"Kažnjenička Bojna" - Croatian War Song

The Convict Battalion was founded on June 15, 1991 by four Croatian emigrants: Mladen Naletilić Tuta, Ludvig Pavlović, Ivan Andabak and Ivan Tolić. The main headquarters of the Convict Battalion was located in Široki Brijeg, the commander was Naletilić, and the unit initially had about a hundred men. In 1991, the members of the Convict Battalion fought in Croatia against the JNA and Serbian paramilitary forces as a volunteer unit, and in early 1992 they were transferred to BiH and joined the HVO.
The unit was under the direct command of the Main Staff of the HVO.

In June 1992, the Convicts Battalion participated in Operation June Dawn, where it stood out during the liberation of Mostar, which lasted from June 11 to 26, 1992, when the Prisoners' Battalion, supported by artillery and other HVO units, pushed back the Army of the RS from Mostar towards Nevesinje. Other parts of the Neretva valley were also liberated in the operation.

At the turn of 1992 and 1993, during the Bosniak-Croat conflict, the Prisoners' Battalion also participated in the battles against the RBiH Army.

After the outbreak of the Bosniak-Croat conflict in the territory of Herzegovina, HVO forces, including the Convicts Battalion, under the command of Mladen Naletilić, attacked the villages of Soviče and Doljane on April 17, 1993, and forcibly resettled the Muslim population. From May 9, 1993, members of the Convict Battalion, together with other forces of the HVO, took part in clashes with the troops of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of Mostar and in the months-long siege of the eastern part of the city with intense shelling and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid and food.

Towards the end of December 1993, the Convict Battalion became part of the 2nd Guards Brigade of the HVO.

In January 1994, it was engaged in fighting against the RBiH Army on the Uskoplje-Rama battlefield.