Chapter 3

Around 0400 hours we heard the faint sound of a boat motor. We could not see any lights, but it got louder and louder. Half an hour later we saw it loom out of the darkness and then a few minutes later it docked alongside the harbour wall.

The cabin light went on and I used the rifle’s scope to take a look. I saw three men in the cabin, one was in his sixties and the others were in their twenties. I could not see any weapons.

“It looks like Three Tangos on the boat, no weapons on view,” I said into the radio.

“Roger that!” MC said and his message was echoed by Big Baz.

“Okay the boat boys we now call the paddies and guys in the car are tangos” Chalky said.

“Roger that!” we all said into our throat mics.

We kept an eye on the trawler, but nothing much happened, then we saw the glow of a cigarette being smoked at the back of the trawler.

We waited for the tangos to turn up. Our masters at HMG wanted the Taliban guys wiped out the paddies would be left to make their way back to Belfast.

I glanced at my watch, it was 0445 hours, I tucked my sleeve over the watch and at the same time, I heard Baz on the radio.

“Car approaching,” he said, and seconds later “there is a car and a transit van.”

We had been expecting just a car, but I guess two vehicles made getting the stuff back to their base easier. A few Boxes of Aks can take up a lot of room.

“NVGs on please guys, “Chalky said.

There was a chorus of yes bosses over the radio.

The first car was the one we had spotted at the hotel. It drove into the little car park followed by the transit van. Four guys got out of the car and four got out of the back of the van, and then two got out of the front of the van. Ten tangos which was a few more than we had intel on.

It did not worry me; we were the best SF force in the world, and we had fought battles against worse odds than this.

“Looks like we have more targets than we thought! “Chalky said into the radio.

I heard MC and Baz radio in, and then Jones and I followed him. They were all acknowledging Chalky’s message.

Three of the tangos headed down over the beach and climbed up onto the harbour wall. Lights went on, lighting up the trawler’s deck. Two men stood on the deck waiting for the tangos to get to them.

They were big broad men, men that oozed confidence, men that looked like they could handle themselves.

I used my site to get a better view, the men all shook hands and there was an exchange of words, but I could not tell what they were saying. The two men on the trawler picked up a crate and passed it over to the tangos, then they jumped off the trawler and onto the wall. All five men walked back toward the beach; I presumed that the Taliban men wanted to see the guns before they handed over the cash.

Torches flash on and the two more of the tangos moved down to join the inspection.

What happened next both confused and shocked me...

There was shouting from the right-hand side of the beach, and I could see Captain Jones, he was striding toward the men, his Glock in front of him. Where the fuck was his rifle?

“Put the guns down and hit the ground” he shouted as he made his way over the beach.

“What the fuck is he doing??” I heard Baz say into the radio.

“I don’t have a clue mate” MC said, “I tried to stop him, but he said we needed prisoners.”

“Oh, my fucking god!” I heard Chalky say into the radio.

“What the fuck do we...” I never did finish that sentence.

Two men on the deck of the trawler opened fire with Armalites, the preferred weapon on the IRA. the captain died in a hail of bullets. He did not stand a chance. Fuck him I thought, he only had himself to blame.

One minute we were in a quiet moor by the sea, only the sound of wildlife and the sea lapping at the beach and then all hell let loose. Men were shooting all over the place. Handguns and AK47s were being fired. The guys on the trawler had zeroed in on MC and their Armalites were firing at him in controlled bursts. They were professionals.

Baz started to fire three-round bursts into the men on the beach.

MC open fire on the trawler, I heard shots being fired all over the place. I got one of the tangos in my sites, a headshot. I fired, his head exploded, and he hit the sand. I ducked as rounds buzzed around us. They pinged off the rocks and sprayed us with chips of granite.

“One tango down on the beach,” I said into my radio’s throat mic. we tried to count the dead tango’s it was not always that easy but we tried.

Chalky bobbed up and fired. He emptied his magazine with perfect three-round bursts.

I lined up one of the shooters on the trawler. Chest shot, direct hit man down. Again, I ducked as rounds hit the rocks that we had hunkered down behind. I could hear both Baz and MC firing.

“One Paddy down” I reported.

“There are at least six paddies still on the trawler,” MC said over the radio. They had come mobbed-handed, obviously, they did not trust the Taliban.

“SO that makes it nine tangos left and eight paddies left! “Chalky said.

We heard the family crack crack crack of AK47s being fired from the trawler.

Then MC let off a series of three-round bursts from his H&K.

“One paddy down,” he told us.

At the same time, we heard Baz firing.

