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Chapter Vlll. At school with the internationals

As the train pulled into Osijek I saw Ernie and James standing on the platform and I was very surprised to see them, the train stopped, I got out and headed straight my 'welcoming party', we shook hands and exchanged greetings, they asked me if everything was ok and told me that they were waiting for one of our men who had gone to Zagreb because his father was seriously ill and had not yet returned, he was now technically classed as a deserter and I felt sorry for him. It was evident that he was not on the train so we went to the parked car. There was an evident lack of conversation in the car and I wondered what had gone on since I had been away, what else could have gone wrong but after the past couple of weeks anything was possible. We pulled up outside the Central Hotel and proceeded downstairs to have something to eat as I had not eaten since breakfast and I was very hungry. We walked into the restaurant to find Kevin and a film crew from the BBC. all sat at the table, we said hello and sat down. The only words that were spoken were mainly jokes as to what happened to me in Zagreb, I put up with it and then deliberately changed the subject to what had been happening while I was away, there was no reply as I had obviously hit on a sore subject, I thought that it may be tactful if I waited until we got back to base. We ordered drinks and something to eat, it seemed that the BBC were going to pay so Kevin ordered a bottle of brandy as we were all drinking the same, during the meal we talked mainly about the documentary that the film crew were making and I ended up arguing about the role that the press were playing in this war and in every other war that had taken place, I told them that I thought that the press only came to war zones just to search for one picture or story that would make them a household name and a lot of money in their pockets. Most of them were not interested in the human suffering or the politics of the war, they just wanted to make it big in their chosen profession. If there had been one good story about who the aggressors in this war then perhaps the west would have helped us and therefore saved lives, the people around the table were not the least bit interested in what I was saying. They told us that they were in Osijek to make a factual documentary about the foreigners fighting in Croatia, they also said that they wanted to tell the truth but I didn't really believe them. Listening to them talk I knew that I for one was not going to wait with baited breath for them to send us the finished product. We finished eating and Roland the director paid for it, we said goodnight and left for the base, when we arrived we found the girls waiting, I received a kiss from both which was thankfully that accompanied by wisecracks,I went into the office and sat down as Ernie and James had gone somewhere else so only I and one of the sisters were in the room, now was my chance to find out what had been happening whilst I was away.
"the British have been put in jail on Ernies orders" she started,
"why" I asked,
"they came back drunk one night and upset Ernie so much that while they slept he had phoned the Military Police to come and take them away to jail, the only one that wasn't in jail was Kevin, I don't think that there were any charges against them or at least not yet,Peter had also gone for good after having an argument with Ernie about the fact he had ordered Peter and his men to go across the Drava in boats, Peter knew it was dangerous and had decided rather than get his men killed he would disobey the order and leave the unit"she continued,
"that's enough bad news for me now, thanks" I told her and she left the room.
From what I had been told Ernie didn't really care that Peter had left and at this rate he was losing the men, the unit would never survive and there was nothing that I could do apart from sit and watch. There was only one thing to do and that was to go to bed but before I made my usual phone call to my parents. When I had finished I found myself dialling Paula's number, we talked for ten to fifteen minutes and she told me that she would buy some language books in Zagreb and send them to Osijek for me, I said that I would pay for them next time I saw her even though I had seen her earlier in the day it was still good to hear her voice before I went to sleep. 

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