The town of Zadar shared the destiny of other towns and regions of Croatia in the latter half of 1991, suffering attacks from all directions by the JNA which openly supported the rebelled Serbs and Greater Serbia plans, against the poorly armed Croatian defenders, who did their utmost to deter or at least slow the aggressor’s attacks, and civilians were killed in the streets, in schools, houses and even hospitals, which were targets of unselective attacks.  

The town came under artillery fire as early as on 16 September, and the villages in the hinterland were occupied, the population killed and massacred, and the aggressor tighted the grip around the town on the ground and at sea, and put the town under blockade during September and October. The defenders weren’t many and were poorly armed, and the residents of Zadar were exposed to continuous alert and threat, power outage and short of basic necessities.

Exposed to attacks from the ground and the sea and to MiG raids, on 6 October Zadar saw one of the hardest days of its long history, and one of the days of heroism and bravery of its defenders. The air defence crews targeted enemy aircraft and ships with Bofors guns (made back in 1941) and halted the advance of the tanks at Dračevac.

The aggressor withdrew and JNA left the town as the attack was halted and truce came into effect.

In remembrance of the bravery and sacrifice of the defenders 6 October has been marked as Zadar Defence Day.

The marking ceremony held on 6 October was attended by the Defence Minister Mario Banožić as Envoy of the Prime Minister, by the Defence and National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic Dragan Lozančić and by the Commander of the Croatian Air Force Training Centre Colonel Goran Huljev as Envoy of the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces.

Minister Banožić paid respects to the fallen Croatian defenders at the Central Cross in the Cemetery of Zadar, at the Memorial monument to the 3^rd Battalion of the 4th Guards Brigade, at the local cemetery at Ploča and at the memorial spots to the fallen defenders at Dračevac). The Minister stated that Croatia recalled with piety all defenders – the members of the 4^th Guards Brigade, of the 112^nd Brigade of the Croatian National Guard and of the police.

“We owe gratitude to our heroes who sacrificed their lives for our freedom today, and to the citizens who stayed in the town and made efforts to normalise the life in such circumstances, and to the families of the fallen defenders“, said the Minister.

The Mayor of Zadar Branko Dukić stressed that 29 years on Zadar and Croatia remembered with gratitude all defenders of the town and sacrificed their lives for the peace and freedom of the future generations. “The Zadar Defence Day is one of the most glorious and important moments in the millennia-old history of the town.

The Prefect of the Zadar County Božidar Longin reminded and expressed gratitude to the Croatian defenders of Zadar and Croatia for the freedom.

Dan sjećanja na herojstvo, žrtvu i hrabrost branitelja