---
|
Edmund Skinner
Ted Skinner was thirty-seven years old. He travelled to Bosnia via Split in October 1992 determined to help the Muslims, sickened by the ethnic cleansing being carried out against them. He joined the Army of Bosnia-Hercegovina (ABiH) and made his way to Travnik in the mountains of central Bosnia where he was commissioned and promoted Captain (satnik). He had a background in the British Army and was well known to the British UNPROFOR soldiers based in Travnik and at Vitez, the Cheshire Regiment. Their commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Bob Stewart knew him and respected Ted more than any other International Volunteer he came across in the war, writing about Ted and his friend Derek Arnold (see separate entry) in his book 'Broken Lives.' Ted was involved in many actions and helped to guide the Britsh Armyﾒs first food convoy to starving Bosnians in the city of Tuzla. As well as training Bosnian soldiers and leading reconnaissance patrols he acted as an unofficial scout for the Cheshires, guiding them through minefields and artillery bombardments. There was even a rumour that he had helped SAS teams gather intelligence on the Serb forces. It was Ted also who notified the British commander of the plight of 2,000 Muslims trapped in the village of Karola. Ted and Derek were abducted from the flat they shared at Travnik around midnight on the 5th February 1993 by unknown assailants. They were taken a few miles west to the village of Turbe where they were later found in a field with their hands tied behind their backs and shot through the head. They had been tortured. Both their passports were found at the flat in Travnik. The story was widely and inaccurately reported in the media with much contradiction of details and circumstances. Local Bosnians believed Ted and Derek were kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists that had recently arrived in the area. Ted had passed on information about Muslim operations and his frequent visits to the British UNPROFOR base may have aroused suspicions amongst the fundamentalists who would in any case have seen him as a threat to their influence. Ted was however loved and respected by the local Bosnians with whom he fought. He was buried with Arnold in a cemetery in Zenica, initially with a Muslim headboard but soon after British UNPROFOR replaced it with a cross and conducted a Christian memorial ceremony. Ted passionately supported the Bosnian cause and was sickened by the Serbsﾒ ethnic cleansing policies. He once said: ﾓI felt it was disgraceful how the world turned its back on these people.ﾔ Picture: Colin Lane/Mercury
|
All material © Copyright 2010, Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association
Material may not be reproduced in any shape or form, by any means graphic, electrical, electronic
or mechanical in any country without the prior permission in writing of the Association.
Click here to contact us