It illustrates in fine detail the appalling quagmire – diplomatic and military – in which the UN and its peacekeeping force UNPROFOR found itself throughout the conflict. The resignation of the Dutch government over its troops’ conduct in Srebrenica reinforces the continued relevance of those dark days.
The CDs start with an Independent Television News report on the intense fighting in Gorazde between the heavily armed Bosnian Serb army and lightly armed Muslims, and the deployment of UN peacekeepers to the enclave under threat of NATO bombing. A single company of the Duke of Wellington’s regiment entered the town in the early hours of April 25 1994. The recordings take us through their deployment, encampment, patrolling and positioning, firefights and ultimate withdrawal the following summer.