UNPROFOR, 3 PPCLI Battle Group, CROATIA 1992-93, Sean A. Hackett

UNPROFOR – 3 PPCLI BG – CROATIA 1992-93

B Company responds to terrorist shooting

The soldiers of B Company were reacquainted with the grim reality of life in formerly war-torn Croatia early Saturday evening. 10 October, 1992. At 16:45 hours the Dragovic Road came alive with activity as C/S2 became swamped with incident reports, initially from WC 10,and closely followed by WC 9.

The first incident reportedly involved the armed hijacking of a vehicle west of WC 10, but it soon became apparent that a second incident, a terrorist shooting, had also occurred one km east of WC 9. Reserve elements from 5 Platoon Headquarters and 3 Section rushed to the scene, arriving seconds after a carrier from 1 section (Sgt Weathers had been responding to the reported hijacking, but when “wounded” came across the means he “just kept going” for the remaining seven kms!).

The soldiers arrived upon a grisly sight. Two Croatian men from another vehicle were struggling to assist what appeared to be four badly wounded men in the ambushed car. First on the scene, Sgt Weathers began to hurriedly assess the injured, and dragged the driver clear of the vehicle. A quick glance revealed he had been killed. Cpl Parker dragged the passenger across the front seat and clear of the wreckage.

4 Platoon’s reserve section under Sgt McKenzie arrived within minutes to assist with the emergency first aid. The most severely injured man, who had been in the front, was suffering from multiple bullet wounds to the legs and stomach. As Sgt McKenzie prepared the IV solution, Cpl’s Parker and Meszaros calmly and quickly applied field dressings to the wounds.

Meanwhile, a third man was helped from the back. He had been shot three times in the leg and his arm was fractured and badly damaged by another wound. As Pte Tucker applied bandages to the severely wounded man, Sgt Weathers pulled the last man from the car to attend to his leg wound.

Stretchers hurried in every direction and within about 20 minutes the initial flurry of activity had subsided. Quickly, the casualties were handed over to the care of the Company Medical Assistant, MCpl Pellerin, and the ambulance sped from the scene. More carriers arrived at the site of the shooting, but with the assailants long gone, only the fragmentary details of the incident were left to piece together. It quickly became dark and with the darkness came torrential rain. Observation Posts were activated, and extra security on checkpoints imposed.

The combat first aid skills, applied within the initial minutes, were accredited with saving the lives of two men, and very nearly contributed to a third. Despite the mention of only a handful of names, all the soldiers of B Company who responded to the incident deserve credit for the calm professionalism displayed that night. First aid skills, repetitively learned during training, clearly demonstrated their value to soldiers who just “reacted” and got on with the job.

With acknowledged extremist activity on both sides intent on blocking resettlement to the southern Woods Company area, this may not be the last of such incidents. Saturday night’s shooting on the Dragovic road served as a reminder that B Company personnel will need to continually remain on their toes in what, initially, appeared to be “a quiet sector.”

This article was taken from the OP HARMONY Chronicle – 3 PPCLI BN GROUP – Croatia 1992-93

Article was written by LCol (Ret’d) Sean A.Hackett

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