Page 73 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

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followed. In its aftermath Cheshire Regiment soldiers collected and buried the remains
of 121 men, women and children, who
had been murdered in the most tragic of circumstances.
previous year, Dobrila’s service and life
was commemorated on the anniversary of the Ahmići massacre (16 April 2022) and memorialised with a commemorative tablet on the village mosque, again attended by a group of over 40 people from the Cheshire Battle Group, in her memory.
members of B Company to lay a wreath at the Memorial to LCpl Wayne Edwards who was killed during fighting in the town on 13 January 1993.
It was a difficult series of events for people to attend, but it has gone a long
way to helping to reconcile memories of 30 years past. It was also a time for rekindling friendships, swapping stories over a beer and sitting together as old comrades as though it was just yesterday. As I said, every member of the 1 CHESHIRE group has their memories. Some are good, some are bad.
If you are reading this and some of the words resonate in a good, or a difficult way, reach out, pick the phone up, email, or head over to one of the many meetings or events that aren’t all ‘marching and standards’ and catch up and talk with people that will ‘get it.’ The Association can also help put you
or someone you know back in touch with old comrades; email the CRA Secretary on tudor.ellis@cheshireregiment.org.
On 14-18th April of this year, members
of the 1st Battalion who served in Bosnia attended the 30-year
anniversary service in
commemoration of the
events of 1993, with
a smaller trip having
taken place at the same
time last year to the
same annual service.
In attendance were
Officers and Men of
the CHESHIRE Battle
Group, along with
members of the Regiment who were part
of that specific action in 1993. Over 2000 people from the local population attended and it was a particularly moving time. Words were said at a seated service, followed by flowers, wreaths and prayers at a dedicated memorial at the Mosque, the broken minaret of which came to symbolise the events of that difficult time.
As well as attendance at the service,
the trip was further planned in memory of Dobrila Kalaba. Dobrila was one of the first British Army interpreters to be recruited by the Regiment in October 1992. Before the war, she was an English teacher working
in a local school. Dobrila was the only interpreter who lost her life serving on operations with the UK’s contribution to the multi-national United Nations Protection Force during the Bosnian war. Following
a series of threats to her life, in July 1993, Dobrila was targeted and killed on the British Army base in Vitez. Her death
came as a retaliation for her role in the aftermath of the Ahmići massacre. Dobrila interpreted for Lieutenant Colonel Bob Stewart, the Commanding Officer, over that tragic time. She became the voice
and the face of condemnation of these
war crimes nationally and internationally. This media profile cost Dobrila her life. The
After the service, everyone attended
a lunch in a local restaurant, attended by the British Ambassador and more specifically the parents of the interpreters that had worked in Vitez over that time. The group hosted a dinner in Sarajevo on the evening
before the service where all Interpreters from the Battle Group were awarded their UN UNPROFOR medals courtesy of Col Bob Stewart DSO. On Sunday, a poignant trip was made to Gorni Vakuf, attended by
Over 2000 people from the local population attended and it was a particularly moving time
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