SAVEZNIČKE OKLOPNE POSTROJBE NA JUGOISTOKU EUROPE U DRUGOME SVJETSKOM RATU = THE ALLIED ARMOURED UNITS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE DURING THE WORLD WAR TWO

Poslije uspjeha knjige o osovinskom oklopu koja je u prestižnoj nakladi Hrvatske povijesti izdavača Despot Infinitusa izišla u javnost 2015. godine, autori su na temelju vlastitoga višego­dišnjeg istraživanja, ali i šire osnove radova na­vedenih kolega pristupili izradi druge monogra­fije koja govori o uporabi savezničkih oklopnih jedinica na istom području: bivše Jugoslavije ili Jugoistoka Europe. Bojište Jugoistoka Europe omeđili smo prostorom bivše socijalističke Ju­goslavije jer su i zaraćene strane cijeli taj prostor tijekom rata u znatnoj mjeri promatrale kao je­dinstven. Aneksije, okupacije pojedinih dijelova teritorija Kraljevine Jugoslavije ili stvaranje no­vih država, nisu remetili logiku upotrebe vojne tehnike. Po tipu bojišta, strateškoj važnosti i na­činu vojnih sučeljavanja, jugoslavensko je boji­šte bilo sekundarno, ali ga tipologija naoružanja i način upotrebe čine neobično zanimljivim. Osnovni motiv bilo je zanimanje za vojnu teh­niku i sam Drugi svjetski rat, ali i više od toga: izazov prikupljanja cijele lepeze različitih poda­taka s cijeloga bivšega jugoslavenskog prostora u jedinstvenu priču. U toj priči koju nudimo či­tatelju zastupljena je cjelina bojišta i savezničke oklopne tehnike na njemu s obiljem detalja. U poznate povijesne epizode ugradili smo rezul­tate naših istraživanja, u težnji da ponudimo čit­ljivu i dopadljivu cjelinu s mnogo novootvore­nih pravaca za posebna istraživanja. Uložili smo trud da sve savezničke vojske opišemo na ujed­načen način i bez ideoloških komentara. Ova monografija kronološki se uklapa u prethodnu monografiju o osovinskim oklopnim jedinicama u istom razdoblju, koju su napisali isti autori, i obje knjige čine jednu cjelinu. Fotografije u ovoj knjizi prikupljane su dugo i na raznim stranama bivšega jugoslavenskog pro­stora; često uz znatne istraživačke ili financijske napore. U ovoj knjizi objavljen fotografski ma­terijal samo je dio iz opsežne građe nejednake tehničke kvalitete koju smo prikupili. Svjesni vri­jednosti fotografija kao povijesnog dokumenta, pokušali smo napraviti reprezentativan izbor, ali i pokazati novitete, što je u biti i želja čitatelja. ------------- The success of the previous book on the Axis ar­mour in the Southeastern Europe, in the respected series, entitlled the Croatian History, published by Zagreb-based Despot Infinitus publishing house in 2015, was a milestone for this endeavour. This time, it was the Allied armour that was used in the same theatre. The term South-Eastern Europe encircles the area once known as Yugoslavia. By the Allies and do­mestic resistance movements, it was also perceived as one theatre, occupied by the different Axis armies. This theatre was, with no doubt, secondary compa­ring to the others in Europe, and waging its strategic importance and devotion of the main players to de­ploy first class units and equipment. But, the num­ber of the armies and the variety of types used make it utterly interesting for all those who are keen ent­husiasts on the World War Two armoured warfare. The authors’ main motive was to present the results of their continuous research on this subject to the wi­der audience, which lasted for several decades. This interest produced the coherent picture of the events and details that are in the book. The authors presen­ted the armoured forces of the Allied forces deployed in this part of the Europe, as well as the resistance during the Second World War. In the already known general framework of the events, we added the less known details of the armoured forces, their usage, with a possibility for a wider research in different di­rections. The stories of the Royal Yugoslav, Partisan, Soviet, Bulgarian, British and New Zealand armo­ured forces are lined in the chronological order up, as they appeared in the timeline of the War. There are no ideological comments of any kind, and the book concentrates on the armoured vehicles, their crews and the way how they waged the war with it. This book, combined with the previous one, on the Axis armour, makes a complete history of the armoured warfare in the Southeastern Europe between 1941 and 1945. The photos gathered in this volume are collected during the long lasting process of the authors’ inte­rest all over the former Yugoslavian region; in many cases, with the hardships of different kind, such as the distances or the financial costs. This selection of around 350 photos is the authors’ choice of the larger gathered material. We were guided by the intention to present the recent discoveries, coupled with the standard photos that were known for years, in order to produce the selection of the photo materials that would attract the audience from the region, as well as the others interested in the armour in the Southe­astern Europe.