Petrovo Polje, Kneževo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Petrovo Polje
Village
Petrovo Polje Location in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Municipality	Kneževo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Highest elevation	1,332 m (4,370 ft)
Lowest elevation	1,120 m (3,670 ft)
Population  (2013)
• Total	99

Petrovo Polje (which means Peter's Field) is a small village in Central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Republika Srpska region, within the Kneževo Municipality. Before the 1960s, it was part of the Šiprage municipality. For a while, it also belonged to the Kotor Varoš municipality. For a very long time, until the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ended, the village was part of the Imljani Church community.

Geography of Petrovo Polje

Petrovo Polje is a long village with several small groups of houses, called hamlets. It also has many individual mountain homes. It sits on a high flat area, or plateau, also called Petrovo Polje. This area is on the slopes of Mount Vlašić.

The village stretches from a place called Đurevina (which is 1,243 meters high) in the east. It goes all the way to where paved local roads meet in the west. These roads connect the village to Skender Vakuf, Turbe, and Imljani. To the north, the village is bordered by a steep slope that goes down into the Vrbanja river valley. To the south, it is bordered by the Ilomska Valley.

Village Life and Resources

Besides Đurđevina, other hamlets in Petrovo Polje include Nikodinović in the east. The main part of Petrovo Polje was once the center of the local community. Most of the village is located at heights between 1,200 and 1,240 meters.

A primary school was built in Petrovo Polje in 1958. Today, it is no longer used and is in ruins. The few children who live here now go to school in Imljani. Imljani also has a local health clinic. Thanks to a paved road, the village is connected to electricity and water. This connection was made with help from IFOR (a peacekeeping force). The water comes from a source called Manatovac, near Kneževo.

The plateau around Petrovo Polje has many beautiful places for visitors. These include the Kaursko and Bijeljina springs. Other interesting spots nearby are the American side, Andrijevića stream, Arapovo Brdo, and the waterfalls of the Ilomska river. There's also a restaurant called Fisherman's House on the Ugar river, near Vitovlje.

History of Petrovo Polje

During World War II, this quiet village was a very important place. It was a key area for many local and larger groups of Partisans. Partisans were fighters who resisted the occupation during the war. In 1943 and 1944, Petrovo Polje was even a support base for the main headquarters of the NLA.

Before the second big meeting of AVNOJ in Jajce in 1943, the main Partisan headquarters was here. It was led by Josip Broz Tito. Tito himself stayed in a nearby village called Kovačevići. He lived in the home of Husein Kovačević, who was an important local leader.

The Partisans even built a simple military airport in Petrovo Polje. It had a dirt runway. Some people say that Tito lived "in a small village below Petrovo Polje" at that time.

This area was also used to prepare and mark spots for planes. These planes would bring supplies like medicine and weapons from the Allies. They also dropped off important people. For example, before the AVNOJ meeting in Jajce, an English mission arrived here by parachute. This mission, led by Major William Deakin, was there to connect with the NLA.

In early 1944, on April 24, another group called the Chetniks attacked Partisan units and their hospital. The Chetniks were a different group of fighters during the war. They attacked from three main directions:

• Jalovnik and Vlatkovići, coming from Imljani.
• Šiprage, coming over Petrovo Polje.
• Kruševo Brdo, coming over Lisina Mountain (1493 m).

The Chetniks focused most of their strength on Petrovo Polje and Lisina Mountain. They wanted to take control of Lisina because it would give them a quick path to the hospital.

The Partisans had to defend the hospital. Many of their fighters were sick with typhus, so the hospital was in great danger. The Partisans used their machine guns very effectively. They stopped the Chetniks from taking important positions. This helped them win a key battle in this area.

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See also

In Spanish: Petrovo Polje (Skender Vakuf) para niños