Been at work today, it’s been dark & wet & I was a bit at a loss for a photo.I thought this might be of interest.
This is a picture which Phil has in the office. It is of the English military camp at Gornji Vakuf deep in the heart of Bosnia Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. The painting was commissioned and painted whilst Phil was located at this camp serving with the United Nations on Op UNPROFOR in 1995.
This was 1 of 2 British UN camps at GV (Gornij Vakuf); this was GVMF (Gornij Vakuf metal Factory) where we were based, the other was GVTF (Gornij Vakuf Tomato Factory) on the other side of the town. The town was 100% Muslim and was frequently mortared by Serbian and Croatian forces; the cemetery increased significantly in size during my time there. GV was almost half way between Split (One of the UN HQs) on the coast in Croatia and Kiseljak, in the mountains overlooking the besieged city of Sarajevo. (Our detachment in Kiseljak was the same rooms that Torvill & Dean stayed in during the 1980 Winter Olympics)
It wasn’t an enjoyable 6 months and many of the memories I try not to recall.
@rjb71 The Harriers were artistic licence; no NATO warplanes were around when this was painted. They took part in the Summer of ‘95 long after this was completed in Theatre (the planes added no doubt when he was back in UK)
@phil_sandford thanks Phil that's an interesting fact. I've always had a soft spot for the Harrier as they were based at Wittering and Cottesmore near me until Mr Cameron had his way!
The detail in this print is amazing, it looks like a “painterly” photograph. Something I remember from that time was the taking of 400 “Blue Helmets” by the Serbs and using them as human shields.
I remember how heart-breaking the news was of this war and its aftermath. @phil_sandford that is certainly understandable! I am sure the people were grateful for the peace-keeping and humanitarian efforts you did there.
I can imagine you wouldn't want to recall much of this time, Phil. Striking and difficult. Hubby's regiment were up by Mt Igman, trying to break the siege of Sarajevo. He had recently left the army and just started a new job, so he didn't go with them and naturally had mixed feelings about that. History in the picture here with a few licence additions.
Beautiful shot but not a pleasing scene when it has to do with war. Covid seems to have put things right - We don't hear news of nations at war. When this pandemic is over I do hope peace between all nations will continue to prevail.
It wasn’t an enjoyable 6 months and many of the memories I try not to recall.