storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

Before the start of the operation, in the night of 3 August the HV 57 th Brigade had
some problems at its jump-off positions as it turned them over to the 101 st Brigade. 346 Th is
is why the entire brigade reserve and the reserve of the 1 st battalion were kept as defence
of the villages of Komarevo and Vučjak. Aft er artillery preparation parts of the brigade
attacked at Novo Selo - Moštanica in order to cut the Petrinja - Kostajnica road. Some
units of the brigade reached the village of Stražbenica and Bijela Cesta, where they were
halted by deep mine fi elds. On the order of the Corps District commander the brigade
sent help to TG-2 at Bijela Cesta - Slatina. Th e brigade commander, Major Stjepan Grgac,
and the deputy commander of the 2 nd battalion were killed in the action, and this had a
detrimental eff ect on the morale and combat readiness of the unit. 347 Th e action of the
101st Brigade did not succeed because it failed to take over completely the line from
the 57 th Brigade and because of the strong Serbian artillery attack. During the advance
from Blinjski Put to the Sokolovac trigonometrical point fi ve men were killed and seven
wounded by Serbian artillery fi re. Th e casualties and the strong artillery fi re had an
adverse eff ect on the morale and combat readiness of the brigade, which had advanced
200 to 500 metres. 348
In the Sunja theatre the HV 17 th Home Guard Regiment attacked in the morning the
positions of the SVK 26 th Infantry Brigade in the villages of Vedro Polje, Novoselci, Staza
and Strmen, and along the Strmen - Slovinci road. It was allocated one company of the
151 st Brigade for the assault towards Strmen. Th e regiment failed to break through the
Serbian defence line and returned to its jump-off position early in the evening. 349 It failure
upset the action of the HV 151 st Brigade because it could not be committed. One battalion
of the brigade attempted to attack the village of Šaš, but it was stopped by Serbian forces at
the Sunja canal and withdrew to its jump-off position. 350 Th e main body of the HV 103 rd
Brigade attacked the village of Petrinjce intending to push on to Drljača - Četvrtkovec. It
reached the Sunja - Sisak railway and withdrew because of strong Serbian fi re. 351
On the fi rst day of the operation the Zagreb Corps District scored no success. Th e main
body of the SVK Banija Corps on the main assault axis was not crushed, Petrinja was not
cut off , and the Serbian forces along the auxiliary lines of attack Sunja - Mračaj - Kostajnica
and Pokupsko - Glina were not eliminated either. 352 Th e overall progress towards the
346 MORH, GSHV: APO 2123, cl. 85-01, reg. no. 2123-02/2/2-95-733/2 of 6 September 1995; Action analysis.
347 MORH, GSHV: APO 3099, cl. 119-01/95-01, reg. no. 3099-01/95-092/1 of 13 August 1995; Analysis.
MORH, GSHV: GS HV, cl. 80-01/95-02/08, reg. 512-06-05/01-95-391 of 5 August 1995; Report on the situation
in the Zagreb Corps District.
348 MORH, GSHV: APO 2123, cl. 8/95-01, reg. no. 2123-02/2-95-733/2 of 6 September 1995; Action analysis.
General Stipetić noted that the HV 101st Brigade was not originally planned for action along that line, and
that an explanation is called for of the reasons why it was deployed there. HMDCDR: Comments of General
Petar Stipetić on the text about the Zagreb Corps District in the military-police operation Storm.
349 MORH, GSHV: APO 8314, cl. 81/95-01, reg. no. 8314-01/01-2-95-184 of 5 September 1995; Action analysis.
350 MORH, GSHV: APO 3008, cl. 818-01/95-01, reg. no. 3008-01/95-559 of 4 August 1995; Action comments.
351 MORH, GSHV: APO 2125, cl. 8/95-01/95, reg. no. 2125-02-95-66 of 1 September 1995; Action analysis.
352 MORH, GSHV: ZZP Zagreb, cl. 81/95-01/3, reg. no. 1075-12/95-213 of 22 August 1995; Analysis.
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