SOLDIER X IN BOSNIA

In the distance we could hear the airstrikes. The Kremlin (SAS headquarters) had decided that some diversionary strikes on Serb forces on the far side of Gorazde would give a better chance of a clean insertion. The decision proved to be correct, and as we lay in our defensive position on the Yugoslavian hillside, I couldn’t help but wonder what lay ahead. We watched and listened incase any Serb forces had seen or heard the heli coming in. If they had we would have to withdraw to our ERV (Emergency rendezvous) and call the heli back in on the radio to pick us up. We waited for about 20 minutes, until Archer gave the signal and we moved out towards Gorazde. We patrolled carefully and cautiously, aware that we could run into a Serb patrol at any time. Every 30 minutes we would stop and go to ground in a defensive position to watch and listen for Serbs. If any were following or tracking us, we would be able to detect them. Progress was slow. It is mentally and physically demanding to patrol like this. The professionalism of the regiment takes over. Less well trained soldiers would switch off and stumble into an ambush or enemy patrol.

We continued on towards Gorazde. Craig was lead scout, followed by myself, Ian, Archer, Steve and Adrian. We were making slow but steady progress without any problems when Craig gave the signal to stop. Everyone went to ground in a defensive formation, and I moved upto Craig to see what the problem was. He could see a Dirt road up ahead, and knew we had to be careful how we crossed it. We had been avoiding roads and paths because of the danger of them being booby trapped, or of running into Serb patrols. The regiment always moves across country as part of its SOP (Standard operating procedure). I told Craig to keep watching the road from a distance, and went back to tell Archer what was happening. Archer decided we should watch the road to see if anything moved along it, and then cross it if it seemed safe. Due to our location, there was as much chance of there being a Bosnian patrol, as a Serb. If we saw a Bosnian patrol, there was a chance we could make contact with them there. The section moved up closer to the road and waited. Archer had a quick look at the map and saw that we were only around 1 km from a village, so there was a good chance that we would see some civilians as well. The road was also one of the main routes to Gorazde.

We waited. In the distance I could hear the sound of machinery. Ian heard it as well. Then everyone was aware of the distant rumble. Adrian got his Binos out and scanned the area. Nothing. The sound appeared to be getting gradually closer. Then Steve, who was watching the left flank, tugged his comms cord which was between himself and me. A patrol was moving down the road from the far side. I passed the info onto Archer and he told us to pull back further from the road. We moved back to a position were we could still see the majority of the road. As we waited, the patrol came closer. Through his binos, Adrian identified them as a 5 man Serb patrol. What do we do I thought. We could take them out, but that would make noise and the patrol would be missed by the Serbs. It was also not our mission. I turned to look at Archer and he shook his head. He was right. It was better to let them pass and then continue to Gorazde. Moments later the decision proved correct. Steve saw more serbs moving down the road. But not just soldiers. There slowly plodding along the road was a T-55 tank. The first group had only been a scout group. Altogether there was around 30 Serb soldiers, too many for our patrol to fight. If we had engaged the scout group, the main party would have been on us in minutes, and the tank would have made a nice mess of us. We all lay in our positions as the T-55 rumbled past. Then a thought hit me. There can only be one place they are heading. The Bosnian village 1km down the road.