First installment

When I got back to the office the girls told me that Ernie had gone into Osijek and would be back later, I saw a copy of the newspaper on the desk and asked if they had read it and they nodded in reply,

"we both liked it but Ernie was not happy with the fact that you are writing in the paper" the girls told me,

I didn't care what he thought, he was a foreigner and the only people who mattered here were the Croatians. They also told me that the man who had been at the base the week before was coming back to talk to command about an arms deal and that he and two associates were going to stay with us, they were to arrive tomorrow and stay for three to four days, it was cheaper than staying at a hotel even if they could afford it and a lot safer. When Ernie arrived back he told me that I could go on my holiday on Friday as they needed the bed and I had somewhere to stay in Osijek and he had decided to use my bed, I didn't care and after talking to Paula that night we decided to go on holiday a day earlier than we had planned, so instead of three days to go there were only two, I couldn't wait. The rest of the day was spent washing and ironing my uniform and the few civilian clothes that I had, I put everything that I was not going to take into a chest that I could put into the armory for what I thought would be safer. There was only one thing left to do and that was to sell my pistol so that night I asked if anyone wanted to buy it, Ernie offered me 1200DM which I quickly accepted, I handed it over and he gave me the cash, I would now pay for the holiday as I had the money.

The next day the dealers arrived bearing gifts, nothing expensive just items of food from the UK simple to buy but here they were like gold. They had to go to Bosnia that day and would return the following day to stay, there were three of them so we got the beds ready and showed them where they were going to sleep, they seemed happy at the sleeping arrangements and decided to leave some of their clothes at the base. They also gave me what I had asked for them to bring me from the UK it may seem trivial but the underwear, socks and a Norwegian shirt were great, it was like Christmas all over again. Once they had set off I took one of the cars and went into town, I found Paula and we went to the travel agency to pay for the holiday, once that was done we went to the railway station and got our train tickets. We now knew how much we had left for spending money for the next seven days, Paula was packed and so was I, I took her home telling her that I would see her in the morning as I had to spend the night at the base. When I arrived back I just spent the rest of the day messing around, I was only interested in watching the clock. That night an order came from command telling us that we were to go to the front line in Baranja as they suspected an attack, I had my suspensions but an order was an order. The men were told to get ready and I opened up the armory so that they could get the anti-tank weapons and I would pass out ammunition and grenades out. We had done this so often now that we had it perfect and they were on our way to the front, of course I stayed behind but this time I didn't mind, I didn't want to get injured just before I was due to go on holiday although I regreted it I had no choice. About three hours passed with no sign of anyone, I was sitting with the guards listening to the shelling in Osijek and then we saw the lights of the lorries, they were coming back so I went to the armory and opened it so that the weapons could be put back. They all came back muttering how stupid it had been as it was another false alarm, Ernie came in closely followed by Kevin so I gave him the key to the armory and told him to lock up after everything had been put away. Once he gave me the keys back I turned and gave them to Brian who was going to look after the armory while I was on holiday. Once I got to the office I was told by Ernie that he and two of the men were going into town to the top of the Hotel Osijek to spot for the artillery, he took Fritz and Zaggy and a bottle of whiskey, they all had flak jackets and helmets on and it seemed that Ernie was not happy at being sent on a wild goose chase earlier on that evening, I thought that he was only going for a drink and nothing else, they left taking the Mazda and headed for town. The shells were landing all over the city and were now beginning to land close to us, we made sure that all the lights were out and that everybody was inside, once this was done we sat down in the office and watched the tv quietly, that was until Fritz came back telling us that Ernie wanted another bottle of whiskey, from the way that he was behaving it seemed like they had had enough to drink but we gave him a bottle that Ernie kept under his bed and he left, even though he was drunk Ernie let him drive the car, I didn't think that was a good idea. We were all about ready to go to bed when Ernies voice came over the radio that he wanted someone to go and pick them up so I got dressed and took the Golf to collect them, on the way I spotted what looked like a crash and when I looked closer I saw that it was our Mazda in a ditch alongside the road, that was why he wanted another car to pick him up, I knew that he was going to be in a foul mood and most probably drunk. When I arrived I found them waiting for me, they got in and we headed back to base, as we left Ernie radioed Mark to bring the lorry to the crash site where we would be waiting. This was not an ideal situation as our artillery had now decided to fire the multiple rocket launcher from half a kilometer in front of us and therefore we could expect retaliation, we were also outside the headquarters of the EEC in Osijek, Ernie and so were the other two. The lorry arrived and we spent ten minutes trying to get the car out of the ditch and eventually we succeeded, Ernie was absolutely mad and waving his Scorpian around, I didn't like this situation at all. All of a sudden he started shooting into the air, I dived for cover in the ditch as I was sure the guards from the EEC would open fire on us, thank God they didn't but because of this Ernie was shouting all kinds of abuse and fired his pistol again. We had to persuade him to get in the car so I got a half empty bottle of brandy from the Golf and offered Ernie a drink and at the same time I told Fritz and Zaggy to get in the car, once they were in I persuaded Ernie to get in as well, I started for base with Mark and the lorry close behind, we left the car where it was as it was too badly damaged to move. We arrived back and went straight to the office, Fritz was babbling as to how it was not his fault that he crashed the car, Zaggy was showing off as though he was now an officer and all because he was now in favour with Ernie, as for him he was sitting down smoking and drinking,talking to himself. They must of been there all night because when I woke up the following morning I found them still there sleeping, I decided that it was better to leave them alone. The night before had almost ended up with us not only being shot but being blown up by mortars, what a terrific example for a commander to set, he and the other two had behaved just like hooligans but with weapons, a very dangerous combination, I was glad that this was my last day and that tomorrow I would be on holiday. The next few hours were spent waiting for the British to come back from wherever they were, I could not leave until they arrived.