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The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comwebbing seats which stretched down the sides of the aircraft. Acheerful National Guard loadie handed us flight rations, a small, whitecardboard box filled with crisps, an apple and a cheese sandwich.`Here, have some gum, it'll save your ears popping,' the grinningloadie shouted against the throbbing roar of the turboprop engines ashe thrust a small box at us. I reached in and put the yellow tabs wherethey were supposed to be, in my ears. The loadie smiled ruefully,perhaps hoping he'd be able to catch out his next civilian passenger.Ten bumpy minutes into the hour-long flight, the dark hold was suddenlyilluminated with a blinding flash that raced the length of the fuselageand a whip-like crack audible even above the engine roar. `Fuck, we'vebeen hit!' shouted Roberts. The Hercules lurched into a steep nosedive,forcing me to grip the webbing seating to stop myself falling intoRoberts's lap and making my ears pop ferociously. The dive lasted a fewheart-pumping seconds before the pilot pulled some g's to level out.`What was that?' shouted Roberts to the loadie when we were straightand level. `Was that a sniper bullet?' A few C-130s had taken snipershots, but normally only on the approach to Sarajevo airport. We were along way from the risky zone and so it was unlikely.Ì'll go find out,' shouted back the loadie, unstrapping himself tomake his way forward to the cockpit. He returned a minute later.`Lightning strike,' he announced. `Pilot says it hit the tail, camedown the fuselage, and punched a fist-sized hole out the nose, smashingup some avionics. We've got to divert to Frankfurt.' Roberts and Ilooked at each other in resignation. It would take another day out ofour already tight schedule.The USAF put us up in their comfortable officer's quarters in theirsprawling Ramstein base and we took the first available flight toSarajevo the next morning. This time we got within ten minutes ofSarajevo and the C-130 had just started its anti-sniper dive towardsthe runway when the flight was again aborted. A burst of Serbianartillery on the runway shut the airport and we had to retreat again,this time to Zagreb in Croatia.We finally made it into Sarajevo the next day on board a RussianIlyushin 72, their pilots taking a more robust view of bombs andbullets than the Americans, and touched down on the heavily guardedSarajevo runway on a fine autumnal day. We were met on the apron by theaffable commander of the four-man British detachment in Sarajevo, MajorKen Lindsay, with his armoured Land Rover. `You've picked a fine dayfor a visit,' he greeted us. `The sun's shining, we're flush withFosters and the Serbs have only lobbed five shells at us today.'Originally a truckie in the Australian army, he married the daughter ofa senior British cavalry officer, who arranged for his new son-in-lawto transfer to the smart King's Royal Hussars cavalry regiment.Lindsay's official job was to ensure that the UNHCR relief deliverieswere fairly shared amongst the various distribution stations inSarajevo. But unofficially he and his team provided transport andlodging for us while in town. `Chuck your kit in the back of the wagon.We'll go for a tour of Sarajevo, then have a few tinnies in the PTTbuilding,' Lindsay ordered cheerfully.As we drove through the Serb-Muslim front lines into town, past theburnt-out shell of an old T-55 tank, Lindsay pointed out the Sarajevopage- 113 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com
The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comlandmarks. The pock-marked PTT building, the former telecommunicationscentre which had been commandeered by the UN, was where he and hiscontingent were based in two cramped rooms. `Ken normally lets me sleepon the floor of his room if I'm staying in Sarajevo,' explainedRoberts. `He'll do the same for you as long as you don't snore.'Ànd as long as you bring a slab,' added Ken.`That's the Holiday Inn on the left,' Roberts pointed out a heavilybombed 15-storey building. Ì stay there sometimes, but CNN havecommandeered all the best rooms, and most of the time there is nowater, so it's better to stay in the PTT.' We drove down sniper-alley,the long dual-carriageway linking the airport and PTT building todowntown Sarajevo, and took a whistlestop tour of the main Bosniangovernment building, the impressive but sadly bombed-out library andthe Kosovo hospital.There was little point in gratuitously risking Serbian snipers' bulletsand shells so once Roberts had orientated me, we returned to the safetyof the sturdy PTT building. But once dusk had fallen, Angus, Lindsay'sNCO, drove us back the three kilometres into town for the handover withDONNE. There was only time for a half-hour meeting, but it was enoughfor Roberts to introduce me as his successor, extract a CX report andhand over a large carton of Marlboros that DONNE could trade on theburgeoning Sarajevo black market.`Right, let's get back to the PTT building for some beers with Ken,'Roberts urged eagerly as soon as the debrief was over. `That'll beAngus there.' Sure enough, two headlights were coming towards us andAngus pulled up at the RV bang on time. Roberts climbed into thepassenger seat, leaving me to clamber into the back of the vehicle overassorted flak-jackets, helmets and tools. Before pulling the heavy doorshut, I had a last glance round; my next trip would be alone and Ihoped I would remember the route.We spent the evening drinking heavily with Lindsay and his detachment,and arose early the next morning, hungover, to take the first flightback to Split. Roberts was due to fly home to London the nextafternoon, leaving me in charge. `No time to meet STEENBOX, I'mafraid,' grinned Roberts as we shivered in the dark airport waitingroom, `but I'll explain how you get to Tuzla and where to find her.'Roberts was understandably demob happy and I would have to pick up thepieces from scratch after the heavily curtailed handover.Peering through the rain-spattered windscreen into the darkness, Itried to pick out physical features weakly illuminated by the Discoveryheadlights and relate them to the map spread on my knee. Silently, Icursed Fowlecrooke for leaving so little time for the handover. MeetingSTEENBOX required navigating to Tuzla, 360 km north-east of Split alongforest tracks and through two war fronts. It would not have been astraightforward task in daylight, but we had been badly held up by anaid convoy earlier on the route and now darkness and rain were bothfalling. The narrow, potholed lane traversed a steep valley side. Thehillside to the right, densely packed with trees, rose to the cloudedskyline. Down to the left, I could just pick out through the trees theglint of the stream on the valley bottom. It could have been any one ofpage- 114 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com
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