Operation Grapple (Yugoslavia)

Last updated
UNPROFOR deployments in early 1993. Map I - National Battalions in UN Forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - Early 1993.gif
UNPROFOR deployments in early 1993.
Soldiers of the Cheshire Regiment removing bodies from a building in the village Ahmici in April 1993. Ahmici massacre.jpg
Soldiers of the Cheshire Regiment removing bodies from a building in the village Ahmići in April 1993.
Sea Harriers from HMS Invincible based in the Adriatic Sea during Operation Grapple, supporting UNPROFOR in Bosnia. On 20 September 1993 HMS Invincible hosted unsuccessful Warring Parties Peace Talks, hosted by Lord Owen and Mr Stoltenborg. In April 1994 a Sea Harrier was shot down on a mission near Gorazde; the pilot ejected safely and was recovered HMS Invincible 1980 - 2000 HU92567.jpg
Sea Harriers from HMS Invincible based in the Adriatic Sea during Operation Grapple, supporting UNPROFOR in Bosnia. On 20 September 1993 HMS Invincible hosted unsuccessful Warring Parties Peace Talks, hosted by Lord Owen and Mr Stoltenborg. In April 1994 a Sea Harrier was shot down on a mission near Gorazde; the pilot ejected safely and was recovered
UNPROFOR deployments in October 1995. UNPROFOR 1995.jpg
UNPROFOR deployments in October 1995.

Operation Grapple was the codeword used to cover UK defence operations in support of the UN peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia (authorised by UNSCR 776 of September 1992); [1] including the deployment of British forces in Bosnia and Croatia from October 1992 until December 1995 as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). [2] [3] UNPROFOR would eventually hand over the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia to NATO's Implementation Force (IFOR) in winter 1995. The British participation in the IFOR was called Operation Resolute; the whole NATO mission was called Operation Joint Endeavour. The IFOR mission would last approximately a year, before it transitioned to the follow-on Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR).

Contents

The United Kingdom originally deployed a compact army headquarters staff (commanded by a brigadier) - based in a former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) barracks at Divulje near Split. [4] The force was supervised by the Army's Land Command at Wilton in Wiltshire. The main manoeuvre forces were an infantry battle group (based in Bosnia); supported by an armoured reconnaissance squadron, a combat engineer squadron and a logistics support unit. A detachment of Fleet Air Arm Sea King troop carrying helicopters was also based in Divulje barracks (found from 845 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons). Some of the British unit locations were very isolated with only small amounts of security such as the Royal Engineers base at Camp Redoubt [5] on a particularly hilly part of the main supply route to Vitez [6] and 7 Armoured Workshop Company Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje providing Second Line Equipment Support (ES), the British contribution to UNPROFOR also included the deployment of Royal Navy ships sailing in the Adriatic Sea and RAF aircraft supporting troop movements in Croatia. Two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships were also berthed in Split’s north port to provide accommodation and logistics support. This force would be increased in size over the course of the UN peacekeeping mandate in the Former Yugoslavia up until August 1995 when the British force was steadily drawn down. [7] [8]

The UK agreed to join the UN force to protect humanitarian convoys in Bosnia, as part of UNPROFOR 2. In early October 1992, 7 Armoured Worshop Company Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers arrived to set up the in-theatre Second Line Equipment Support (ES) and to provide the Recovery and Repair along the L of C. The (BRITBAT) the Cheshire Regiment which deployed with its Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in late October 1992 through the Croatian port of Split, eventually headquartering itself in a school on the outskirts of the town of Vitez in the Lašva Valley. The battalion would have operating bases in Gornji Vakuf and Tuzla; and there was also a British logistics base at Tomislavgrad. [9] The British contingent was expanded with the addition of another battalion group in March 1994. [10] [11]

The first BRITBAT's time in Bosnia was not without controversy and its commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Bob Stewart very publicly lost his composure and impartiality after his unit discovered the remains of Muslim civilians who had been massacred by Croats in the village of Ahmići in April 1993. [12]

British units took casualties from the outset and Lance Corporal Wayne Edwards, a Warrior tracked armoured vehicle driver, was shot and killed by a sniper, whilst driving his vehicle in Gornji Vakuf on 13 January 1993. Others would also sadly lose their lives; such as Private Shaun Taylor mortally wounded on 26 June 1994 near Goražde. [13] British armed forces would serve nearly 15 years in Bosnia and would see more than 50 comrades killed and many more wounded. [14] Many of the casualties were as a result of Bosnia and Croatia's appalling road and weather conditions. [15]

BRITBAT and its supporting sub-units would win praise by becoming the guardians of the only functioning main supply route into the core of Bosnia and ultimately Sarajevo and Tuzla, [16] the maintenance of Routes Triangle and Diamond would remain a critical combat engineering task.

