Hi one and all. Now back from an amazing two weeks in Croatia, stopping on an island just off the coast from Dubrovnik. During our forays onto the mainland we visited the Homeland museum in the Napoleonic fortress on the mountain overlooking the old walled town. It was here it struck me that it’s the first place I’ve ever visited where a relatively modern war had taken place ( 91 to 95 ) It was strange standing where some of Dubrovnik's defenders had stood and had come under attack from air, land and sea. Watching BBC news footage of the bombs and shells falling on the fort and seeing the view they had as the ships and artillery turned their attention onto the old town despite its historic significance, raining down ordnance and missiles. Looking through the displays it was interesting to see that weapons from the Second World War were pressed into service, both Russian and German machine guns as well as more up to date stuff. There were even pics of knocked out T34 tanks. As the exhibition progressed it also covered the atrocities that had taken place. Later walking round the old town there are the obvious signs of the tremendous hard work that went into its restoration, new roofs and sections of walls etc as approximately 50% of all buildings were damaged and some completely destroyed. A fascinating but dark time in the countries history.
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"Fort Imperial", the name of the fortress above Dubrovnik. In December 1991, it almost fell into the hands of the Serbs ... at the moment of the falling, our, Croatian soldiers locked themselves in a part of the fortress, and the order was given to our small mortars located down in the city, under the Srđ hill, to shell them. After the shelling, none of the Serbian soldiers remained in the fortress. The key act of keeping the fortress and the entire city from falling. In fortress was 34 our soldiers, and later came 6 more soldiers as help.
''Fort Imperial becomes the first and last line of defense. The defenders of the fort raise the Croatian flag on the damaged transmitter, which will be a sign that the defenders are still on Srđ during the days of the siege.''
''Defense forces In the western wing of the Imperial fort there were about 21 defenders from Dubrovnik, and in the central one 13 members of HOS, members of an independent company commanded by Nediljko Grubišić, who in those days entered occupied Dubrovnik in speedboats of the Armed Ships Detachment to help the few defenders of the city. The defenders of Srđ and the Imperial fortress were assisted by members of the anti-aircraft defense with two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, the crew of the "ZIS" 76 mm gun and 82 mm mortars. Platoons of the IX also took turns in the defense. HOS battalion from Split. Attacker forces The enemy attacked with artillery of all calibers, two tanks and two groups of infantry from the 3rd battalion of the Trebinje Brigade, about 20 from the direction of the fortress of Strinčjera,[1] and also about 20 soldiers from the eastern side from the direction of the village of Bosanka.[2]
In the early morning hours of December 6, 1991, around 5:45 a.m., an artillery attack on Fort Imperial began. At the same time, a combined infantry-tank attack began. One tank, supported by about twenty infantrymen, moved from the east, from the village of Bosanka, and another tank, also supported by twenty infantrymen, from the west, from the half-demolished old fortress of Strinčjere. The night before the attack, due to the configuration of the terrain, the enemy forces managed to get to the top station of the cable car, where they waited for the attack to begin. The defense forces noticed enemy movements, but due to the signed truce, the defenders did not attach importance to these movements. After the initial attack, the defenders retreated into the interior of the fort, and the enemy occupied the eastern wing and broke out onto the upper terrace of the central part of the fort. The defenders occasionally fly out of the fort onto the upper terrace and try to repel the attack with hand grenades. The enemy retaliated with bombs, and on that occasion two defenders were wounded. Enemy tanks approach the fortress itself and come thirty meters away from its entrance. One of the defenders manages to hit the turret of a tank advancing from the west. The tank crew, left without observation devices, frantically asks for help and a replacement. On the same day, in the early hours of the morning, a group of ten enemy soldiers from the fortress of Strinčjera arrived on the Jedarac hill above the Nunciate town area with the task of preventing the attempt of the Nunciate defenders to come to the aid of the defenders of Srđ. The well-fortified enemy opened machine-gun and mortar fire on the Nunciata. The defenders of the Nunciature retaliated, so after the loss of two soldiers and the wounding of a third, the enemy soldiers, despite a group of ten soldiers who had arrived as reinforcements in the meantime, retreated from the Jedarac hill back to the Strinčjera fortress. At the same time, after several hours of fighting for Srđ, the exhausted defenders of the fort ask the Dubrovnik defense commander, General Nojko Marinović, to issue an order to the defense artillery to fire at the fort itself, the terrace of the central part and its eastern wing. At the same time, somewhere around 10:30 a.m., two groups of special police officers left Dubrovnik. The first group, composed of six defenders, goes under the fortress itself and destroys the enemy's stronghold in the upper station of the cable car with a trombone mine. At least one enemy soldier was killed on that occasion. The defenders of the fort, after the attack of the defense artillery, start singing "Call, just call" - ''Zovi, samo zovi!'' (PATRIOTIC SONG) and with their last strength manage to repel the last attempts of the enemy to break into the fort and occupy it. Finally, around 12:30 p.m., after losses in manpower and equipment, the enemy begins to withdraw.[1]''
More here: https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitka_za_Srđ
Cheers! -
Definitely something I’m going to research more now I’m back homeComment
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Croatia is a beautiful country. We stayed in the north at Rovijn. Very friendly people and excellent foodComment
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