Deep Behind Enemy Lines, page 18
Once again, they set up camp in a clearing amongst trees that afforded shelter from the sun. Unfortunately, that evening, they camped right on a game track, normally the route to a watering hole; the upshot being at about 0200 hours in full moonlight, the guard saw a pride of lion sitting some 200 yards from them. The campfires were deterring the beasts from venturing closer, so they simply stood roaring in indignation. Talk about an unwanted alarm call! To a man they were woken, but eventually the pride made a detour and moved on. It was a blessing it wasn’t a herd of elephant!
As soon as the threat had passed it was heads-down again, hopefully to resume what was left of a good night’s sleep, but regrettably this wasn’t to be. Two female lions returned, obviously hungry and anticipating a meal of juicy human flesh. Bill and Josh quickly grabbed vary pistols and fired into the air, lighting up the surrounding area. The two ladies were obviously preparing to make their attack, so Josh took the precaution of loading a rifle and firing off a round above the big cats. Coupled with the flares, this was enough to make them turn on their paws and beat a hasty retreat. Some of the men again climbed into sleeping bags but others stayed awake and alert to support the on-duty guard and stoked up the fire to ward off any further uninvited wildlife.
As a result of all the night’s excitement, breakfast was very early. They broke camp in groups of four to follow the lead of the Staff Sergeants towards the next compass bearing of Kongoni. At 1300 hours they’d just stopped for lunch when they heard the low drone of a single-engine aircraft in the distance; Ken Noakes was making his approach in the Beaver in readiness for their airdrop. Josh thought it wise to put up a red flare in order Ken could pinpoint their exact location. He was flying at about 600 feet and as he approached, three small parachutes were launched from the fuselage of the plane, which landed safely.
Ken made a wide circle to check his aim had been accurate and as he flew above them the men gave him thumbs up. He passed over at about two hundred and fifty feet and waggled his wings in acknowledgement as they watched him disappear towards the horizon.
The dropped items were distributed equally and the parachutes buried. It took them about an hour to consume lunch before continuing on to their next destination. Again, it was getting dark when they got to the village of Kongoni and found a good spot to set up camp. The local villagers donated much of the firewood, so not much time was spent gathering kindling; campfires were swiftly lit and billycans put on for hot drinks.
To show their appreciation for the firewood, two men visited the village and took a substantial quantity of compo rations as a token of good will. There was much nodding, shaking of hands and broken English and Swahili as the Chief conveyed his gratitude on behalf of the village. Guard shifts were organised and posted whilst the rest of the men got their heads down.
Reveille was at 0700 hours on Thursday and after breakfast Josh spoke to the men.
‘We’re going to make the short hike to Kasarani where we’ll take a lunch break. Then we head for Mount Kipipiri where we will be following the Wanjohi Valley, which is part of the Kinangop Plateau in the Aberdare Range. Anyone got any questions so far?’
‘Yes, Staff. How far is it from Kasarani to Mount Kipipiri,’ asked one of the team NCOs.
‘It’s about a 15-mile trek. We’ll need to pick up the Nakuru road heading toward Njabini, then Ndanyu, Njeru and finally Geta Forest Gate. With steadfast marching we should expect to reach our destination by late afternoon and camp there tonight. Tomorrow we make the ascent on Kipipiri, camping near the summit, and then descend on Saturday morning to Miharati continuing on to the agreed meeting point on the Nakuru Road. Transport will meet us there for the trip back to camp,’ explained Josh.
‘All ready to go men,’ Bill called out.
The slight diversion to Mount Kipipiri will be a good test of map reading, stamina and endurance.
‘Let’s go,’ said Josh.
They made very good time reaching Kasarani in just three hours arriving at noon and breaking the journey for a quick early lunch.
‘Ready for the next leg to Geta Forest Gate,’ said Bill.
‘Yep, ready,’ replied Josh.
‘I reckon approximately four hours should see us at Geta Forest Gate.’
