Chapter IV Osijek to Brijest

Those few days after we escaped from Laslovo are really nothing more than a blank now, perhaps that last day affected me in more ways than I knew, I can't even remember Ernie and James coming back, I only know that three or four days later I had my first meeting with the dreaded press. We had gone for something to eat in a local restaurant which was under Central Hotel and in a bomb proof area beneath the central square in Osijek, when we in we passed a news crew filming a report, they were talking english, I obviously listened and after they had finished I spoke to them, they asked me a few questions and asked me if I would do an interview for one of the British news channels, I had no objections as I thought that my parents might see it and know that I was alright. It was also an opportunity to tell the British public why I and other foreign soldiers were fighting in Croatia, I told them about how the army was not yet a professional army and that they were outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy, what had happened in Laslovo and why I thought the village had fallen. The interview lasted in between five and ten minutes after which they said thanks and that it might be on tv within a week or so that was the first of many interviews that Ernie, James and I would do over the coming months. A short time later Ernie decided that for a short time it would be easier if we should stay in the hotel as we would all be together so we rented rooms and over that period we would look for a new base for our unit. We could not stay indefinitely as it would cost too much, we had to have a permanent base to reform our unit and to accommodate new personnel. It had been decided that it would have to be somewhere safe, after looking around we eventually found somewhere that was perfect for our needs. It was situated in the basement of the Central Law Courts which was right next door to the prison where they kept the enemy prisoners, the guards wouldn't let us anywhere near the prison as they suspected that we may try and harm the inmates especially after what had happened in Laslovo. It had ample sleeping space, a kitchen, a secure place that could be used as the armoury and a office for Ernie. We put new locks on the doors, acquired beds and blankets and moved everyone in, it was perfect after we had put posters on the bare walls, enemy flags(that were souvenirs of Ernies) hung where all could see, Ernie and James put the office in order and I did the armoury. There were only a few of us in the unit to start with as most of the remnants from Laslovo were still on holiday and had not returned yet, everyday we seemed to have someone new who wanted to join us as we had a good reputation in Osijek. With the increase in personal came various problems so to avoid this I sat down and wrote a set of rules everyone had to obey and showed them to Ernie and after reading them immediately agreed and we translated them into other languages and put them on the wall so everyone could see them. Over the next few weeks we slowly acquired not given but acquired, weapons, ammunition, uniforms, boots, rations and kitchen equipment, everything that we needed to stay an independent unit with our original title PIV, we were now here to stay.