UN in Croatia '95 photos and video

[hood]

Thanks to Upfrontreporting for sending in a set of photos of his time with the Danish UNCRO contingent in Croatia in 95.

http://media.militaryphotos.net/photos/UN_in_Croatia_95

The summary of the album:


While serving with the Danish UNCRO contingent in Croatia in 95, we got caught in the middle of a very large Croatian offensive, as the Croatian Army crossed the border into the Serbian parts of Bosnia. I can't remember the Croat name for this operation but it involved many thousand troops and covered approx. 70 kilometers of borderline between Croatia and Republika Srpska (Serbian Bosnia) running from Dvor na Uni - Kostajinica - Dubica. The Camp I was in were in Dvor na Uni, there was also camps in Kostajinica and Dubica. Dvor na uni was also one of the areas where the Croats crossed into Bosnia, so I had a ringside seat to the fightning (to close to comfort). The offensive lasted two days and during these two days the Danish contingent suffered two dead and 17 wounded. As the Croats launched their assault the Serbs retaliated and we started getting incomming, first it was due to the very close proximity of Croat army units around the camp, later when the fighting intensified the Serbs started firing directly at our camp as well as the other Danish UN camps in Kostajinica and Dubica causing the two fatal casualties and 17 wounded troops.

[Vance]

Reminds me of Operation Flashpoint type land. Neat stuff...

[mustamato]

The actual video would be nice to see.

[hood]

The actual video would be nice to see.

Working on it. :)

[AFG]

The actual video would be nice to see.

Working on it. :)


thats nice to hear :D

[Royal]

I can't remember the Croat name for this operation but it involved many thousand troops and covered approx. 70 kilometers of borderline between Croatia and Republika Srpska (Serbian Bosnia) running from Dvor na Uni - Kostajinica - Dubica.


Operacija Oluja - Operation Storm. I was on the other side of the border. It was an interesting couple of weeks ;)

[mustamato]

The actual video would be nice to see.

Working on it. :)

thats nice to hear :D

Very nice, can´t wait to see it.

If looking at the picture the danes were really close to this fighting. Must been kind of a bizarre feeling to just sit there and watch it all.

[Upfrontreporting]

Very nice, can´t wait to see it.

If looking at the picture the danes were really close to this fighting. Must been kind of a bizarre feeling to just sit there and watch


We were really close, we were in the middle of it and yes it was a very bizarre experience just to sit there and watch. It was also very frustrating to sit there and being able to do nothing due to the UN mandate, in that hectic invironment we couldn't proove a 100% that we were being tageted directly, although EVERYTHING indicated that. :(

Royal:
Where were you during that OP, in the Banja Luka area?

[mustamato]

@ Upfrontreporting.

Hood said he is working on making that video available. It should give a lot more knowing a little before watching it. So do you have any background information about the situation in the area before that fighting. Meaning in example if there was civilians still in the area, and the approximate numbers of the serbs vs croats, little of what equipment they had (there is a note that the croats had tanks atleast). And any knowledge about the result of battle? The croats withdrew as I understood it from your video in that particular battle. But in general if my memory serves me correctly their offensive was quite succesfull so was the serbheld village lost later to the Croats? Hm many questions.

Anyway, I thank you for sharing this video with us. I remember when I heard/saw it on TV that danes had been killed by artillery in Bosnia, but back then in media the whole war was just so chaotic that you couldn´t really get a grip of anything, I think that videos and stories like this one makes things more understandable for us that wasn´t there. So thanks.

[Upfrontreporting]

@ mustamato

I'll put together a detailed answer to your questions, I'll just have to go through some different info I got lying about.


regards.

[OldRecon]

In situations like that one feels somewhat unreal with the blue helmet and all, sort of being there, yet not being there or what??

[Upfrontreporting]

Very unreal indeed, it was almost like watching a movie, untill a mortar shell hits about 30 meters from you, covering you in all sorts of crap, then you wake up.

With regards to the type of Croat units taking part in this OP, I know that the 1 Gardijska Brigada (Tigrovi/Tigerbrigade) # Gardijska Brigada (Grom/Thunder Brigade) took part, probably also other support units.

