Montenegro

Commemoration ceremony in honour of World War II air rescue mission

4 September 2009, Donja Brezna

Donja Brezna, a village located thirty kilometers from Niksic, was a place of ceremony to commemorate the air mission that took place there 65 years ago. It was one of the most daring - and least known – rescue missions of World War II. On 22 August 1944, 30 Allied aircrafts landed and took off to Italy with 1,000 wounded people aboard. The commemoration was jointly organized by the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro and Embassy of Great Britain to Montenegro, and guests were the British World War 2 veteran Flight Lieutenant Mr. Philip Lawson, high officials of the Government of Montenegro, diplomatic corps, UN representatives, other distinguished visitors and the local population. On that occasion, a memorial dedicated to the participants of the rescue mission, a gift by the Embassy, was unveiled.

Hundreds of injured Partisans were evacuated by the British, photo taken from the BBC website

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“In only two days, Partisans, assisted by local population, made an airstrip 800 meters long and 60 meters wide,” said H. E. Mr. Boro Vucinic Minister of Defense of Montenegro. He also said that the event had been a bit unjustifiable neglected in the records, while being an example proving that even the most demanding plans and goals could be achieved through great endeavour and joint effort. „Through observation of such events, we strengthen the awareness on the necessity of cooperation with partners. In particular, small countries need to take advantage of such cooperation’s benefits, which had proved right during the event we are marking today. Therefore, we are grateful to the Embassy and our friends from Great Britain” said Minister Vucinic.
 

H.E. Mr. Kevin Lyne, the Ambassador of Great Britain to Montenegro, stated that the rescue operation was known as “Dakota landings” and that there were simply no words to describe the courage of local population and aircraft crews that made it happen. “In the modern world, when many former foes are cooperating for the better future, we have to remember Brezna and courage and suffering of all participants in the event. The past should help us to build a better future, trying to avoid making mistakes and aiming at universal values. This should help us in reconciling our differences,” Ambassador Lyne emphasized.

The Dakota landings involved around 30 planes, airlifting out almost 1,000 wounded Partisans over one day. It succeeded by a matter of minutes, with the Germans taking Brezna soon afterwards.

Mr. Alexander Avanessov, UN Resident Coordinator for Montenegro, said that commemorating of an event which draws on and expands on humanity during the World War II coincided with the fact that 2009 was proclaimed by the United Nation as the Year of Reconciliation. Over the period of nearly 70 years after the war many of the activities of the United Nations system in general and the international community as a whole have been supporting peacekeeping, disarmament, the promotion and protection of human rights and dignity, democracy, and sustainable development, Mr. Avanessov reminded.

 ”The UN Country Team in Montenegro, through their programmes, with other donors, and with EC Delegation to Montenegro, is now putting efforts in achieving development goals, focusing on the business opportunities for local communities across the northern region of Montenegro, which is ideally positioned to demonstrate how unique natural endowments that the city features can be utilized for the sustainable economic growth through tourism, agriculture, forestry,” said Mr. Avanessov and he added that the UN agencies would continue to carry out initiatives to help in strengthening underdeveloped regions of Montenegro, thus contributing to the national efforts, along with the Government of Montenegro and municipalities.

The programme of the ceremony included the participation of the Army Orchestra, acrobatic air squad, and Cultural Artistic Association “Piva”, while the local school hosted the exhibition of photos taken during “Dakota landings” operations.

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