4th Guards Brigade (Croatia)
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4th Guards Brigade ( Croatian: Četvrta gardijska brigada) was a brigade of the Croatian Army which took part in the
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
. It was one of the best-known units in the war, and it was active until a 2008 reorganization when it was merged into the Motorized Guard Brigade.


Name

Nicknamed The Spiders ( hr, Pauci), the brigade was named after one of its commanders, general
Andrija Matijaš Pauk Andrija ( sr-cyr, Андрија, ) is the South Slavic variant of Greek ''Andreas'' (Andrew). It may refer to: *Andrija Stipanović, basketballer *Andrija Žižić (born 1980), Croatian basketballer *Andrija Kaluđerović (born 1987), Serbian foot ...
, who was killed by in fighting with Army of Republika Srpska forces in Mrkonjić Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 October 1995, during
Operation Southern Move Operation Southern Move ( hr, Operacija Južni potez) was the final Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive of the Bosnian War. It took place in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–11 October 1995. Its goal was to help ...
, the final action of the Croatian army in the war. The 4th Guards Brigade took his nickname for the unit soon after. ''Pauk'' means "spider" in Croatian.


Formation

The 4th Guards Brigade was founded on 28 April 1991 as part of the formation of a Croatian National Guard at the beginning of the
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
. At first, the brigade was composed of young policemen (130 of them) who had left the police to receive military training for special purposes in Kumrovec under the command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A majority of them were from Livno, Tomislavgrad,
Kupres Kupres ( sr-cyrl, Купрес) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 5,057 inhabitants, while the town of Kupres has ...
, Široki Brijeg, Trebižat, Ljubuški, Stolac and Bugojno in Western
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
and Central
Bosnia 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 He ...
. They arrived in Split on 30 May 1991 and settled in Hotel Split. From Hotel Split they moved their headquarters to Hotel Resnik in Resnik. There, the brigade's first battalion was founded, under the command of Gento Međugorac, whose deputy was Ivan Zelić. Within the battalion, a first
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
(named the "2nd Company") was formed from the first members of the brigade, under the command of Ilko Pavlović, while the commander of the second company (named the "1st Company") was Joško Macan. Soon afterwards, they received volunteers from Kaštela and other places, which enabled the formation of a 3rd company commanded by Mario Udiljak. Part of the brigade went to
Imotski Imotski (; it, Imoschi; lat, Emotha, later ''Imota'') is a small town on the northern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Imotski, like the surrounding inland D ...
to form and reinforce the 3rd battalion, part of them went to Vrlika and Sinj to form and reinforce the 2nd battalion, and the other part went to Metković and Dubrovnik to form a unit in those two towns. The 2nd Company was, formally, without soldiers, who got an order to disband Yugoslav People's Army, form a unit and go to their first task in Kruševo near Zadar.


War

The 4th Guards Brigade was one of the units which was not trained, so they gained their skills during the war. The slogan of the brigade was "'' In hoc signo vinces''". Their first task was to liberate Kruševo near Zadar which they did in July 1991. Soon, the brigade was involved in defence and liberation actions from Zadar, Sinj, Drniš, Šibenik,
Vodice Vodice may refer to: Croatia *Vodice, Croatia, a town and municipality in Šibenik-Knin County *Vodice, Cres, a village on Cres Czech Republic *Vodice (Tábor District), a municipality and village in the South Bohemian Region *Vodice, a village an ...
until the liberation of Dubrovnik and region in Operations Tiger and Vlaštica. After the liberation of Dubrovnik and actions in the Southern Front, the unit was involved in Operation Maslenica which they finished successfully. After Operation Maslenica, the brigade was involved in Operation Winter '94, Operation Leap 1,
Operation Leap 2 Operation Winter '94 ( sh, Operacija Zima '94, Операција Зима '94) was a joint military offensive of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) fought in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina between 29 November ...
, Operation Summer '95, Operation Storm and
Operation Maestral Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
. The 4th Guards Brigade was famous because it never lost a battle or position, so Croatian Defence Minister,
Gojko Šušak Gojko Šušak (; 16 March 1945 – 3 May 1998) was a Croatian politician who held the post of Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998 under President Franjo Tuđman. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Minister of Emigration and in 1991 the Deputy Ministe ...
stated that "the Croatian Army has 7 guard brigades in its composition, which are well-trained and well-armed, but only one brigade is a shock brigade, and that is 4th Guards Brigade." During the Croatian War of Independence, 193 members of this brigade were killed, and their pictures were added to the memorial site in the ''Sveti križ'' chapel of the Dračevac barracks in Split. During its existence, the brigade changed number of commanders: general Ivo Jelić, general Mirko Šundov and general
Damir Krstičević Damir Krstičević (; born 1 July 1969) is a Croatian general and politician who served as the Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister from 2016 until his resignation in May 2020, which he tendered due to the deaths of two Croatian military ...
were war commanders, while peacetime commanders were brigadier
Ante Kotromanović Ante Kotromanović (; born 8 May 1968) is Croatian politician and army officer who served as Defense Minister of Croatia from December 2011 until January 2016. Biography Kotromanović was born in Potravlje near Hrvace. He graduated from Command ...
(present-day defence minister), brigadier Zvonko Asanović, brigadier Blaž Beretin, and brigadier Mladen Fuzul.


Reorganization

Following a reorganization of the Croatian Army, the 4th Brigade was downsized to battalion size becoming the 2nd Motorized Battalion "Spiders" of the Motorized Guard Brigade. The Motorized Guard Brigade is composed of several other units, the 1st Guards Brigade (the "Tigers"), the 2nd Guards Brigade (the "Thunders") and the 9th Guards Brigade (the "Wolves"), which have similarly been downsized. This was done to preserve unit histories and lineages rather than just disbanding the excess brigades.


Veterans' association

War veterans of the 4th Guards Brigade founded the Association of Veterans' of the 4th Guards Brigade on 21 June 2007. They mark various anniversaries, organize veterans' meetings, professional teams for health relief, social and other difficulties for veterans. The President of the association is Božo Zadro.


March song


See also

* Croatian National Guard


References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1991 Brigades of Croatia Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence Military units and formations disestablished in 2008 1991 establishments in Croatia