I don't know about the Serb Units, although it included tanks (It was a Serb tank which killed 2 Danes and wounded 5 others, in fact all the cassualties suffered during these two days were from Serb weapons)
During the first day the Serbs also used two Super Galeb and one MIG 29 trying to repel the Croat attack in the Dvor na Uni area (unfortunately I didn't get that on video :( )

I'll return with some more detailed info later, I'll happily answer any questions.



regards.

[Royal]

During the first day the Serbs also used two Super Galeb and one MIG 29 trying to repel the Croat attack in the Dvor na Uni area (unfortunately I didn't get that on video :( )

I think you'll find the MiG was an Orao.

[Upfrontreporting]

It might have been an Oaro, it was my mate who reported that he saw a MIG 29, he could of course be mistaken. Of interesting note is that Croat units fired upon it with two missiles, no hits, don't know what type.

Edit:
I'll battle a bit in the comming weekend with an internet usable version of my video, hoppefully it will be possible to post it next week, don't know how long the video will be though (3-6 min).

[noneck11]

upfrontreporting, your experiences and photos closely mirror those of my own in the Krajina a year and a half earlier. I was with Charlie Coy 2PPCLI in the Medak Pocket.

I believe that the Medak Pocket was merely an FTX for the HV after they had been retrained/reorganized by MPRI and that this was ultimately the dress rehersal for Op OLUJA. It looks like they learned from the mistakes they made in the "Pocket" when they underestimated the flexibility and resolve of our Bn. The HV expected us to back down and give in to all their demands. As a result they got a bit of a shock when we moved forward instead of back and blocked them by force of arms. This incident resulted in approximately 27 HV KIA and unknown WIA, for 3 Cdn wounded.

Did you run into any foreign "Volunteers"? I had a couple of instances where I had the opportunity to speak with some Aussie Serb volunteers and also some Brit and Dutch "Volunteers" on the other side.

I would be interested in seeingthat video as well.

Cheers
Noneck

[Upfrontreporting]

Noneck:

No I didn't meet run into any foreign volunteers while serving in the Krajina region, although there probably where a couple, either ex-patriates or non Ex-Yugo foreigners.

With regards to foreign entities takin part there was a lot of evidence of German support, a lot of the Croat forces were kitted out in ex-Bundeswähr and est-German kit, sweaters, east-German leftover helmets and a lot of other stuff.

Also the US was heavily involved, it's no secret that MPRI was involved in the training and forming of the HV (Hrvatska Vojska), and that company probably doesn't get involved with a job task like above, unless there is some kind of governmental thumbs-up.
Apparently the HV also based some of their OPs on US-supplied sattelite imagery.
This information has been relvealed by several HV officers.


Mustamato:

With regards to equipment used by the Croats and the Serbs during the Operation Oluja time, I don't have much detailed info.

With regards to equipment used in the Danish AOR


The Croats:

Tanks: T55, and Sherman! ;)

Artillery: Various 105, 130, 155 howitzers, Chinese 12 barrel 107 mm
MBRL and FROG 7 rockets.

Mortars: Various cals.

AA: BOV 20/3 (ground support use) and possible MANPADs (SA-7)

Misc: Rubber dingies and flat-bottom metal boats (for river crossing op in Dvor na Uni) I saw a boat getting hit Serb arty.

Infantry: 7th, 57th, 1 Gardisjka Brigada (Tgrovi/Tigers) 2 Gardisjka Brigada (Grom/Thunder), MUP-HV, various homeguard units and irregulars.

Air assets: Mi 8 HIP or Mi 24 HIND.
Helicopter assets where used by the Croats during the fighting in Dvor, don't know which kind, couldn't see it.

This is by no means a full overview of what was used by the Croats.


The Serbs.

I dont' have that much info,

Tanks: T55 and maybe M84, a Serb tank deliberately fired a SABOT shot at a Danish bunker inside the our UN-camp in Dvor, this shot killed two people and wounded the rest of the occupants in said bunker.