“Tango down,” Baz said into his throat mic.

The odds were getting more favourable. Each man that we killed made life a little bit easier.

I used the sniper rifles sights to line up another tango. He was hiding behind the transit, firing a pistol toward Baz. I lined him up, breathed out and squeezed the trigger. I got him in the dead centre of the chest and he dropped like a stone.

“Tango by the van down” I radioed out to the guys.

The firing from the beach increased and I guessed they had opened the case of Ak47s and handed them out. That mean more of the men had weapons. It was time to up the ante!

Chalky bobbed up and fired. Three, three-round bursts.

“Tango down by the car,” Chalky said into his throat mic.

Then we heard a GPMG firing. Its throaty cough drowned out the crack crack crack of the AKs.

“Where the fuck did they get a GPMG from!” MC shouted into his radio.

A GPMG or General-Purpose Machine Gun was a different beast, it could do a lot of damage, it sounded like an L7A2 and if it was, it fired 7.62mm x 51mm rounds. If one of those hits you it was game over.

I could see the barrel of the GMPG on the trawler, the shooter was hidden from view. I fired twice at it but without a clear view of the trigger man I did not stand a chance.

We needed that weapon talking out. It was a game-changer.

“Chalky can you put a grenade on the trawler mate, they have me pinned down,” MC said into his radio.

“Will do mate!” Chalky said. I watched as he loaded the grenade into the firing tube that was slung below the barrel of his M16A2.

“Rosie, I need some covering fire please mate, “he said to me.

I dropped the sniper rifle and picked up the L119A1/A2 SFIW and started to fire quick three-round bursts to keep the tango’s heads down.

I heard the woosh of the grenade. The first one landed a yard to the right-hand side of the trawler; it made a huge splash as it exploded. Two of the men jumped off the deck, they must have known what was coming.

Chalky did not miss with the second grenade. The deck of the trawler exploded in a flash as the High Explosive round landed. We heard screaming and the morning sky was lit up with flames as something on the trawler’s deck started to burn. The GMPG stopped firing so Chalky had done a good job.

I saw MC stand up and aim at the men that were running off along the docks wall. He took them both out with three rounds bursts. I could hear Baz; he was using perfect three-round bursts to keep the Taliban’s heads down.

The Tangos were now hunkered down but they kept up their rate of fire. Bullets buzzed past us. We had to move to make them split their firing. Some of the guys on the beach knew how to use weapons and some did not, we heard ragged bursts of fire as those that did not, fired uncontrolled bursts.

“Right lads we need to take the fight to them Baz, MC keep their heads down,” Chalky said.

“Rosie we will attack from this position!”

“Roger that boss” we all replied.

“Rosie, go left and I will go to the right,” Chalky said into the mic, “on my count of three.”

That count gave Baz and MC a chance to take some of the shooters out.

“One ... Two ... Three”

I stood up and ran for cover. So did Chalky ... we heard the other lads firing into the car park. The Tangos did not know which way to fire and that made it easier for us to get to cover. I got to my favourite firing position, on one knee, and fired a few three-round bursts into the car park.

“Right guys we need to move in and clean them out,” Chalky said.

“Right, I will go first, “I said. I loaded a fresh mag into my L119A1/A2 SFIW.

“Moving” I shouted and ran five yards to the trunk of a fallen tree. The other lads gave me covering fire.

I popped up and saw the legs of one of the gunmen, I fired two three-round bursts. I hit him; the screams told me that. He rolled further into view, and I put a three-round burst into his torso.

“Tango down by the van” Even as I said it, I knew I had drawn their fire and I ducked as at least two men started to fire at me. I heard the rounds thudding into the tree trunk in front of me.

“Moving “I heard Chalky say into his throat mic.

I put my L119A1/A2 SFIW over the tree truck and fired a couple of shots.

All the while I could hear Baz and MC firing away. The tangos had bloody good cover. I could hear rounds pinging off the van and the car.

Chalky dropped out of sight and I was worried that he had been hit but then I heard him firing.

“Paddy down by the car park sign” I heard Chalky say.

If my maths was right, and the men left on the trawler were all dead, the paddies had two men left and that left four tangoes.

There was a clump of rocks five yards in front of me. It was my next position.

“Moving, “I said and heard the lads up their rate of fire, I scrambled over the tree truck and dashed to the rocks. The tangos switched their aim toward me. Bullets pinged off the rocks and I kept my head down.

One of the tangos who was either very brave or very stupid ran out from the back of the car toward Big Baz. He had his AK47 in his hands and was running a zig-zag pattern.

