The Homeland War Museum

Zagreb received little damage in the war, but the town of Karlovac near the campsite was at the front line. The Serbian advance was halted in the village of Turanje just outside Karlovac and then the tide turned in Croatia’s favour. So what better place to put a museum?

There is a considerable display of hardware, some of it showing how desperate and innovative the Croats were, for example this Sherman tank. The tank is World War Two vintage so had languished for 50 years before being refurbished and brought into the service. It must have acquitted itself well as it’s all in one piece.

Another vehicle, an armoured troop carrier, looked homemade. It turned out from the information leaflet that it actually was, by a workshop in our campsite village.

From home made to very high-tech. This is a Croatian Air Force Mig-21 fighter.  The info brochure didn’t explain how the Croatians managed to get hold of such a powerful and expensive aeroplane, but it was presumably seized from a Yugoslav Air Force base in Croatia. It’s supported on a steel girder at the rear although in the photo it looks as if I’ve snapped it flying around the museum.

And now the mystery pic. The leaflet describes it as an amphibious ferry. Is it even the right way up? It’s very large, as you can see from comparison to Jane, and is hinged horizontally at about the level of Jane’s head, like a giant sandwich toaster. Perhaps it’s the Catering Corp’s secret weapon.

There were many more exhibits, and as impressive as the museum was, it related to war paraphernalia rather than people. However, there were still houses in Turanj showing evidence of war damage. This house in particular, where the bullet holes in the main wall must have been left as a memento, made us reflect on the dreadful reality of war for the inhabitants.