Key British officers involved in Operation Grapple

The following officers filled key roles in the UK's UNPROFOR mission: [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina</span> Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH armed forces were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak and Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VFBiH) and the Bosnian Serbs' Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Implementation Force</span> NATO-led force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995–96)

The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosnian War</span> 1992–1995 armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started on 6 April 1992, following a number of earlier violent incidents. The war ended on 14 December 1995 when the Dayton accords were signed. The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, and the Republika Srpska, the latter two entities being proto-states led and supplied by Croatia and Serbia, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Protection Force</span> Military unit

The United Nations Protection Force was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. The force was formed in February 1992 and its mandate ended in March 1995, with the peacekeeping mission restructuring into three other forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Deliberate Force</span> 1995 campaign by NATO and UN forces against Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War

Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by NATO, in concert with the UNPROFOR ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Army of Republika Srpska, which had threatened and attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War with the Srebrenica genocide and Markale massacres, precipitating the intervention. The shelling of the Sarajevo marketplace on 28 August 1995 by the VRS is considered to be the immediate instigating factor behind NATO's decision to launch the operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Agreement</span> Treaty ending the Croat–Bosniak War and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Washington Agreement was a ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, signed on 18 March 1994 in Washington, D.C. It was signed by Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdžić, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić and President of Herzeg-Bosnia Krešimir Zubak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje</span> Town and municipality in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia</span> United Nations peacekeeping mission in Croatia

The United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia, commonly abbreviated UNCRO, was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Croatia. It was established under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter and approved by the UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 981 on 31 March 1995. UNCRO inherited personnel and infrastructure from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). Its command was located in Zagreb; the peacekeeping troops were deployed in four sectors named North, South, East, and West. Twenty different countries contributed troops to the mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Bøllebank</span> 1994 Bosnian War confrontation

The Operation Bøllebank is the name given to the military confrontation between Bosnian Serb military forces and Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish combat units composing the United Nations Protection Force's (UNPROFOR) Nordic Battalion, outside of the city of Tuzla on 29 April 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Neretva '93</span>

Operation Neretva '93 was an Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) operation against the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in September 1993 on a 200 km long front from Gornji Vakuf to south of Mostar, one of its largest of the year, during the Croat–Bosniak War. The ARBiH made limited gains in the area of northern Herzegovina and around Mostar, but did not achieve a breakthrough to the southern Neretva, where the HVO retained control. The operation was halted in October. During the operation, dozens of Croat civilians were killed in the Grabovica and Uzdol massacres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing</span>

The Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing, also known as the Lašva Valley case, refers to numerous war crimes committed during the Bosnian war by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership on Bosniak or Bosnian Muslim civilians in the Lašva Valley region of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The campaign, planned from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November 1991. The Lašva Valley's Bosniaks were subjected to persecution on political, and religious grounds, deliberately discriminated against in the context of a widespread attack on the region's civilian population and suffered mass murder, rape and wartime sexual violence, imprisonment in camps, as well as the destruction of religious and cultural sites and private property. This was often followed by anti-Bosniak propaganda, particularly in the municipalities of Vitez, Busovača, Novi Travnik and Kiseljak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croat–Bosniak War</span> 1992–1994 armed conflict within the Bosnian War

The Croat–Bosniak War was a conflict between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994. It is often referred to as a "war within a war" because it was part of the larger Bosnian War. In the beginning, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) fought together in an alliance against the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). By the end of 1992, however, tensions between Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats increased. The first armed incidents between them occurred in October 1992 in central Bosnia. The military alliance continued until early 1993, when it mostly fell apart and the two former allies engaged in open conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Corps (Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina)</span> Military unit

The 7th Corps was an army corps of the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina active during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent Serbian and later Croatian military aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1031</span> United Nations resolution adopted in 1995

United Nations Security Council resolution 1031, adopted unanimously on 15 December 1995, after recalling all previous resolutions on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, discussed the transfer of authority from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR).

