It was 20 years ago this month that the war in the Balkans began. I did three tours in the former Yugoslavia between October of 1992 and October 1994. The first two were spent in various parts of Croatia with 3 and 2 battalion PPCLI. My final tour was in Bosnia with 1 PPCLI.
They said this was the most photographed house in the area. Croat graffiti, this was near Lipik and Daruvar Croatia.
Roadside checks were pretty routine. Nobody in the area was allowed to have weapons. We confiscated any we found.
This was typical of a platoon house. We lived either in the building or in camp type trailers. In the house was a TV and VCR and we were given a stack of VHS movies to watch in our free time. I believe this one came with a cook as well. In a section house we would do our own cooking.
Here are some of the weapons we captured on various patrols and raids. SKS rifles and AK-47's. There's a 7.62mm machine gun there too but I forget what type.
We were deployed south of Daruvar to a town called Okucani. It was an area populated by Serbs within the borders of Croatia. Our platoon would go down there for a 2 week stretch and man some observation posts and do a few patrols. This little girl started to hang around with us at the platoon house. When she first came we gave her candy and so on but eventually she was having every meal with us. Don't recall ever seeing her parents but she did leave at night so I guess she had somewhere to go. On the right you can see a barrel with a pipe coming out. It is an immersion heater that burns gasoline. It was our only source of hot water for a lot of my time in Yugoslavia!
Another visitor in Okucani. This old guy is wearing his old army uniform from when he served. That's me on the left walking beside the APC. The red and white tape on the right was supposed to warn you to stay out of that area as there were likely anti-personnel mines in there.
This is 12Platoon HQ in the Medak Pocket in 1993. That's me with the rifle pointed in the air and the cool 'stache. If any of these guys see this picture, drop me a line in the comments below! When we returned to Canada I never saw them again.
I don't have many pistures of Medak as I dropped my camera and the film got exposed so a big part of it was lost. This is the result of ethnic cleansing, a destroyed house. Some of these places still had gardens planted in their yards.
Truly riveting Dave.
ReplyDeleteI hope that one day you get to meet at least one of the guys you served with.
Love the pictures. Very neat that you were able to get shots of it.
I wonder where that little girls parents were? I wonder if the church was ever rebuilt?
Thanks for sharing you story and pictures.
Those pictures are truly images of war.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we forget how fortunate we are to be in this part of the world we are in.
I sure hope that one day you do actually meet up your fellow war buddies you served with. Do you remember any of there names?
Thanks Dave, for sharing your story and pictures.
Hi Dave,Okucani is my hometown.I was there with my family during the war until I got married 1993.It was bad,,I wish i can go take a walk trough the town but it would be too expensive because I live in Canada now with my husband and kids.Did u find your friends from that picture?Good night from Alberta!
ReplyDeleteHi Angelina;
ReplyDeleteNo I have not seen those guys in years. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. We were just visitors, I cannot imagine what families had to go through in the years up to and after the war. I hope things are good for you in Canada.
Dave Respect out to you and your Bro's.As Vet who served with 2rcr I find it hard to believe what was done to you guy's and the lack of respect that you all so deserve.So little is know about what you guys did even by serving soldiers and Vets like me.I have a face book page entitled War Story's and I can only wish to have guy's like yourself to share so we can let others know the shame our goverment deserves and to make aware what you all went through.Thank You for sharing your pictures and comment's because it is only this way the truth will come out and our goverment to come will think twice before risking the lifes of our brothers and keeping it a secret again.No Fear,Only Respect for you and your Brother's.
ReplyDeleteI have no ill feelings toward the Cdn government. We volunteer to be in our nation's military and have to accept the risks that that service entails. It's a crap shoot I guess. You could have been in in the 70's and 80's and had very little excitement or you could be in in the last 10 years and get more than your fair share. My time in the military was enjoyable for the most part and since I got out I have come to realize it was the only time in my life I was doing something I believed was for the greater good. On civvy street you are working to make your boss money. End of story.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave,
ReplyDeleteI just came across this webpage, it was interesting to see the photos, thanks. My wife and I just returned from a vacation, including a week in Croatia. We made a special point of taking a detour and driving through Madek, specifically because I was aware of the Canadian involvement there in '93 (thank you Carole Off). Thought you might be interested to know that while in the ensuing 20 years the landscape has recovered (pretty rolling hills and lots of greenery) the town itself remains essentially deserted. All the houses I saw that are still standing are shell-holed and bullet-riddled. Only a couple looked to be inhabited, and even those still showed some damage. It's going to take more than a generation, I suppose, for that country to heal. If you're interested, I could send a few pics. Thanks again.
