HRV - Improvizované obrněné vozidlo na podvozku GJ-800B

Croatian improvised armored vehicle on the chassis GJ-800B
Hrvatsko improvizirano oklopno vozilo na šasiji GJ-800B
Brief history
In the summer of 1991, shortly after the outbreak of the Serbian uprising, the Charvatan police and National Guard units experienced a shortage of armoured vehicles. Several centres were established on the territory of Charvatska, where improvised armoured vehicles (IOVs) began to be produced. One of these centres was Sisak (45°29'21.00 "N 16°22'29.00 "E).


Sisak police officer Tomislav Dedić, among others, proposed to convert suitable vehicles into improvised transporters. Thanks to the helpfulness of Antun Bobetko, the director of the Adriatic Oil Pipeline (JANAF), who also served as the commander of the Sisak 57th Independent Battalion of the Zbora narodne garde (ZNG).
From July to October, Dedić's task force procured 14 vehicles suitable for conversion. Half of the future IOVs had tracked chassis. These were 9 artillery tracked GJ-800B (ГЈ-800) artillery tractors, which were retired from the arsenal of the Yugoslav Army in the early 1980s. The JANAF has collected nine "géjés". Most of them were in a neglected condition. Two vehicles could not be repaired and so served as a source of spare parts. The recovered machines were fitted with armoured bodywork.


Thanks to their newly acquired appearance, they acquired a nickname: GJ stoves (sparetima) - after our kitchen stove (štednjacima).


"Stoves" proved to be a valuable fighting tool. On level ground, they reached speeds of 60 km/h and could carry 10 people. The hull armour consisted of two layers of steel plate and provided effective protection against infantry weapons. Eleven gun ports with sliding gun covers were located around the perimeter of the vehicle. This arrangement allowed control and fire coverage of the entire area around the vehicle. The first two transports had a hole on the roof for heavy weapons, but from the third machine onwards a turret with a machine gun was placed on the roof of the vehicle. The sides of the chassis were protected by reinforced rubber hinges.


The first of the pair of IOVs was handed over to the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd ZNG Brigade in Komarevo (45°24'43.00 "N 16°26'13.00 "E) on 13 August 1991, and the second was assigned to the 57th Independent Battalion in JANAF. As training in the operation of the basic weapon - the M60 gun - took ten days, it was withdrawn from JANAF. Two more IOVs were assigned: to the 2nd/2nd Br and 57th Bn. The third pair of IOVs was completed in late August and subsequently assigned to the newly formed 120th ZNG Brigade.


This brigade did not use its transports for a long time, on 08.09.1991 they were transferred from the defensive positions near Sisak to Charvatska Dubica (45°11'18.00 "N 16°48'23.00 "E). The following day, they accompanied a ZNG and police column in an attempt to infiltrate Charvatska Kostajnica (45°13'22.00 "N 16°32'57.00 "E). The column was attacked in the locality of Šuplji kámen (?). One of the IOVs took two hits that did not cause serious damage, but found itself in an untenable position. The crew and landing party abandoned the vehicle. They destroyed the vehicle with explosives before retreating. Another IOV attempted to extricate the damaged vehicle, but the engine seized and this IOV was also abandoned under fire. The Kharvat forces withdrew. The insurgents repaired the abandoned IOV and used it for some time in the training centre of the Serbian paramilitary unit "Kaline" in the village of Komogovina (45°18'18.00 "N 16°22'42.00 "E).


The 2nd Brigade and the 57th Independent Battalion of the ZNG operated on the Sisak line of defence from the direction of Petrinja (45°26'30.00 "N 16°16'44.00 "E) and Komarevo. They were also used in major combat operations. IOVs were deployed on 22.08.1991 in attempts to break into Sunya (45°19'60.00 "N 16°38'28.00'00 "E), escorting convoys into besieged Topusko (45°17'49.00 "N 15°57'25.00 "E) and blockading JNA-occupied sites in the Sisak area. During the blockade of the JNA barracks Šašna Greda, an IOV armed with a cannon was damaged during an air attack on 16.09.1991, yet it managed to eliminate the firing position of the PVO. The following day it was repaired and returned to Komarevo.


The last mobile GJ-800B was not armoured in JANAF, but was handed over to the ZNG Petrinja working group, which equipped it with armour in the workshops in the village of Dužica. Work on it was completed on 04.10.1991. After the loss of Petrinja, the IOV was supposed to be deployed in the battle for the "Nebojanska pocket" (45°29'07.00 "N 16°12'01.00 "E) but this did not happen due to the impossibility of using the pontoon bridge on the Kupa River. For this reason it was handed over to the forces blocking the JNA barracks in the village of Žažina (45°30'49.00 "N 16°15'00.00 "E).


At the request of the Southern Battlefield Commander, General Bobetko, one IOV was sent to Herzegovina in April 1992 to assist the Charvat Defence Council. In the autumn of 1993, near Konjic (43°39'16.00 "N 17°57'38.00 "E), it was captured by the Army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


The IOV GJ-800B remained on the Sisak defence lines until the arrival of UN troops in the spring of 1992. They were then withdrawn to military bases in Charvatsk.


In the summer of 1992, two vehicles were armoured for the HVO Livno paramilitary units at the Brodotrogir shipyard, following the model of the Sisak IOVs.


Source.
Boris Gregurić: Špareti iz Siska, in Hrvatski vojnik, 2020, issue 610, ISSN 1330-500X, pages 62 to 65
Surviving Croatian Improvised Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Last update: 9 March 2021, page 16, ISBN dumb
Vojislav Jereb, David Spencer: Improvised Armoured Vehicles 1991-1995, ed. Adamić, Rieka 2002, ISBN 953-219-025-2, pages 27 to 29
https://hrvatski-vojnik.hr/spareti-iz-siska/
makettinfo.hu

HRV - Improvizované obrněné vozidlo na podvozku GJ-800B  - Přestavba traktorů GJ-800B na improvisované obrněné transportéry probíhala v sisackých dílnách Jadranského naftovodu (JANAF). Kupole z tlustostěnného plechu se stáčely u sousedů v dílnách Petrochemického průmyslu Kutina (INA).

Přestavba traktorů GJ-800B na improvisované obrněné transportéry probíhala v sisackých dílnách Jadranského naftovodu (JANAF). Kupole z tlustostěnného plechu se stáčely u sousedů v dílnách Petrochemického průmyslu Kutina (INA).
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Pátý obrněný traktor GJ-800B před předáním 120. brigádě charvatské armády.
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Jediný dochovaný kus obrněného GJ-800B s evidenčním číslem ZNG P-14 je vystaven v sisackém městském muzeu Domovinskog rata v areálu bývalých kasáren Barutama.
HRV - Improvizované obrněné vozidlo na podvozku GJ-800B  -


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