2nd Guards Brigade (Croatia)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The 2nd Guards Brigade (Croatian: 2. gardijska brigada), nicknamed The Thunders (Gromovi), was one of Croatia’s original National Guard brigades formed in May 1991. It was a highly regarded mechanized infantry unit of the Croatian Ground Army during the War of Independence (1991–1995).

Formed on 15 May 1991 at the Trstenik barracks near Dugo Selo, it drew members from interior ministry special units. The 2nd battalion formed in Sisak on 3 June 1991 and the 3rd battalion in Duga Resa on 21 June 1991. Its first action came in early June 1991 at the Mladost Bridge in Zagreb, where it stopped the JNA’s advance during the Battle of the Barracks. The brigade fought across Central Croatia and Banovina, took part in the Siege of Dubrovnik (Operation Tiger) and operations in northern Bosnia, and also participated in Maslenica, Flash, Storm and Una.

During the war, 203 brigade members were killed in action, and 5 were missing as of 2013. On 1 May 1996 the 81st Guards Battalion from Virovitica joined the brigade, and in 2003 the 2nd Guards Brigade merged with the 7th “Pumas” Brigade. In the late 2000s, Croatia reorganized its armed forces, and the brigade was disbanded on 31 March 2008, reduced to a battalion stationed in Petrinja and incorporated into the Motorized Guard Brigade. The remaining battalion still uses the brigade’s nickname and emblem.