Bulgarian Army deployment in Serbia during World War II.
The Bulgarian Army had not participated in the Invasion of Yugoslavia, but had agreed to take over occupational tasks to free German combat troops.
Initially, for the occupation of Macedonia and Pirot, the Bulgarian military command formed a new Fifth Bulgarian Army led by General Nikola Mihov. The occupation of the territory to be part of Bulgaria began on April 19, 1941 and was completed by May 28, 1941. The Fifth Army did not actually enter beyond Serbian borders before the Balkan War, except for part of Pirot, which was considered a traditional Bulgarian region.
In response to the German requirements for Bulgarian occupation in Serbia itself, at the suggestion of the General Staff, the First Occupation Corps was formed under the command of Lieutenant General Asen Nikolov and Chief of Staff Colonel Stoyko Ivanov. The Corps consisted of the
In October 1942, several battalions of the 9th Pleven Infantry Division participated in Operation Kopaonik against Mihailović's Chetniks. In January 1943, the Bulgarian area of occupation was expanded westwards and in July 1943, further northwards, for which a fourth division, the 25th Infantry Division was added to the Corps.
By the end of 1943, the Corps was composed of the 7th, 9th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, and 27th Infantry divisions. The 24th Division participated in Case Black and Operation Kugelblitz.
The corps began withdrawing from Serbia on August 26, 1944. On September 4, 1944, after it became clear that Konstantin Muraviev's agrarian government would declare war on the Reich, the Corps headquarters were taken prisoner by the German army and some of the remaining Corps units were disarmed by the Germans. The rest of the personnel withdrew to the old borders of Bulgaria, abandoning some of their equipment and heavy weapons during the retreat. Lieutenant General Asen Nikolov and the parts of the Corps that were captured, were taken to POW camps.
The Corps was disbanded on September 23, 1944.
Commanders
Major General (Lieutenant General since 1943) Asen Nikolov (April 11, 1942 - September 4, 1944)
Major General Ivan Popov (September 14, 1944 - September 23, 1944)
War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration, by Jozo Tomasevich (Stanford University Press, 9780804736152 January 2002), page 199
The Bulgarian Army in Yugoslavia 1941–1945, by Boro Mitrovski, Venceslav Glišić, Tomo Ristovski (Medunarodna politika, 1971), page 46
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