachment was part of the Second Macedonian Strike Brigade[1] and led military operations against German forces near the villages of Konsko, Negortsi, Gevgelija, Lumnitsa, Fushtani and Livada. It made a transition through the mountains, going through Belasitsa, Ograzhden, Plachkovitsa, Osogovo and Kozyak.

At the beginning of March 1944 they began carrying out operations with the Trun Partisan Detachment. Together with them they formed the Second Sofia People's Liberation Brigade. They were given the task of contacting the First and Second Sredna Gora Brigades of the Second Plovdiv Insurgent Operational Zone. They fought at Tumba Peak together with Yugoslav partisans, and also in the settlements of Kusa Vrana, Vlasi, Transki Odorovtsi, Smolovtsi, Rosoman, Dalgi Del and Govezhda.[2] It also included an English military mission led by Major Frank Thompson.[3]

On May 23, 1944, after crossing the Iskar River, they fought a fierce battle with army and gendarmerie units near the village of Batulia and were almost completely defeated. Surviving guerrillas joined other guerrilla formations, thus resulting in the dissolution of the Battalion.[4][5]

References
  1. Victory 1941 - 1944. Yearbook of the Museum of the Revolutionary Movement in Bulgaria. Sofia, 1969, pp. 16 - 63
  2. "2nd Macedonian Brigade".
  3. History of the anti-fascist struggle in Bulgaria, vol. II 1943/1944, Sofia, 1976, pp. 117, 118, 126
  4. History of the anti-fascist struggle in Bulgaria, vol. II 1943/1944, Sofia, 1976, p. 119
  5. Bulgaria during the Second World War, Written by Marshall Lee Miller, Published by Stanford University Press, 1975, ISBN 0-8047-0870-3 , p. 197.
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