They got the teams together and commenced the last section along the Rift Valley before the ultimate climb. Having made their destination at Geta Forest Gate in good time and, once rested, again went about setting up camp for the night. The evening meal over, they sat around campfires chatting about the exercise, the consensus being it had been good; this far. They all looked forward to the completion of the climb and then getting back to Kahawa.
Josh and Bill settled in their pup tent.
‘Well, mate, it’s not long now before you’re off on your next operation in Mombasa. How’re you feeling about it at the moment?’
‘Well, I am a tad anxious, Josh, but hope it’ll be successful. It’s about time we got our man; but then you can never tell.’
‘I guess if anyone can achieve a good result, you’re the man,’ said Josh, encouragingly.
‘Thanks for the confidence boost, mate, but one can only do one’s best in those situations, as you know. Let’s hope our masters have got all their facts and data about the mission correct.’
‘Anyhow buddy, sweet dreams!’ said Josh.
‘You too.’
Reveille was at 0600 hours and with chores done, Bill and Josh got the teams together for an announcement.
‘OK, listen up. As you may or may not know, we’re at the northwest end of the Aberdare National Forest, which adjoins this part of the Rift Valley. The summit is around 1,563 feet above sea level, which should take us about five hours to ascend. We’ll make a temporary camp for a night’s stopover close to the summit,’ explained Bill. ‘Are there any questions?’
‘Are we to understand, Staff, we make our descent tomorrow morning? And if so, how long is it going to take us to reach Miharati,’ asked one of Josh’s team corporals.
‘We estimate about a four-hour descent to Miharati, and then onward to the Nakuru Road to meet our transport. If there are no more questions, the A and B teams are to trek separately. I’ll lead A-Team and Staff Scraggs will lead B team. OK, let’s move out A-team,’ ordered Josh.
‘OK, B-team, let’s go,’ called Bill.
After three hours trekking in evergreen forest they took a break at a large rock outcrop, which provided spectacular views of the Aberdares. The onward journey and environment changed to indigenous trees rooted in deep undergrowth, with the final climb consisting of scree, undulating stones and small rock terrain.
They eventually reached the summit and the teams took in the panorama of the Rift Valley below them.
‘There’s a useful piece of open level ground about a hundred feet below us where we can make camp for the night. Let’s go to it,’ ordered Josh.
With pup tents erected a number of small fires were lit with the dead wood scattered around for warmth and cooking. Once more they settled in groups, discussing army life in general and other non-military matters in particular before turning in for the night at about 2230 hours, leaving one NCO on guard watch. The glow from the full moon gave an eerie appearance of it being almost daylight.
It was about 0230 hours and the duty guard’s eyelids were beginning to droop when there was the crack and flash of gunfire and a bullet slammed into his shoulder dropping him to the ground where he lay bleeding heavily. All the men were instantly awake and scrambling for their weapons.
Everyone swiftly exited tents and Bill shouted out. ‘Attack, attack, take cover and keep your heads down. Everyone got their firearms?’ More gunfire was blasted at them.
Josh and another soldier slithered on their bellies to the wounded man, hauling him behind a nearby tree to inspect his injury, which, whilst serious, was a clean entry and exit wound. They ripped his clothing, staunched the bleeding as best they could and made him reasonably comfortable. At least he was alive. Bill had also grabbed his NVGs and through them pin-pointed where the shooting was coming from. Under his direction, the soldiers took aim and opened fire at any movement they saw from the muzzle flashes. There appeared to be quite a number of enemy shooters. Bill pulled his radio from his breast pocket and called the OC in the hope he’d respond instantly to the urgent call.
He answered promptly. ‘Problem, Staff?’
‘Yes, Sir, and it’s serious! We’re under unexpected enemy attack and need urgent armed infantry support.’
‘Any idea how many?’
‘I gauge around twenty but could be more, maybe less. They seem to be well-armed.’
‘OK, I’ll get straight on to air wing for an emergency callout to task the Huey and fourteen from Oxfordshire Regiment. With luck these should be with you in less than an hour. Do your best to hold ground and keep them at bay until assistance arrives.’
