That night I received a radio message from the KC at a PV down near the Ruenya River – nearly 4 decades ago so forgive me if I’ve got the name wrong. I believe it was from the PV known as D2 Nyamande. Anyway the substance of the message was that the Keep was being revved and they needed help. I explained that we had a standing order to report any incident to the Mtoko HQ and they would take over command of the situation.  I duly called Mtoko and the 2IC, Guenter Maeser said he would contact the KC directly. I kept a radio watch and I heard the KC and the 2IC converse.   After about an hour the Charlie Tangos broke off the engagement and silence reigned supreme. The 2IC ordered the KC not to leave the Keep in case the CTs started to stonk it again. He also advised the KC to conserve his ammunition stocks because experience had taught him thousands of rounds were fired into the air wastefully as the bullets went nowhere near the enemy.

During the revving the Keep had expended most of their ammunition and the KC started to panic and began to beg for a visit to replenish his ammo and for some comfort as well. The 2IC said they would call on the Keep the following day. Next the 2IC radioed me telling me to be prepared to travel to Nyamande first thing but to wait the arrival of himself, the CO and Glynn Trevelyan.

Glynn must have been contacted and told to arrive at dawn because by 7.30 a.m. the Mtoko convoy arrived at Kotwa. The CO arrived in his Land Rover with his eight trusty guards. The one who normally travelled in the cab was also on the back as Glynn was next to Commandant Hallack in the cab. One of the guards on the back was armed with a LMG, I didn’t even know that Guard Force had LMGs at that time. Guenter Maeser and his elite unit of muscle men were in the van with their Puma. I had started our Puma warming it up and selected some guards as well as a Corporal to travel to the Keep. I assumed I would be ordered to remain at Kotwa to man the radio but to my surprise the CO ordered me to accompany Glynn and he ordered young Jimmy to operate the radio. I rode on the back of Glynn’s Puma and we were instructed to lead the convoy. The CO in his Land Rover followed with Guenter bringing up the rear with his muscle men.

Arriving at the PV we drove to the Keep and met the KC. Inside his quarters he explained what had happened the night before. He had heard grinding sounds like tanks forming up to fire a barrage – that never happened – and they all saw plenty of green and blue tracer, heard the crump of mortars and the swish of RPG rockets and of course rifle and machinegun fire. He estimated there must have been at least 500 Charlie Tangos attacking his Keep. I was beginning to understand fishing stories – not that I blamed the KC – it was not much fun on your own with a few guards you can barely communicate with or even with a deputy KC if one was present, considering they were stuck out in the TTLs and miles from comfort and support from their own unit.

Anyway the CO was taking the report seriously enough to suggest Guenter and his superior band of muscle men should go for a wander outside the PV and see if they could find anything. Guenter declined saying he had already sent his men to the village to speak to the locals. He suggested as I knew the area should take some of our Kotwa guards and a few from the Keep and do the search. I was the lowest rank and second lowest appointment so had no recourse available to me.  The CO agreed and told me to get on with it while they went for a wander round the village to survey the damage.

I collected 6 of our guards from Kotwa including Dondo and Kapuke. The KC indicated two of his guards who would be best to lead me around the PV. It was a large village even enclosing a bush airstrip and the Keep was a long way from the main and only gate. Instead of going towards the gate in the southern fence the local guards led us towards the eastern fence, where they said the firing had come from. I was surprised as to the east was a fairly open plain but then what did I know and I guess it was ideal for tanks, etc. Arriving at the fence the first local guard shimmied up a stout centre post flipped over the wire and let himself fall to the ground. His shamwari threw his rifle over the wire to him and I realised they had practices this move before. Standing back I let all the guards climb over before me. I was the only one with a sling for my rifle so I threw the last guard’s rifle over to him, slung my rifle over my neck and I scaled up the pipe. I let go at the top and being agile fell to the ground on the other side without incident.

Next thing I knew was I was being stuck in the left arm bicep with a red hot hypodermic – what the hell! Jesus, I was stabbed again lower down my left arm. It wasn’t a crazy doctor with a bunch of massive needles, it was a swarm of hornets. Unlike bees, hornets don’t lose their sting once they have attacked they keep their sting and can inflict much more pain. The bloody guards seeing my antics bolted with incredible speed away from me. I too started to compete in the hundred yard dash hoping to evade the swarm of stings buzzing around me. The further away from the fence I got the quicker the hornets lost interest in me. I figured it out and what had happened was that the hornets had built their nest within the hollow pipe and having eight guards shimmy up the pipe had disturbed them. My doing the same thing was too much for the warriors and they came at me to protect their queen and nest.

By the time I’d caught up with the guards my left arm was throbbing abominably from the poison injected into it. My bicep had never been that big before and it was extremely hard. I’d have been proud to own such a muscle except it was on fire and extremely sensitive to touch. The guards didn’t know whether to laugh – at my amazing antics - or use discretion and be sympathetic lest I belted them in my pain and anger. I broke the ice by laughing at myself even though I was in great pain.  Kapuke illustrated my antics which had all the guards in fits of laughter and even I joined in. They assumed we would call off the search and return to the Keep. They didn’t know me and I set Dondo to track.  He soon discovered where the Charlie Tangos had set a mortar by the signs of the base plate.  The number of footprints indicated there were possibly 10 Charlie Tangos in the group.

We pressed on and Dondo discovered another location where the footprints indicated possibly another 10 Charlie Tangos, there was no base plate markings but we did find a piece of packing paper which I’d seen before, it was from an RPG – 2, 5 or 7 - I did not know which.   Dondo found a third area where there were an estimated thirty CTs but all we found were hundreds of AK doppies. We circled the PV expanding our circle for the next sweep. We did four circuits in all when I called off the search. We had collected nearly 900 hundred doppies and Dondo showed me where the Terrs had converged before heading for the Cordon Sanitaire where they had obviously created a safe passage across the border. I had heard stories they would drive game or rustled cattle through the Cordon Sanitaire to clear a safe path.

The Keep had fired off nearly 2000 rounds of ammunition but as we had found no blood spoor chances that they had hit anyone were quite remote. I sympathised with the KC as I too had been stonked and you had the knowledge no help would be coming your way until morning light. The nights were really bad as the slightest sound sends the imagination running riot. And in that part of the world being close to the Cordon Sanitaire every night there were at least half a dozen bangs as innocent game ventured into the cordon; sometimes it was Charlie Tangos.