Bilecka Light Brigade operated armoured buggy nicknamed 'Panther' used by the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian Wars. In my opinion those conflicts saw some of the most inventive and impressive technicals with some regularity, and they, unlike many of the Middle Eastern technicals, did keep some records of them so tracking individual vehicles like I try to do with ‘With History’ posts is easier.
The UAZ converted into a buggy itself has been substantially up-armoured and armed with a KPV 14.5MM heavy machinegun with a gunshield on a rear tray for the gunner. It has, like many vehicles used by the unit, heavily sloped armour to try and improve the practical levels of protection without using additional armoured plates wherever possible.
It was operated by the Light Brigade, or The Serbian Garda Panteri which was formed by Ljubiša “Mauser” Savić, who earned this nickname due to his love of the C96 Mauser pistol.
Prior to the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, “Mauser” was a social worker. More importantly, he was the founder of the local SDS (Serb Democratic Party) branch. Although he was not a schooled officer, Mauser proved himself to be a highly efficient field commander.
Another prominent commander in the guard was Branko “Panther” Pantelić. What set him apart is that unlike “Mauser” who was a Bosnian Serb, “Panther” was a mainland Serb who volunteered to join the guard.
As a major in the Yugoslav people’s Army, ”Panther” fought in Croatia and the infamous Battle of Vukovar. This made him the commander with the most combat experience in the unit.
During combat operations on Mount Majevica, ”Panther” was killed in action. But such was the respect that his soldiers had for him that they fought for two days to reclaim their commander’s body. In his honor, the unit was officially renamed the Panther guard.
Captain Michel Ostojic was the man responsible for creating many of the units technicals, including vehicles built around up-armoured trucks, buggies, UAZ’s and other vehicles, with a small number of actual armoured vehicles like BRDM-2’s and T-55’s also operated by the unit and modified. All the technicals operated by the unit used black, grey and brown camouflage patterns, aiding in identifying that unit amongst others who also operated technicals during the conflict.
Ha nem megy az angol,
deepl fordítót ajánlom.