Lance Corporal Wayne John Edwards was a British soldier who served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was the first British serviceman to be killed in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the time of his death he was attached to the Cheshire Regiment as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during Operation Grapple 1. The following day Malcolm Rifkind, the defence secretary, announced that a Royal Navy task force would be sent to the Adriatic and that any future attacks on British troops could lead to the immediate deployment of artillery and strike aircraft to counter them. This was the first carrier task force to leave British shores on a military operation since the Falklands War 11 years earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vrbanja Bridge</span> 1995 Bosnian War confrontation

The Battle of Vrbanja Bridge was an armed confrontation which took place on 27 May 1995, between United Nations (UN) peacekeepers from the French Army and elements of the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The fighting occurred at the Vrbanja Bridge crossing of the Miljacka river in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. The VRS seized the French-manned United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) observation posts on both ends of the bridge, taking hostage 12 French peacekeepers. Ten were taken away, and two were kept at the bridge as human shields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kupres (1994)</span> Battle of the Bosnian War

The Battle of Kupres was a battle of the Bosnian War, fought between the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on one side and the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) on the other from 20 October to 3 November 1994. It marks the first tangible evidence of the Bosniak–Croat alliance set out in the Washington Agreement of March 1994, brokered by the United States to end the Croat–Bosniak War fought between the ARBiH and the HVO in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ARBiH and the HVO were not coordinated at first, rather they launched separate operations aimed at capture of Kupres.

The Vance plan was a peace plan negotiated by the former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. At that time, Vance was the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; he was assisted by United States diplomat Herbert Okun during the negotiations. The plan was designed to implement a ceasefire, demilitarize parts of Croatia that were under the control of Croatian Serbs and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), allow the return of refugees, and create favourable conditions for negotiations on a permanent political settlement of the conflict resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The Battle of Kupres was a battle of the Bosnian War, fought between the Bosnian Croat Territorial Defence Force supported by the Croatian Army troops on one side and the Yugoslav People's Army, augmented by the Bosnian Serb TO on the other at the Kupres Plateau, on 3–11 April 1992. During the fighting on 8 April, the Bosnian Croat TO was reorganised as the Croatian Defence Council. The objective of the battle was to control the strategic Kupres Plateau, a major supply route.

References

  1. ↑ "Yugoslavia (1994)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Written-Answers. 23 March 1994. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Bosnian War: The Road To Vitez". Forces Network. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Michael; Baker, Catherine (2012). Interpreting the Peace: Peace Operations, Conflict and Language in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49. ISBN   9781137029836.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Croats cool as British convoy rolls into Split" . The Independent. 31 October 1992. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Major in visit to Bosnia troops" . The Independent. 23 December 1992. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "THE BOSNIAN CIVIL WAR: BRITISH FORCES WITH THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTION FORCE IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA, 1992 - 1995". www.iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Marshall, Roger D. "British Armed Forces In UN Protection Force" . Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "British Forces Bosnia (1994)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 10 March 1994. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Duncan, Alistair. "Operating Bosnia" . Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Dodd, Tom (12 October 1995). "War and Peacekeeping in the Former Yugoslavia". House of Commons Research Paper 95/100.
  11. ↑ "British Forces Bosnia (1994)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 10 March 1994. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  12. ↑ Hodge, Carole (2006). Britain and the Balkans: 1991 Until the Present. Routledge. pp. 65–67. ISBN   9781134425570 . Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "Sniper kills Briton in Bosnia" . The Independent. 28 June 1994. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  14. ↑ "UK forces who served in Bosnia and Herzegovina commemorated | Ministry of Defence". www.wired-gov.net. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Operations in the Balkans: British Fatalities". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ Shrader, Charles R. (2003). The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN   9781585442614.
  17. ↑ Shrader, Charles R. (2003). The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994. Texas A&M University Press. p. 54. ISBN   9781585442614 . Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  18. ↑ "Major General Peter Williams Military Speakers". www.militaryspeakers.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Rieff, David (2013). Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West. Simon and Schuster. p. 222. ISBN   9781476737881 . Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "London Gazette" (PDF). Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  21. ↑ "London Gazette" (PDF). Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  22. ↑ Operation Deliberate Force, The UN and NATO Campaign in Bosnia 1995, Tim Ripley, CDISS 1999, ISBN   0 9536650 0 3

44°09′30″N17°47′18″E / 44.15833°N 17.78833°E / 44.15833; 17.78833

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.