Niš incident facts for kids
The Niš incident was a confusing event during World War II where American and Soviet forces accidentally fought each other. It happened on November 7, 1944, near Niš, Yugoslavia. American planes from the United States Army Air Forces mistakenly attacked a column of vehicles belonging to the Red Army (Soviet army). This led to an air battle between American and Soviet planes.
More than 30 Soviet soldiers died on the ground. In the air battle, two American P-38 Lightning planes and two Soviet Yak-9 planes were shot down. Another Soviet Yak-9 was shot down by its own side's anti-aircraft fire. A high-ranking Soviet general, Grigory Kotov, was killed in the American attack. This caused a big diplomatic problem, but it was solved when Soviet officials accepted that the attack was a mistake caused by American pilots getting lost. However, some people later wrote in their memories that the American attack was on purpose.
Why It Happened
After taking over Bulgaria, Soviet forces moved into southern Yugoslavia. They helped Yugoslav Partisans free Belgrade. A Soviet army group, the 6th Guards Rifle Corps, was moving through Yugoslavia. They were on their way to attack southern Hungary.
At the same time, German troops were trying to escape from Greece into Yugoslavia and Hungary. The Soviet and Yugoslav forces wanted to stop them. The Allies (including the US) also used planes from Italy to attack the retreating Germans.
The Incident Unfolds
On November 7, 1944, the 82nd Fighter Group of the Fifteenth Air Force was sent on a mission. Their job was to attack German vehicles and trains between Sjenica and Mitrovica. This group included P-38 Lightnings from three different squadrons.
Around 10:00 a.m., the American planes saw a column of vehicles. They thought these were German vehicles and attacked them. But these were actually Soviet vehicles from the 6th Guards Rifle Corps. The attack happened about 50 miles inside Soviet-controlled territory. The first American squadron immediately started shooting at the vehicles. This attack killed 31 Soviet soldiers and wounded 37. General Grigory Kotov, the commander of the Soviet corps, was also killed.
While the second group of American P-38s began their attack, Soviet General Vladimir Sudets was at the Niš airbase. He ordered Soviet Yak-9 fighters to take off right away. He thought they were being attacked by German planes. The American planes then started shooting at the Soviet fighters as they took off. Even though the Soviet planes had clear red star markings, one Yak-9 was destroyed immediately.
The American P-38s then climbed to about 500 meters (about 1,640 feet). They formed a defensive circle above Niš, waiting to see what would happen next.
Soon, more Soviet Yak fighters joined the battle. These were led by a famous Soviet pilot named Captain Alexander Ivanovich Koldunov. The air battle, which involved nine Soviet Yak-3s and an unknown number of US P-38s, lasted for about 15 minutes.
Soviet reports later described the battle. They said that 12 American Lightning planes attacked Soviet ground units. Soviet anti-aircraft guns shot down one American plane. Soviet Yak-9 planes took off and engaged the American planes. One Soviet pilot, Junior Lieutenant Shipulya, shot down an American Lightning. Another Soviet pilot, Lieutenant Krivonogikh, also set an American plane on fire.
The Soviet 288th Fighter Aviation Division reported that two of their Yak-9s were shot down by the Americans. One pilot died, and another was badly burned. A third Soviet plane was shot down by its own side's anti-aircraft fire while chasing an American P-38. Both American pilots who were shot down also died. Soviet troops found their bodies and confirmed they were American.
What Happened Next
The American commander, Colonel Clarence T. "Curly" Edwinson, did not report the incident right away. Three days later, on November 10, a Soviet general named Aleksei Antonov told Major General John R. Deane, the head of the American military mission in Moscow, about the incident. Colonel Edwinson was later sent back to the United States after an investigation.
The United States apologized to the Soviet Union. They explained that the attack was a serious mistake. American pilots were supposed to attack German forces on a different road. On December 14, the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, W. Averell Harriman, apologized on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall. He offered to send officers to work with the Soviet army to prevent future mistakes. However, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin said no. A clear boundary had already been set for where Allied planes could operate.
Remembering the Incident
In the Soviet Union, the Niš incident was kept a secret during the war. This was probably to prevent Nazi Germany from using it as propaganda. In the 1960s, during a time of more openness in the Soviet Union, some Soviet officers wrote about the incident in their memoirs. These were the first public discussions of the event in the country. These accounts, written during the Cold War, often described the American actions in a negative way.
Because the incident happened on November 7, which was a Soviet holiday (October Revolution Day), some people claimed it was a deliberate attack by the Americans. Soviet General Sergey Biryuzov first mentioned the incident in a book in 1963. He described General Kotov's death. Other Soviet officers also wrote about it, often calling it a "treacherous strike."
After the Soviet Union became more open in the 1980s (during the Glasnost era), more memoirs were published. A commander named Boris Smirnov wrote that he found a map on a dead American pilot that showed Niš as a target. This made him believe the attack was on purpose.
Starting in the 2010s, the Russian government supported efforts to remember the incident. They described it as an American attack. A monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the incident was put up in Niš in 2015. This monument was seen as a symbol of Russian-Serbian friendship. Another monument was unveiled in 2022. A year later, a mural was added to the monument showing American planes attacking Soviet troops.
See also
- Belgrade Offensive
