Third installment

The next day we continued as normal until in the afternoon we saw a police lorry coming up the road to our house, it parked and Peter got out, Ernie in his car was close behind. We greeted each other and went inside into the office, they explained that we needed another lorry and that they had acquired this one in Zagreb, I didn't ask as really wasn't interested, Ernie asked how everything had gone while he was away and I told him what had happened over the past few days including the fact that we had five new recruits from France, he didn't seem all that impressed, but he did want to look at the new house. Off we went, Ernie, Peter, George and myself, we arrived at the house and Ernie had a look around and came back saying that it wasn't what he had in mind, somehow both George and I knew that it he would not agree with our choice. We got back in the car and drove slowly through the village looking for another vacant house that would suit Ernie, it was not long before we stopped and got out. The house that George and I had chosen was unoccupied and would have been a good base but this house was someone's home although they were not there at the moment. We checked the front door, locked, went around to the back and found a door that was open, we went inside and almost immediately Ernie decided that this was the right choice, the neighbors told us that it belonged to a Serbian family so we started to search the house and make sure that it was safe. After about an hour we decided it was safe to move into, Ernie told us to get some men and clean all the belongings out and put them in the garage while he and Peter to hq in Osijek to inform them which house Ernie had chosen. While they went off to Osijek George and I got some of the men and started to clear the house out, it didn't take us long and when we had finished we went back to our old house and wait for Ernie to return. Within a few hours they returned and informed us that we had permission to move and that we would start in the morning, so for the rest of the day those that were going to the new base packed up their personal belongings and all the equipment and explosives, it looked as if we were taking everything, I decided to remain at this base while those that were going moved as I knew that Ernie too well and it wouldn't be too long before he got fed up with the new base and returned and the only question was how long?

The next day we all got up early and started the move almost immediately and by early afternoon it was completed and for the next few days I became a commuter between the two bases, I didn't mind as I had time to myself and continue as normal. We were now using the local aerodrome which had been partaly abandoned from the start of the war, it was an ideal training ground as it was close and big, it was the next best thing to proper firing ranges and we could fire whatever we wanted as there were quite a few planes that had been destroyed at the outset of the war and made ideal targets. It was not only me training the men now, Ernie had said that Peter and Alan were to help in the training as well so while I continued on as normal, Peter and Alan were teaching them something else, I was not particularly interested in what they were doing as I knew that I was training the men hard but right and that what I taught them may one day save their lives. Later that day I found out that the real reason that Ernie had wanted to move was because of a so-called terrorist threat on us from Serbia, while they had been in Zagreb they had found out from a reporter friend of Ernies who was supposedly to have dealings with MOSAD that the Serbian government had hired a hit squad from S. America to kill us as we were war criminals and that the Serbians wanted us out of the way, with us dead there would be no PIV and that would be good for the Serbian propaganda machine. That night Ernie told us that he did not want any more reporters around especially from S. America or driving German registered cars, I did not really believe any of this but Ernie did, maybe it was he was putting more trust in Peter said than what I said, everywhere Ernie went Peter went as a sort of bodyguard. It was getting to such a stage that everyone started to believe that there really was a terrorist threat and were acting accordingly, maybe it would not be to long before Ernie came to his senses and saw that it was only James or I that he should listen to, he had known us long enough now to trust us and we had always done as he ordered, there seemed to be something strange about all this, terrorist threat, MOSAD and I wondered whether command in Osijek knew about this but now Ernie was back I didn't go to Osijek as usual so there was no way of knowing, the best thing to do was always be prepared and try to carry on as usual.