Fala, Attack of Lack's Detachment on the Power Plant

From their arrival at Kozjak on 22 September 1944 until November 1944, fighters of Lack's detachment dealt the occupier on Kozjak severe blows. Among the most significant and successful was the attack on the Fala power plant on the evening of 28 September. The attack on Fala was a sabotage and military operation, as the power plant, as a military-economic object, was fortified and protected. The guard, which protected the power plant, numbered 34 armed men at the time of the attack.

During the preparations for the attack on the fake power plant, the detachment's staff established contact with some employees of the power plant who were sympathizers of the OF. Based on the information they gathered, the detachment's staff prepared a sketch of the attack. For the attack, the first battalion was designated, which was then led by Franc Prelog-Vito. The battalion was divided into four attacking groups. The attack on the power plant was secured by the detachment's staff with occupying forces in the direction of Maribor and Dravograd. Since three fighters, at the beginning of the attack, which started at half past eleven in the evening, disarmed the guard at the gate without firing, the defenders were greatly surprised when the partisans arrived. The attacking groups first forced the surrender of the armed men in the guardhouse, while the second and third groups quickly broke the resistance of seven armed men and six civilian guards, while the fourth group only disarmed the remaining armed men after a short fight in which one partisan was killed and another was wounded. In addition to five armed men, two civilian guards, and two armed men, on the enemy side, also fell an occupier's collaborator who worked at the power plant, the leader of the Styrian Home Front block, the power plant's manager, and the leader of the local group of the Styrian Home Front. On the enemy side, there were a total of 13 victims. Of the 34 members of the armed guard at the power plant, 21 were killed or captured. Some of them fled, while others probably drowned in the Drava. After subduing the guard at the power plant, the partisans mined and disabled the power plant's equipment. The attack on the power plant ended around midnight. After the completed operation, the detachment's units gathered at the agreed location and with the captives headed towards the new camp at Dvoršnikov Hill, where they arrived on 29 September at eight in the morning.

The successful operation of Lack's detachment on the Fala power plant received an exceptional response, as the longer shutdown of the power plant significantly affected the occupier's armament industry in Maribor, Ruše, and other areas of occupied Slovenian Styria. Among the people, the operation strengthened the will to resist, while the occupier's collaborators and officials in Maribor and the Drava Valley were strongly frightened and unsettled.

The plaque was erected on 15 September 1985.

Source: Marjan Žnidarič, Spominska obeležja Lackovega odreda, Maribor, 2007, p. 45