MILITARY AND WAR HISTORY MUSEUM

      Gardijske brigade su bile komponente HVO koje bile opremljene teškim naoružanjem. Hrvatsko vijeće obrane imalo je oko 50 tenkova, 400 artiljerijskih oruđa te oko 200 oklopnih transportera. Postojalo je pet gardijskih brigada: 1. Gardijska brigada „Bruno Bušić“, Druga gardijska brigada, 3. Gardijska brigada „Sokolovi“, 4. gardijska brigada „Sinovi Posavine“ te Peta gardijska brigada.

      The Guards brigades were the sections of the H.V.O which handled the militia's heavy weapons. The H.V.O had around 50 tanks, 400 artillery pieces, and 200 armored troop carriers. There were five guard brigades: 1. Guard Brigade "Bruno Bušić", 2. Guard Brigade, 3. Guard Brigade "Hawks", 4. Guard Brigade "Sons of Posavina" and 5. Guard Brigade.

1st GUARD BRIGADE  1. GARDIJSKA BRIGADA "ANTE BRUNO BUŠIĆ"

      Povijest ove postrojbe seže već na početak ožujka 1992., u Posuškom Gradcu gdje je, po zapovjedi generala Ante Zorislava Rose, utemeljena prva profesionalna hrvatska postrojba u Hrvatskoj zajednici Herceg-Bosni. Novoutemeljena postrojba nosila je naziv Bojna “Knez Branimir” sa četiri satnije, uskoro bojna prerasta u Pukovniju “Ante Bruno Bušić”. Pukovnijom postaju 13. 06 1992. Imala je četiri bojne, posušku “Vitez Damir Martić”, širokobriješku “Ivica Jelčić Čarls”, livanjsku “Ferdo Sučić” i uskopaljsku “Zvonko Krajina”. Jačanjem borbi u srednjoj Bosni donesena je odluka o osnutku bojne u Žepču, koja je nosila naziv “Andrija Tadić”, također po poginulom pripadniku postrojbe. Tijekom rata poginulo je 106 njezinih pripadnika, a njih 450 je ranjeno. Kroz postrojbu je prošlo oko 5000 pripadnika, iz 46 općina BiH i Hrvatske, te europskih i američkih država.

      The history of this unit dates back to the beginning of March 1992, in Posuški Gradac, where, by order of General Ante Zorislav Rose, the first professional Croatian unit in the Croatian community of Herceg-Bosna was founded. The newly established unit was called the "Knez Branimir" Battalion with four companies, and soon the battalion grew into the "Ante Bruno Bušić" Regiment. On June 13, 1992, it had four battalions, the Posuska "Vitez Damir Martić", the Široki Brijeg "Ivica Jelčić Charles", the Livno "Ferdo Sučić" and the Uskoplje "Zvonko Krajina". With the intensification of fighting in central Bosnia, a decision was made to establish a battalion in Žepče, which was called "Andrija Tadić", also after the killed member of the unit. During the war, 106 of its members were killed and 450 were wounded. About 5,000 members passed through the unit, from 46 municipalities in BiH and Croatia, as well as European and American countries.

2nd GUARD MECHANIZED BRIGADE   2. GARDIJSKA MEHANIZIRANA BRIGADA

      2. gardijska brigada je bila gardijska mehanizirana brigada HVO-a. Brigada je utemeljena 13.12. 1993. godine odlukom Glavnog stožera HVO-a, a kroz nju je prošlo 5.000 gardista. U sastav 2. gardijske brigade ušle su: Kažnjenička bojna, Lakojurišna bojna, Hrvatska legija časti, 60. Gardijsko-desantna bojna Ludvig Pavlović i Postrojba za posebne namjene Gavran 2. Sjedište brigade je bilo u vojarni Stanislav Baja Kraljević u Rodoču, južnom prigradskom naselju Mostara. Živote su izgubila 163 pripadnika ove brigade. Nakon rata zadaće brigade su bile da unutar HVO-a, koji je zajedno sa Armijom BiH činio Vojsku Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine, štiti bošnjačko-hrvatski entitet u BiH od rata, poplava, požara i sl. Brigada je 1998. godine bila na obuci u Turskoj, u sklopu NATO-a.

      2001. godine, 2. gardijska brigada zajedno sa ostalim postrojbama hrvatske komponente Vojske FBiH daje potporu Hrvatskoj samoupravi. Hrvatski narodni sabor je pozvao časnike i vojnike hrvatske komponente Vojske Federacije BiH na samoraspuštanje. Većina časnika i vojnika, samovoljno, ovaj je poziv ispoštovala, te su vojarne HVO-a ostale prazne. Jedine posljedice samoraspuštanja, na kraju, su bile nekoliko izgubljenih plaća za vojnike i časnike HVO-a, kao i gubitak položaja u vojnoj hirerahiji za one osobe koje su se najgorljivije založile da se raspuštanje provede.

      The 2nd Guards Brigade was the HVO Mechanized Guards Brigade. The brigade was founded on 13.12. In 1993, by a decision of the HVO General Staff, 5,000 guardsmen passed through it. The 2nd Guards Brigade included: the Convict Battalion, the Light Assault Battalion, the Croatian Legion of Honor, the 60th Guards Landing Battalion Ludvig Pavlović and the Special Purpose Unit Gavran 2. The brigade's headquarters were in the Stanislav Baja Kraljević barracks in Rodoč, a southern suburb Mostar. 163 members of this brigade lost their lives. After the war, the tasks of the brigade were to protect the Bosniak-Croat entity in BiH from war, floods, fires, etc. within the HVO, which together with the Army of BiH formed the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were on training in Turkey.

      In 2001, the 2nd Guards Brigade, together with other units of the Croatian component of the FBiH Army, provided support to the Croatian self-government. The Croatian National Assembly called on officers and soldiers of the Croatian component of the Army of the Federation of BiH to self-dissolve. Most of the officers and soldiers voluntarily complied with this invitation, leaving the HVO barracks empty. The only consequences of the self-dissolution, in the end, were several lost salaries for HVO soldiers and officers, as well as the loss of positions in the military hierarchy for those persons who were most ardently committed to the dissolution being carried out.

3rd GUARD BRIGADE "HAWKS"  3. GARDIJSKA BRIGADA "JASTREBOVI"

4th GUARD BRIGADE   4. GARDIJSKA BRIGADA "SINOVI POSAVINE"

      4. gardijska motorizirana brigada "Sinovi Posavine" utemeljena je na crti Oraško - Šamačke bojišnice. Popunjavana je pripadnicima ratnih brigada Bosanske Posavine od 101.Bosansko-brodske, 102. Odžačke brigade, 103.Derventske brigade, 104. Domaljevačko Šamačke brigade, 105. Modričke brigade, 106. Oraške brigade, 107. Gradačačke brigade, 108. Brčanske brigade i 115. Tuzlanske brigade Hrvatskog vijeća obrane.

      The 4th Guards Motorized Brigade "Sons of Posavina" was founded on the line Oraško - Šamačka front. It was filled by members of the war brigades of Bosanska Posavina from the 101st Bosansko-Brodska, 102nd Odzacka Brigade, 103rd Derventa Brigade, 104th Domaljevac-Samacka Brigade, 105th Modrička Brigade, 106th Oraška Brigade, 107th Gradačac Brigade, 108th Brčanska Brigade and 115th Tuzla Brigade of the Croatian Defense Council.

5th GUARD BRIGADE   5. GARDIJSKA BRIGADA