Melson/RED SUN (10/30) Red Sun: A German Airborne Raid, May 1944 Topic German airborne employment after the large-scale invasion of Crete in 1941 was confined to battalion-size actions for limited objectives. A unique operation, both for obscurity and daring, was the effort to oust Balkan guerilla chief Josip Broz, "Marshal Tito." With Operation Knight's Move, the late Yugoslav president's career might have ended on his 52d birthday, 25 May 1944. On that day, Axis forces executed an airborne raid on “Partisan” supreme headquarters at Drvar, Bosnia that almost succeeded in getting Tito. i Today, it can provide an example of using light infantry in low-intensity or special operations, with consequences similar to those experienced by Americans in Somalia in 1993 against irregular opponents. ii Discussion Situation In January 1944, the German command structure in the Balkans was singular. Field Marshal Maximilian Freiherr von Weichs' Army Group F, controlling all German forces in Yugoslavia and Albania, was also Supreme Headquarters, Southeast. As Commander-in-Chief Southeast, von Weichs commanded Army Group E in Greece; in effect placing Army Group F in the position of being the headquarters to which all forces in the Balkans answered.