Gabrovnik offensive

The Gavrovnik offensive was an offensive of the Macedonian Struggle carried out on St. George's Day (May 7) 1907 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. Knowing that St. George's Day was the feast day of the village in Gabrovnik and that all the villagers would be in church that morning, a group of over 100 armed Arnauts from the nearby village of Desovo set out with the intention of looting and burning the village, killing the people of Gabrovnik and taking young women and girls to Desovo and to Islam. It was supposed to be revenge for the murdered commander Arif-aga.^[1]

Battle for Gabrovnik
Part of the Macedonian Struggle
Date 7 May 1907 Location Gabrovnik, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Serbian Chetniks victory
Belligerents
Albanian Arnauti	Serbian Chetnik Organization
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Jovan Babunski
Units involved
Arnauti from Desovo	Chetniks from Gabrovnik
Strength
c. 100 men
Casualties and losses
15 killed	None

Battle

Course of the clashes

The cautious residents of Gabrovnik, expecting revenge against the Arnauti from Desovo, took their thirty rifles with them and hid them near the church, where they set up a guard. When they spotted the Arnauts, the village guard raised the alarm. The women ran towards the village of Mokreni and the men took their rifles, so on St. George's Day only the priest remained in the church. The firing on the arnauts of Desovo started while they were moving in the crowd, which led to panic among them. Village troops from Mokreni and Oraov Dol came to the aid of the people of Gabrovnik. The fight lasted until 12 o'clock and ended with the retreat of the Arnaut fighters.^[1]

Results

As results of this battle, 15 Arnaut corpses remained. The Serbs did not suffer any losses. The next day, May 8, 1907, the people of Desovo came to reconciliation. They were allowed to take the dead to Desovo and bury them. During that time, Jovan Babunski's company went to help the village of Gabrovnik, but due to the long distance, it arrived when it was already over.^[1]

References

1. Ilić, Vladimir (2006). Српска четничка акција 1903–1912 (in Serbian). Belgrade: Ecolibri. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-86-7905-044-1.