In January 1944 a British force had been established on
Vis, an island in the
Adriatic Sea off the coast of Yugoslavia, in order to cooperate with the
Yugoslav Partisans. By May 1944 Land Forces Adriatic (LFA) had despatched a sizeable garrison to defend the island, including 111th Field Rgt. From 16 August this force was known as Vis Brigade, changing to Adriatic Brigade on 10 November. In September the Germans began withdrawing from Greece, and LFA began sending forces to raid their lines of retreat along the Balkan coast as part of
Operation Ratweek. One of these forces,
Floydforce, formed around 2nd Battalion,
Highland Light Infantry, sailed from LFA's Italian base at
Bari, picked up a battery (8 x 25-pdrs) of 111th Fd Rgt and raided the island of
Korčula on 14–17 September. A force based on
No 43 Royal Marine Commando, with another battery of 111th Fd Rgt, raided
Šolta on 19–23 September. A further operation was launched by
No. 2 Commando against
Sarandë on 22 September to block the German retreat from
Corfu. This was only intended to last for 24–48 hours, but the situation was so favourable that the Commandos were sent reinforcements, including 25-pdrs of 111th Fd Rgt. Although bad weather hindered the operation, Sarandë was attacked and captured on 9 October.
Tito's Partisans were impressed by the power of the artillery in these raiding forces and began to demand help from British artillery. Floydforce launched another operation on 27 October 1944, landing at the city of
Dubrovnik on the mainland, initially under Lt-Col C. de F. Jago, who had taken command of 111th Fd Rgt in September. Commandos accompanied the artillery purely as escorts: due to Tito's sensitivities they were not to take part in offensive operations, but Jago was warned that the Partisans operated as
guerrillas, and if put under pressure by German forces they would disappear into the mountains. Once the commander of Vis Bde, Brig J.P. O'Brian Twohig, arrived to take over, Jago could concentrate on coordinating the British and Partisan artillery. The artillery under his command consisted of: • 111th (Bolton) Fd Rgt (25-pdrs) • A troop of 180 HAA Bty,
64th (Northumbrian) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (
3.7-inch guns) • A section of 101 LAA Bty, 31st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (
40 mm Bofors guns) • A troop of E Bty,
Raiding Support Regiment (4 x
75 mm mountain howitzers) Second line transport to support Jago's artillery was provided by 3-ton trucks loaned by 25th Anti-Aircraft Brigade at Bari, and an artillery platoon of the
Royal Army Service Corps. Movement was hampered by the state of the mountain roads, which had been subjected to demolitions by both sides, and the lack of practicable gun positions on rocky hillsides. The nearest German positions were at
Risan on the
Bay of Kotor. The main and secondary roads were blocked by demolitions, but by travelling over a tortuous mountain route the leading troop of 211 Fd Bty came into action on 30 October with its observation posts overlooking Risan. The Germans held two old Austrian fortified villages and the gunners found that the only way to breach the old walls was to use a combination of
armour-piercing (AP) and
high explosive (HE) shells, a slow but effective process. Risan was entered on 21 November after some 150 tons of HE shells had been expended, and 'Evidence of the effectiveness of the British artillery fire was apparent everywhere'. With the Risan escape route now blocked, a German thrust through
Nikšić seemed likely, so Twohig moved his force there, to fight a defensive battle in the
Zeta Valley with his field and mountain guns covered by No 43 (RM) Commando in cooperation with the
2nd Partisan Corps under General Radovan Vukanović. Air reconnaissance revealed the approach road to be 'black' with German motor transport, but before this inviting target could be engaged by the guns and the RAF's
Balkan Air Force, Vukanović ordered all the British guns except 212 Fd Bty and the 75 mm troop back to Dubrovnik for political reasons. Floydforce returned to Dubrovnik on 26 December and prepared for operations against
Mostar, but were not called upon by the Yugoslavs. Lieutenant-Col Jago had left the regiment in December to become chief of staff to LFA. On 17 January 1945 Allied landing craft arrived to begin withdrawing the force to Italy, and all troops had left by the end of the month. Hostilities on the Italian Front ended on 2 May with the
Surrender of Caserta, and
demobilisation got under way shortly afterwards. 111th (Bolton) Field Rgt passed into suspended animation on 10 November 1945. When the Territorial Army was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, 111th (Bolton) Field Rgt was formally disbanded. ==Footnotes==