Operation Grapple (Yugoslavia)

Operation Grapple was the codeword used to cover UK defence operations in support of the UN peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia (authorised by UNSCR 776 of September 1992);[1] including the deployment of British forces in Bosnia and Croatia from October 1992 until December 1995 as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR).

Some of the British unit locations were very isolated with only small amounts of security such as the Royal Engineers base at Camp Redoubt[5] on a particularly hilly part of the main supply route to Vitez[6] and 7 Armoured Workshop Company Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje providing Second Line Equipment Support (ES), the British contribution to UNPROFOR also included the deployment of Royal Navy ships sailing in the Adriatic Sea and RAF aircraft supporting troop movements in Croatia.

Two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships were also berthed in Split’s north port to provide accommodation and logistics support.

In early October 1992, 7 Armoured Worshop Company Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers arrived to set up the in-theatre Second Line Equipment Support (ES) and to provide the Recovery and Repair along the L of C. The (BRITBAT) the Cheshire Regiment which deployed with its Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in late October 1992 through the Croatian port of Split, eventually headquartering itself in a school on the outskirts of the town of Vitez in the Lašva Valley.

[10][11] The first BRITBAT's time in Bosnia was not without controversy and its commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Bob Stewart very publicly lost his composure and impartiality after his unit discovered the remains of Muslim civilians who had been massacred by Croats in the village of Ahmići in April 1993.