Brent;
ReplyDeleteThe Balkan countries are very beautiful. I have thought a few times of going back to Croatia if only to visit Split and the regions along the Adriatic coastline. I would love to see a few pics! You can email me at damiddleton@live.com. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Great site brother, I was in Charlie Coy 7Pl in the Pocket. I stumbled on this while doing research for a return trip for the 2oth Anniversary of Medak. Bunch of us heading back over for the first time in 20 years. That pic in Okucani with dude playing the accordion...guy next to him looks like Marc Sallesse (Ex BCR, VP) he's a SAR Tech in Ontario now.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Mark
You're right that's his name! I'd forgotten. Thanks for dropping by. Your name is familiar too. You meet so many people in the military and paths cross and recross. Never really thought about going back, everything seems so long ago. But after getting some good responses I'm thinking about some type of return trip in the future. 20 years? Holy crap! It was another lifetime. Hope your trip works out.
ReplyDeleteLMAO, You wouldn't believe how I accidentally came across that photo on the internet. I was looking for something completely unrelated and up pops this photo. I though I knew those ugly bastards!
ReplyDeleteI hope all is well brother!
Cheers
Todd
Glad you found the site! I guess the Internet is sometimes good for stuff. Thanks for dropping me a line. We'll definitely have to stay in touch. Op Harmony Redux.....Engage!
ReplyDeleteHi Dave,
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. I especialy remember the one with "Croatian grafiti"
I served with you guys for one week in winter/spring 1993. I was originaly stationed at Unprofor HQ in Zagreb and server with Swedish Guard platoon in center of Zagreb. But for one week we had job rotation. So some of you guys were with us and some of us were with you.
Well, I belive I was in Lipic - Pakrac area, don't remember exactly. I remember platoon house with kitshen and a cook. In one of the checpoints there was a dog who lost a leg from a mine. I remember when I was at that checkpoint there was a wedding pasing by. The ”wedding general” gave us some slivo to drink. I belive he had got a lot allready :-)
It was some kind of regimental day during my stay. We playd a kind of rugby but with smaller ball, and it was a really muddy field. No rules :-) Great fun. I made a lot of goals for my team :-). After we drove to a place where the party was.
I allso remember we walked in to "town" to drink a beer. From camp it was 10 minutes walk and over a small river. Well, after a while a drunk croat, or serb, said I was a spy (I had my swedish uniform) and showed us a grenade. Well, MP came and took care of that man and we had to go back to camp. No more beer.
Yea, it was a great time in life. I will remember you guys forever. Great people and soldiers.
I should have some pictures from that time, someware. I hope I can find them and send you to see if you recognize some people :-)
A year after that I was serving as a light machine gunner in Bosnia. (8:th mech inf coy) I was stationed just outside Vares. Maybe 40-50 km north of Sarajevo. It was a completly different game, compared to serve as a guard soldier in middle of Zagreb :-)
Our company will go back to bosnia in summer 2014, to look at our former AO over there It will then be 20 years sinse we served there.
Sorry for my english spelling, and grammar :-)
Cheers
Tony, from Sweden
Hi again Dave,
ReplyDeleteWere you stationed in Visiko in Bosnia? I was there some times. I was in your PX chop and buy a thermos cup, green, and a UN badge, for barret. Stil have them and use cup sometimes :-)
Cheeres
Tony
Hi Tony;
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great comments. Yes I was based out of Visoko on my third tour in 1994. It was Regimental Day indeed. The PPCLI has a game called Broom-i-loo. Kind of like broom ball on a muddy field instead of on the ice. March 17th is Regimental Day. I remember some Swedes serving with us for a bit. I have a Swedish badge amongst my treasures. If you were in Lipik / Pakrac we may very well have crossed paths at some point as the dates are the same. If you want to share some pics feel free to email me at damiddleton@live.com. We are planning some type of reunion this year fro Medak Pocket, but just in Canada. We will see how that pans out.
Take care Comrade!