Warrior Brothers by Keith Fennell Page B

take place. This seemed a little backward to us. The whole point of our operation was to obtain information that would make a raid safe and effective. Their impatience would force us to compromise our security in order to reach the target by first light. As time was short, we would need to pass directly through the villages ahead. We readied our night-vision goggles and waited for the sky to fall completely black.

    We had just entered a small clearing when Charlie and I froze. At a range of no more than 25 metres, and directly in front of us, were two hunters with spears. We stood stock-still – not moving, not breathing – until they had passed by and it was safe to go on. With the coast clear, we signalled to the others and continued through the village.
    A little further along this happened again, but with an added difficulty. Charlie and I were well ahead of the rest of the patrol when our night-vision goggles flared. A bright ray of light was coming towards us. We didn’t have time to signal the other guys so we just squeezed off the side of the path. With our weapons poised we crouched in the shadows and remained perfectly still. There was no time to take cover in the foliage and we were well aware that any noise or movement would draw unwanted attention to ourselves.
    We held our breath as several men carrying spears and torches walked within two metres of our position. Fortunately, the other patrol members had seen us dart left and crouch, so they, trained as they were, had followed suit. At one point the hunters’ torch-beam had rested less than twelve inches away from Jimmy’s boot.
    We pressed deeper into the village, silently passing within metres of groups of men around campfires, skirting thatched dwellings where we could hear the occupants chatting amongst themselves. They had no idea what was lurking so close to them. We crept through a maze of huts and tracks throughout the night. At one point, a dog – perhaps the one we’d pelted with rocks earlier – started going berserk. Luckily, barking dogs were obviously not out of the ordinary and no-one came to investigate.
    Further on towards the end of the village, I almost found myself in deep shit. Out of the blue, the ground disappeared from under me. One leg and then the other slid into a black abyss and soon my body followed. I had fallen into some type of hole. Judging from the smell, it was probably a toilet. Luckily, my heavy pack wedged me tight against the earthen walls with my legs dangling in midair. It stopped me from falling all the way to the bottom, but was hardly the most becoming position for an SAS soldier! Even with extensive wriggling I was unable to free myself. I could see Steve’s white teeth glowing in the darkness as he helped me out of the stinky hole. His amusement wasn’t contagious but his assistance was appreciated.
    The incessant barking of several dogs shadowed our patrol as we wove our way through the final lanes of the village. Miraculously, we made it without being compromised.
    With a silent sigh of relief, we listened to the barking fade into the distance as we re-entered thick vegetation. Not long afterwards, during a brief navigational stop, G began pressing Steve as to how long we would remain there. When he was told it would be about 10 minutes, G began ripping open his shirt and panting like a dog, his tongue lapping at the air. At first, Steve and I just laughed at his antics. Either G was clowning around or he was being bitten by ants. We continued to consult the map and GPS in order to ascertain our precise location.
    But G still seemed disoriented. The problem soon became clear when he told us that he had never been that hot in his entire life. He was without doubt experiencing heat exhaustion. He guzzled a decent quantity of water and slowly regained focus. G was a warrior and carried both the patrol medical kit and the light machine gun. Even a slight increase in temperature