Baz and I fired at him at the same time, and he hit the ground with at least twelve SAS rounds in him.

“Tango down to the rear of the car” Baz radioed in.

The firing from the carp park had died down, they had been firing wildly and my guess was they were short of rounds.

One man ran for it, he tossed his weapon away as he ran. I am not sure which one of us got him as Chalky, MC and I all fired at the same time.

“Tango down on the car park track,” MC said into the radio.

“I figure we have two tangoes left, “I heard Chalky say into his mic.

His maths was the same as mine, two left, two more tangoes and two paddies to deal with I knelt up and looked for movement, at first there was none. Then one of the tangos tried to get into the driver’s seat of the truck. It was a daft move ... he was going nowhere!

Chalky and I both fired at the same time, again it would be hard to tell who got the kill shot, but the result was obvious, he hit the deck and he was out of the game.

The firefight had not been going on that long, but the darkness of the night was being replaced with the light of the dawn. I tossed away my NVGs. The smell of cordite hung heavily over the bay.

Every now and then the last of the tangos left off a burst of rounds and we all tried to zero in on them. They were well bedded down behind the trucks.

The fire on the Trawler seemed to have died down. I spied another stand of rocks that I knew I could get to.

“Moving!” I said into my throat mic.

I heard the other guys start to hammer rounds into the car park.

I jumped up and ran to the rocks. I knelt, fired, and dropped to the floor.

Rounds hammered into the rocks, I felt chips rain down on me. Then I heard a scream.

“Paddy down in the car park,” Big Baz said.

I made that we had two left. I knelt up. I scanned the car park. I saw a pair of legs moving behind the car. I aimed fired and heard a scream. I now saw a body hit the floor, I fired again, and the body shuddered as all three rounds hit home.

“Paddy down behind the car,” I said into my throat mic.

“Good work, I make it we have one tango left” Chalky said.

“Roger that,” MC said.

“Agreed” Big Baz said.

We all scanned the car park, there was no movement and no guns were being fired.

We waited for ten minutes, which was good. The firefight had lasted less than ten minutes but bloody hell it had taken my breath away. I unclipped my water bottle and took a swig.

The smell and taste of cordite filled my mouth and my nose. No matter how many firefights you have been in you never get used to the smell of a battle.

“MC, Baz. cover us as we search the camp” Chalky said.

“Yes Boss” MC replied.

“Roger that” Big Baz replied.

“Rosie on my count of three” Chalky said.

I put the L119A1/A2 SFIW over my shoulder in its strap and drew my Glock. It was the right tool for this job.

“One, two, three,” Chalky said. Then he popped up and ran to the Transit van.

I ran to the car. I heard the double taps as he made sure all the bodies were dead. It was the SAS way. Never leave anyone alive that can pick up a gun and shoot you in the back.

I saw a tango moving to my right, I double-tapped him, two rounds to the head made sure he was out of the game. I worked my way around the car park and then headed down to the beach, I counted as I went. The sound of double taps echoes around the bay.

Then I headed down to the smoking trawler. The fire was all but out. I double-tapped and counted the bodies. All the time Chalky was dealing with men on his side of the car park.

“I got to a count of seven,” I said into my mic.

“I got to a count of Eight” Chalky replied.

But that made Thirteen and we were sure that four had died on the trawler and that meant there was one man left.

“MC recheck the trawler please mate,” Chalky said. We saw him jump up onto the harbour wall he ran toward the deck of the trawler he jumped off the wall and onto the trawler, he took a few seconds to check the boat before he gave us the all-clear.

Fuck I thought and dropped to my knees and scanned the area. We might have more than one man left out there.

“Four Paddies on the trawler, three double taps, one had no head to fire into,” MC said into his mic.

“I think we still have one man on the loose” Big Baz said.

Chalky and I started to search the beach, lucky the sun was rising, and we did not need the NVGs.

The smell of cordite filled the air, but it was better than the tangy metallic smell of spilt blood.

Then Chalky stopped and raised his hand and pointed to the boot of the car. He must have heard something. I got onto my knees with my Glock in my hands and Chalky popped the boot open.

The tango was huddled down and as soon as the boot opened, he started to scream. He was just out of his teens by the look of it.

I was about to open fire and my brain kicked in; I was sure the fuel tank was right under the boot. If I fired the car might explode.

“Fuel tank!” I shouted at Chalky, and he got the gist. He dragged the lad out of the boot of the car.

“I have information, I have information, do not shoot me please do not shoot me please Mr, “the lad said.