‘Will do, Sir, but we have a further problem. There’s one man down who needs urgent medical attention.’
‘Once the Huey is with you they’ll casevac him to BMH. I’ll deal with the rest of the situation later. Right now, I need to clear down and contact air wing.’
There was still a lot of shooting going on, Bill and Josh shouted to their men to conserve ammunition. Josh had also donned his NVGs, and was scanning for enemy firing positions.
‘OK, Bill, I can see one of them,’ said Josh and taking careful aim with his SLR, squeezed the trigger. They heard a scream signifying a hit. There was a lull in the firing for a time and Bill was pretty sure the enemy were repositioning.
‘If these are Somali fundamentalist insurgents I’ll be interested to know just how they were able to get this far into our territory and manage to locate us,’ Bill said breathlessly.
‘They’re probably from the Isiolo region and came to the Aberdares travelling west of Archer’s Post. They were most likely getting ready to attack villages en route and came across us by default, so to speak; a far better prize for them,’ remarked Josh.
‘I reckon you could well be right. This looks like too large a raiding party to be this far into the Rift Valley.’
A further twenty minutes elapsed, and then they heard the sound of an approaching helicopter.
‘It’s the Huey,’ said Josh with relief in his voice.
The chopper landed and immediately fourteen heavily armed Oxfordshires dropped from its fuselage. Although the helicopter was under rifle fire, four of Josh’s team, with others covering their backs, rapidly loaded the wounded NCO into the aircraft and Bill got on the emergency channel and spoke to the pilot.
‘After dropping your NCO at BMH I’ll be back to pick up you guys, by which time you and the Oxfordshires will hopefully have mopped this up.’
‘Thanks. Over and out,’ replied Bill and ordered a collective volley of fire whilst the chopper took off.
Protracted exchange of gunfire continued, the enemy taking several casualties, and then ceased into silence for a further hour. The troops cautiously approached the enemy positions and undertook a sweep to locate those wounded and/or still on their feet with fight left in them. Five Somalis were found dead and a further five severely wounded. After a short interrogation the rest, estimated to be a further six, had made a run for it into the bush and it was decided they weren’t worth pursuing at the moment.
Whilst the team buried the five dead Somalis, Bill spoke to Josh.
‘I’ll do a quick call to Major Brown with a sitrep, and request he get a Westland Whirlwind here PDQ to recover our team and the Oxfordshires. I’ll also suggest the Huey returns to only pick up the five wounded Somalis, the two Oxfordshire casualties and two armed guards, and take them to BMH.’
Seventy-five minutes later, when the teams had cleared up the area and packed their equipment ready for the return trip, the two helicopters arrived to recover all manpower and wounded men.
Bill and Josh were informed by the Huey pilot that the KAR would shortly be making a thorough search of the area with a platoon of troops who were on their way.
The trucks to meet the marching teams at Nakuru Road had been cancelled. They were all ordered to load their equipment and climb aboard the waiting aircraft. The men who’d taken part in the exercise finally arrived back safely at Kahawa Barracks at 1730 hours, and the equipment was duly unpacked and returned to stores. Bill and Josh congratulated their teams on how they’d handled the unexpected action and an exercise well done, dismissing them to get cleaned up.
Josh and Bill then headed off to their own quarters to do likewise, have a few swift beers, eat a large non-compo supper and get their heads down. Time enough in the morning to give a full report to the OC and check on how their wounded soldier was doing.
At 0830 hours the OC and Travers arrived at the office where Bill and Josh joined them to give a full verbal report on the incident at Mount Kipipiri. The OC informed them it would be referred to a higher level for full assessment, and told Bill to let him have his written report.
‘You’ll be pleased to know the NCO shot during the insurgent skirmish has undergone surgery, is out of danger and recovering well.’
‘That’s good news, Sir,’ responded Bill and Josh, simultaneously.
They saluted the OC, nodded to Travers and left the office to return to the work at hand.
