Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
's First Mechanized Guard Brigade ( hr, Prva mehanizirana gardijska brigada) - named "The Tigers" ( hr, Tigrovi) - was the most elite and best equipped military brigade of the
Croatian Army
The Croatian Army ( hr, Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV) is the largest and most significant component of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF).
Role and deployment
The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national i ...
. Its military base and headquarters was in the Croatian capital of
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
, origin of most of the brigade's personnel. In 2008, as part of a larger military restructuring, the brigade-sized unit was disbanded and reformed as a battalion of the
Motorized Guard Brigade.
Formation
It was initially formed on November 5, 1990, at the military base in
Rakitje
Rakitje is a village in central Croatia located west of Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, nort ...
. It was formed from volunteers and elements of the
Croatian Police
Law enforcement in Croatia is the responsibility of the Croatian Police ( hr, Hrvatska policija), which is the national police force of the country subordinated by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, carrying out certain task ...
(which was to form the basis for the new Croatian army). Initially, lack of equipment forced the unit to be a wholly Infantry brigade, but this was soon corrected and the unit became a Motorized Infantry brigade by September 1991, when major military operations in the war begun.
It was the part of the
Croatian National Guard
The Croatian National Guard ( hr, Zbor narodne garde or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interi ...
, the predecessor of the
Croatian Army
The Croatian Army ( hr, Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV) is the largest and most significant component of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF).
Role and deployment
The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national i ...
, and was initially referred to as the 1st "A" Brigade.
Military service
Vukovar
When the war begun, the 1st Brigade was directed to eastern
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
, an area of Croatia which was under heaviest attack. The
battle of Vukovar
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...
, pivotal battle of the first phase of the war, was where elements of brigade first saw combat service. As the city was under heavy attack by a large number of tank and mechanized units of the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...
(JNA), it was soon surrounded and besieged. Small elements of the 1st Guard Brigade remained inside the city, but the majority of the brigade was outside and continued to hold the front against overwhelming enemy strength. The city would eventually fall, but some of the entrapped defenders managed a breakout.
As the
Battle of the Barracks
The Battle of the Barracks ( hr, Bitka za vojarne) was a series of engagements that occurred in mid-to-late 1991 between the Croatian National Guard (ZNG, later renamed the Croatian Army) and the Croatian police on one side and the Yugoslav Pe ...
came to an end in late September, and Croats captured number of heavy equipment from JNA barracks, the 1st Guard Brigade was equipped with
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s (gaining the first 12 tanks in September after the
fall of the Varaždin barracks) and
armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world.
Acc ...
s (APCs) and the first tank battalion was formed. By the end of 1992, the Brigade was redesignated 1st Mechanized Guard Brigade.
1992–1994
In mid-1992, the brigade was directed to end the blockade of the besieged city of
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
. The result was that the furthest south region of Croatia completely liberated by the end of the year.
Elements of the brigade were involved in
Operation Maslenica
Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Maslen ...
during 1993.
During 1994, Croatian army was mostly inactive and the period was spent in training and refitting.
Final operations
Status and equipment of the brigade meant that it was always used in the worst fighting. Once the Croatian Army went from defensive to offensive strategy in 1993, the army doctrine was based on a variation of
blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...
strategy in which weaker units would hold lines and Guard brigades - like the Tigers - would be used as line breakers to penetrate defenses, then isolate and destroy enemy formations. This tactics was used with great success during 1995.
In May 1995, during
Operation Flash
Operation Flash ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Operacija Bljesak, Операција Бљесак) was a brief Croatian Army (HV) offensive conducted against the forces of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) from 1&nda ...
, 1st Guard brigade led one of two main attacks that fragmented and destroyed Serb forces in Western Slavonia.
The brigade participated in
Operation Summer 1995 in Bosnia and was instrumental in capturing mountainous terrain east of rebel
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...
which was to be pivotal for the following operation.
For
Operation Storm
}) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...
, the brigade was deployed along the west sector (north of
Gospić
Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje).
Gospić is the ...
) and was the main strike element responsible with reaching the border with
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
on that line. The brigade captured
Plitvice (where the first casualties of the war fell in 1991's
Plitvice Lakes incident
The Plitvice Lakes incident ( hr, Krvavi Uskrs na Plitvicama or ''Plitvički krvavi Uskrs'', both translating as "Plitvice Bloody Easter") was an armed clash at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence. It was fought between Croatian po ...
) and reached the border, linking up with the elements of the
Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine, OSBiH, Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине, ОСБИХ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herz ...
(ABiH) - one of the aims of the operation was the deblocking of the
Bihać
Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina ...
pocket where ABiH's Fifth Corps was besieged. Upon reaching the border, the brigade - with ABiH forces - advanced north.
After Storm, Croatian and Bosnian forces were on a general counteroffensive and the 1st Brigade was one of the units send to Bosnia for the purpose, where it successfully participated in liberating western Bosnia, occupied by rebel
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
forces since 1992. The combination of successful counteroffensive and NATO bombardment (
Operation Deliberate Force
Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in concert with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the ...
) forced rebel Serbs to agree to peace negotiations.
During the entire war, 364 members of the brigade were killed on duty, 1711 were wounded, and 8 are still
missing in action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
.
Post-war
Following the
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски мир ...
, Croatia scaled down its military forces to reflect the end of the war. Despite this, and due to the brigades elite status and treatment, it retained the status of one of the most effective elements of the Croatian armed forces.
It was the first Croatian brigade to be reorganized and adopted to NATO standards.
Engagement in Afghanistan
Elements of the brigade were sent to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
following the
2001 war in Afghanistan as part of NATO's efforts there. The Croatian units in Afghanistan included mainly
Military Police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
units (elements of 1st and 2nd Guard Brigades) as part of the mission to train Afghanistan's new armed forces. Some parts of the Croatian military mission there may be dispatched to more dangerous areas of the country.
''Nacional'' news article: Croatian Military will go to the Taliban region
2007 Armed forces reform
During the reform of Croatian Armed Forces in 2007–2008, the brigade was reorganized to battalion level and incorporated in new Motorized Guard Brigade as 1st Mechanized Battalion Tigers.
References
;Citations
;Sources
Vojska.net entry on 1st Guard Brigade
{{in lang, hr
* ''Tigers'
promotional video
Military units and formations established in 1990
Mechanised brigades
Brigades of Croatia
Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence
1990 establishments in Croatia