4th Guards Brigade ( Croatia ) 4th Guards Brigade , also known as The Spiders ( ) was a brigade of the Croatian Army which took part in the Croatian War of Independence . It was one of the best - known units in the war , and it was active until a 2008 reorganization when it was merged into the Motorized Guard Brigade . Name . The brigade was named after one of its commander , general Andrija Matijaš Pauk , who was killed by Serb forces in Mrkonjić Grad , Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 October 1995 , during Operation Southern Move , the last action of the Croatian army in the war . The 4th Guards Brigade took his nickname for the unit soon after . " Pauk " means " spider " in Croatian . Formation . The 4th Guards Brigade was founded on 28 April 1991 as part of the formation of a Croatian National Guard at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence . At first , the brigade was composed of young policemen ( 130 of them ) who had left the police to receive military training for special purposes in Kumrovec under the command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs . A majority of them were from Livno , Tomislavgrad , Kupres , Široki Brijeg , Trebižat , Ljubuški , Stolac and Bugojno in Western Herzegovina and Central Bosnia . They arrived in Split on 30 May 1991 and settled in Hotel Split . From Hotel Split they moved their headquarters to Hotel Resnik in Resnik . There , the brigade ' s first battalion was founded , under the command of Gento Međugorac , whose deputy was Ivan Zelić . Within the battalion , a first company ( named the " 2nd Company " ) was formed from the first members of the brigade , under the command of Ilko Pavlović , while the commander of the second company ( named the " 1st Company " ) was Joško Macan . Soon afterwards , they received volunteers from Kaštel and other places , which enabled the formation of a 3rd company commanded by Mario Udiljak . Part of the brigade went to Imotski to form and reinforce the 3rd battalion , part of them went to Vrlika and Sinj to form and reinforce the 2nd battalion , and the other part went to Metković and Dubrovnik to form a unit in those two towns . The 2nd Company was , formally , without soldiers , who got an order to disband Yugoslav Peoples Army , form a unit and go to their first task in Kruševo near Zadar . War . The 4th Guards Brigade was one of the units which wasn ' t trained , so their gained their skills during the war . The slogan of the brigade was " " In hoc signo vinces " " . Their first task was to liberate Kruševo near Zadar which they did in July 1991 . Soon , brigade was involved in defence and liberation actions from Zadar , Sinj , Drniš , Šibenik , Vodice until liberation of Dubrovnik and region in Operations Tiger and Vlaštica . After liberation of Dubrovnik and actions in Southern Front , unit was involved in Operation Maslenica which they finished successfully . After Operation Maslenica , the brigade was involved in Operation Winter ' 94 , Operation Leap 1 , Operation Leap 2 , Operation Summer ' 95 , Operation Storm and Operation Maestral . The 4th Guards Brigade was famous because it never lost a battle or position , so Croatian Defence Minister , Gojko Šušak stated that " the Croatian Army has 7 brigades in its composition , which are well - trained and well - armed , but only one brigade is a shock brigade , and that is 4th Guards Brigade . " During the Croatian War of Independence , 193 members of this brigade were killed , and their pictures were added to memorial site in the " Sveti križ " chapel of the Dračevac barracks in Split . During its existence , the brigade changed number of commanders : general Ivo Jelić , general Mirko Šundov and general Damir Krstičević were war commanders , while peace - time commanders were brigadier Ante Kotromanović ( present - day defence minister ) , brigadier Zvonko Asanović , brigadier Blaž Beretin , and brigadier Mladen Fuzul . Reorganization . Following a reorganization in the Croatian Army , the 4th Brigade has become part of the Motorized Guard Brigade as the 2nd Motorized Battalion " Spiders " . The Motorized Guard Brigade is also composed of other several brigades , the 1st Guards Brigade ( the " Tigers " ) , the 2nd Guards Brigade ( the " Thunders " ) and the 9th Guards Brigade ( the " Wolves " ) . Veterans ' association . War veterans of the 4th Guards Brigade founded the Association of Veterans ' of the 4th Guards Brigade on 21 June 2007 . They mark various anniversaries , organize veterans ' meetings , professional teams for health relief , social and other difficulties for veterans . The President of the association is Božo Zadro .