Chapter 35
Outside the office Bill said cheerio to Josh and joined Corporals Stevens and Newell, together with the driver and escort, at the equipment stores. The Land Rover and trailer were standing ready to load the equipment and compo rations needed at Nyali Beach for the duration of Operation Sea Eagle, and he set them to work loading everything on the punch list. He left them fully occupied and went across to the OC’s office for the last time before setting off.
Although it was Sunday both the OC and Travers were there for this brief final meeting to go over his modus operandi.
‘Is everything up to speed, Staff?’
Bill nodded and the OC went on. ‘You’ll be carrying three HP radios for you and your men’s use, two others to be passed to the platoon commanders and the remaining four should be issued to the leads of the four Bren-gun operators. It’s very important you make contact with operations control centre giving daily sitreps and timings, using the emergency channel when and if necessary. Call signs and codenames will be the same as used previously. The rebroadcast station in the Tsavo Game Park will be set up and manned by Mr Travers who’ll have three NCOs to assist him. Do you have any questions, Staff?’
‘No, Sir. All very clear. I anticipate we’ll reach the beachhead by mid-afternoon tomorrow and hopefully be set up ready for surveillance by early evening. I’ve agreed to meet with the two platoon commanders on their arrival.’
‘Well done, Staff, and good luck,’ said Major Brown. ‘I’ve no doubt you’ll make a gainful contribution to Operation Sea Eagle.’
Bill made his way to the stores to check on how the loading was progressing, and to confirm side arms, three SLR 7.65mm rifles and ammunition hadn’t been forgotten, nor the radios. At 1200 hours he drove accompanied by Travers in the duty Land Rover to Buller Camp to meet with the officers who’d lead the two platoons, as well as to collect his special radio frequencies.
Travers would be going to a selected point in the Tsavo Game Park to set up the rebroadcast station the next afternoon. Bill left Buller Camp accompanied by Travers and drove back to the Kahawa stores, where he found all was completed and in order. It was now time for an early night to be fresh and alert for the journey to Mombasa.
On 22nd December, after Bill had made a last-minute check of everything, they set off at 0900 hours heading for the Tsavo Game Park on the road to Mombasa. The first eighty miles of metaled road deteriorated to a heavily rutted, corrugated and dusty murram surface that took them through the Tsavo bush to reach the small township of Sultan Hamud. Approximately 126 miles after the Sultan Hamud junction they reached a small township called Voi. Here they turned off onto another murram road and made their way, again through the bush, for a further hundred miles to reach Nyali Beach.
It took them six and a half hours in view of the poor road surface, which made for very slow progress. It was assumed the two three-ton trucks, carrying the coalition platoons, would take the same route to the beachhead, and Bill estimated they’d arrive at sundown, which promised a covert approach.
During the journey they were forced to divert slightly at one point, to avoid a herd of elephant, including two massive bulls displaying a high degree of antagonism, as the approaching Land Rover was blocking their passage. This meant they lost some time having to go around the animals, but thankfully with no further threatening confrontations.
Bill and his team finally reached the Indian Ocean shoreline later than planned. Dusk was approaching and there was a very strong onshore breeze, so he chose the first convenient high ground well back from the beach to take up position.
‘OK, guys,’ he said to the driver and his escort. ‘Let’s get off-loaded and then you can turn tail and head back to Nairobi. Although it probably makes more sense for you to stay here overnight and go back in the morning; it’ll be pitch black before we get finished and the weather forecast doesn’t look too promising.
Right, we need to select two more locations, four hundred yards apart, to give us a clear view of the shoreline.’
They walked along the tree-lined waterfront where the strong wind, high tide and sea spray soaked them through, although it was noticeably humid. The half-moon provided only just sufficient light for them to select high ground with good cover and clear line-of-sight. It was a very lonely, isolated, stretch of beach and, apart from the rustling of palm fronds and splash of the incoming tide, was so peaceful they understood perfectly why the Shifta insurgents had chosen this spot on which to land.
