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One of these glorious moments occurred on August 1, 1991, when, by order of the ZNG 4A Brigade Command, the brigade’s first independent platoon was formed at Camp Resnik Kashtra.
Exactly 33 years later, the platoon will reunite with its commander, Nediljko Grubišić, and the families of fallen comrades in Resnik on July 27 and recall the memories of the war that are still fresh in their minds.
It is on this occasion, as an introduction to the anniversary, that we give a brief overview of the platoon (later the 2nd Independent Company), which played a significant role in liberating the southern regions of Herzegovina from the invaders.
Ivan Damjanović, a representative of the 1st Independent Platoon, said that during that difficult period, the Resnik Base Camp was like a training center for receiving and selecting young people from the JNA for military service. For Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is interesting that more than half of those who arrived at the camp were young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina; Busovače, Rama, Tomislavgrad, Livno, Uskopje, Żepča, Silokibrieg, Gruda, Pozuje, Ljubsk, Stolac, Neum…
As already mentioned, the first commander of the Resnik Volunteer Army, Colonel Nedeljko Grubišić, is still alive today, and about 350 young men pass through the camp, where the selection, preparation and replenishment of scarce weapons are carried out.
After the weapons arrived, the platoon, consisting of 37 selected members, was immediately sent to the battlefield in Dubrovnik by order of General Ivo Jelic. During the 30-day stay in Srđ, the platoon unfortunately lost its first member, Mladenka Ćavara from Busovaca.
After Srđ, there was a short break, and then the first reorganization of the platoon took place on a new battlefield in the Ston – Zaton Doli area, where 37 soldiers of the platoon joined 9 soldiers of the 3rd Independent Company of Andrija Matijaš to create the second independent company.
After completing their mission at the Stone battlefield, the company returned to Split, from where they were sent to Klec; a small tourist resort between Opzen and Neum. Klec served as the base of the troops, from where they would leave from time to time, with civilian markings, to the village of Grumina in the hinterland of Neum. There, in the area of the Vjetrenik heights, they took up the first position and had a wider range of activities.
The first action of the 2nd Independent Company was the capture of Chavashka Gradina in early April 1992. This important high ground, located in Popovo Polje, was a position from which to monitor enemy movements and communications with Lyubinje in today’s Republika Srpska.
After capturing Storovy and handing it over to local forces, the enemy immediately began to advance towards Storovy, and throughout April 1992, major fighting took place to protect the entire Croatia and southern Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The second independent company, at the beginning of the enemy’s infiltration, stopped from its position at the request of General Luca Danca on April 11, the day after the tragic fall of Kupres, and dealt a heavy blow to the defense of Stolov. At Goliburdi, at the entrance to the city of Stolac from the direction of Neum, there was a column of tanks, transport vehicles and infantry of the invaders. This bought time for the domestic forces to reorganize and arrange their positions, which meant a huge advantage in the face of the extremely fast enemy advance.
After retreating from Stolov, the company immediately returned to Chavashka Gradina, but in the meantime lost the place due to enemy sabotage attacks.
This time, they also succeeded in their mission, but the next day they lost one of their best fighters, Anta Yelkovich, to an angry enemy missile.
Our interlocutor noted in his memoirs that by order of the commander of the Southern Front, General Janko Bobetko, the 2nd Independent Company had been attached to the HVO Neum, Stolac, Ravno as a special purpose unit.
The fact that this unit received orders directly from General Bobetko speaks volumes about its importance and efficiency. Let us remind you that the majority of its fighters were Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the liberation of the southern front, the 2nd Independent Company continued its activities through other units and units of the 4th Guards Brigade.
After the operation to liberate the southern front, the 2nd Independent Company continued to act through other units and the 4th Great Barrier Reef Unit, and it is worth mentioning that this small unit produced truly great fighters. We will mention only three of them and let history leave an unforgettable impression on the rest.
Andrija Matija, nicknamed “Pauk”, after which the entire brigade was named, was the commander of the 2nd Independent Company, and soon after became the chief of staff of the 4th Infantry Division of the Great Barrier Reef, and for a time the leader of the brigade. Colonel Nediliko Grubišić, after selecting the best from the hundreds of people who arrived in Resnik in the summer of 1991, continued his journey to the 4th Great Barrier Reef Division, and in addition to serving as deputy commander of the 2nd Independent Company, he also served as commander of one of the battalions of the 116th Brigade, and as chief of operations of the 4th Infantry Division of the British Army. Even today, Colonel Grubišić warmly welcomes every soldier and his family to come and talk and recall war memories.
Of course, the last name that cannot be mentioned is Josip Markić, a legendary member of the platoon company from Bugo, who became the deputy commander of the 4th Reconnaissance Company of the Great Barrier Reef after the reorganization of the brigade. Markić was killed on August 3, 1995, two days before Operation Storm, and for his extraordinary exploits in the Homeland War, today the Croatian Army military training ground in Knin is named after him.
Daily News
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