Title: Night Patrol

Subject: Soldiers patrol at night near Lisnaskea in County Fermanagh.

The year was 1980 and I will never forget a night patrol I took part in close to Lisnaskea in County Fermanagh. This particular patrol involved a 3 day/night operation. The platoon consisted of 16 men (4 bricks). Our objective was to patrol within a 10-20 mile area of the base and to set up snap VCPs (vehicle check points) check culverts for devices (land mines) and basically show the locals that we were around. We also had support from helicopters, which helped move us to new locations as and when required.

Lisnaskea was a small town surrounded by miles and miles of beautiful but deadly countryside. This was Bandit County and the South Fermanagh Brigade of the IRA was very active in this area. In fact two weeks before we arrived the Barclays Bank was damaged in the town by a booby trap car bomb.

We left the security of the base on foot at exactly 2AM in the morning. We were already feeling tired. We were carrying around 120lb each; and because I was fairly stocky, I was an ideal candidate to carry one of the LMGs (Light Machine Guns) we had two. That meant the others in the platoon carried the standard SLR (Self Loading Rifle) and we also had two M79 Grenade Launchers (these were used by US Troops in Vietnam) and were only used in border/rural areas. The OC (officer commanding) briefed us that we were going to proceed for about 3 miles and set up a VCP.

We had to double as quickly as we could out of the base (this was to make it difficult for snipers etc) anyway once we proceed down the country road and away from the base, we settled into our patrolling formation. There was moonlight so we had some vision. In the patrol, I was the last but one, and behind me (Tail End Charlie) was my best mate Jock, not his real name here. (Jock went on to serve a full distinguished career and eventually reached the rank of RSM - Regimental Sergeant Major)

Anyway, after an hour or so, we saw one of our Lynx helicopters buzzing around shining nitesun, which is a very powerful beam of light not far in front of us. This surprised us, as we were not told that one was in the area, so we moved off the road, so not to be seen, and proceeded into a part derelict farmyard. As I mentioned earlier, there was a bit of moonlight so we could see a little. I could see the guys in front heading towards what we discovered was a barn. I believe the OC was going to wait for the chopper to leave the area before we proceeded.

Anyway, I passed an old disused tractor on my right, jock was close behind and I noticed he had turned on a small torch he was carrying, (the lens was covered in a special red paint to give a very dull glow). Apart from the noise of the lynx in the distance, there was no talking between us. I did not know at the time but he shined it under the tractor and out of the blue he screamed at the top of his voice 'BOMB'! My heart dropped like a stone, the feeling you get in a plane or a roller coaster. It was like slow motion for a second and I was expecting the worst, a flash or something, but nothing happened. I was 5 or 10 yards away and I ran toward the barn with Jock following behind. The OC asked what we had seen and the platoon moved around the back of the barn and away from the scene.

Jock said he saw wires right under the tractor connected to something. The chopper by this time had gone. It was quickly decided that we had to confirm what this was, before we called out ATO (Ammunition Technician Officer) which is bomb disposal.

Jock knew where it was so the OC volunteered him and I said I would go with him. The time now was around 4AM. We took off our Bergen’s and cautiously moved around the barn. The adrenaline was going I can tell you, we both got to within 20 yards and then crawled towards the suspected device. Jock was shining the torch toward the tractor, but we could not confirm anything, we just kept crawling closer and closer. We were literally 5 yards from the target when Jock moved right up with the torch and started cursing. The wires were there alright but they were linked up to heavy-duty batteries. Alarm over, but times like these you do not forget.

Also in Fermanagh, Some weeks later, some other patrol had discovered a 1000lb land mine. The explosives were packed into milk churns in a culvert close to Donagh crossroads. The command wire was running up the hill overlooking the position. Prior to this discovery, our platoon had been operating in this area over several weeks and we had checked the same culvert on two previous occasions. The device had only just been discovered a day or so before and as we were due to go into the same area once again, we were warned by ops, to keep away as the device had not been cleared yet.

Contributed with thanks to Gary - Royal Signals