Units: Possibly 26th, 33rd ARSK brigade

Air assets: Gazelle anti-armor helicopter (A Sagger missile was fired from a Serb Gazelle towards a Danish OP, three soldiers were lightly wounded as the missile was partly deflected by a woodden plate in front of an OP-tower and exsploded before hitting the tower.


The video should be up soon!


regards.

[hood]

Ok guys, he was nice enough to send in the video that he made, so head over to http://www.militaryvideos.net to grab it.

[Wilco]

Gah! Stupid bittorrent. Any chance you can just have regular .mpg?

[hood]

nope.

[Seoulstriker]

Gah! Stupid bittorrent. Any chance you can just have regular .mpg?

i'll take care of ya. check your PM.

[Roger Rabbit]

could someone re-seed this please

[Upfrontreporting]

That's a lot of downloads in a short space of time, I'm glad people were interested. If any of you got questions or comments concerning the video, I'd be interested in hearing it.

I have created a thread regarding the video:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7924

regards.
Upfrontreporting

[hood]

could someone re-seed this please

it says there's 21 seeds...

[Roger Rabbit]

I started it going last night and it said no seeds but this morning it was all completed, must have been a dodgy connection or something.

[serbian boy]

The damn americans gave the Ustasha weapons.
And our president Slobodan backed the YNA out of Croatia in 1993.
If they would've stayed there the Srpska Krajina defense force wouldn't have had to fight by themselves!

[ibstolidude]

Zdravo

Instead of
Camo Cloga Crbina Cpacava!
I always thought that
Camo Ckopcko (Pivo that is) Crbina Cpacava - would have made a great Skopsko advert.

or are you a
Zlatorog Club man?
;)

[Royal]

rofl rofl rofl

Lasko za mene...

[Upfrontreporting]

Ohh my serbo-croatian is rotten, haven't spoken it for a year now, what are you guys babling about. :|

vala moi drugi.

[Royal]

The word's hvala mate :D

We're talking about beer, what else? ;)

[Upfrontreporting]

Ima dobro pisca u UK? :P

[Royal]

Da, imamo mnoge dobre pice na UKu...

Resists the urge to start a lesson on the intricacies of Slavic grammar ;)

[Dalleer]

That video was truly amazing, and it somehow portrayed the whole role of the UN so well in that conflict, I'm afraid.

[Tributal]

I was with NORDBAT2 over in Bosnia. I arrived a few weeks after you guys took incoming in Croatia. Apparently NORDBAT2 earned the nickname "Shoot Back Battalion" because we returned fire instead of waiting for the suits to make up their minds. We had a Danish Leopard 2 tank company with us - very nice asset to have I must say. :D

[Backis]

I was with NORDBAT2 over in Bosnia. I arrived a few weeks after you guys took incoming in Croatia. Apparently NORDBAT2 earned the nickname "Shoot Back Battalion" because we returned fire instead of waiting for the suits to make up their minds. We had a Danish Leopard 2 tank company with us - very nice asset to have I must say. :D

Leo 1A5-DK actually... no Leo 2 in Danish service at the time.

[Tributal]

We had a Danish Leopard 2 tank company with us - very nice asset to have I must say. :DLeo 1A5-DK actually... no Leo 2 in Danish service at the time.In '95-'96?

[Backis]

We had a Danish Leopard 2 tank company with us - very nice asset to have I must say. :DLeo 1A5-DK actually... no Leo 2 in Danish service at the time.In '95-'96?

Nope, they got their first 2A4's (second hand from Germany, kinda spread manufacturing dates, 1980-1986) in '97-'98.

First operational Leopard 2A4 tank delivered in 2000, I got no news of the upgrades (basically A5 standard).

They'll only be getting 51 in total.

So far no Danish Leopard 2 used abroad.

http://www.haaland.info/denmark/tank/index.html
http://www.armyvehicles.dk/leopard2a4.htm

Danish 2A4

http://www.armyvehicles.dk/images/leopard2a4.jpg


Danish 1A5-DK (in SFOR service no less)

http://www.armyvehicles.dk/images/leopard1a5.jpg

[Tributal]

So far no Danish Leopard 2 used abroad.My bad then.