GETTING THE JINX

Every now and then a soldier, regardless of rank , gets the jinks . It is usually associated with returning to some place where he has courted disaster or death . This happened to me in the Radfan but first let me introduce you to another character , Geordie Taska .

Taska had been a trooper in A Sqn , 22SAS , the same Squadron I worked with in Borneo . In 1964 A Sqn was deployed to the Radfan . Taska was part of a 12 man patrol commanded by a Captain Robin Edwards which was tasked with infiltrating into the mountains to lay out a landing zone for the Parachute Regiment . Things went wrong early on as the signaller  Trooper Warburton took ill and as a result they did not make their planned objective by first light and had to hide up in a stone goat pen . They were then discovered by an Arab goat herd who they had to shoot . This alerted the local tribesmen who started to move in . They were held off by calling in RAF Fighter Jets  throughout the next day but come last light the RAF could not operate . There was no option but to try and break out . Unfortunately in the process Captain Edwards and his signaller Warburton were killed . They were subsequently decapitated by the Arabs and their heads displayed in Taiz in the Yemen . The rest the patrol managed to break contact and get to Thumier . Georgie Taska was one of them . By the time I met him he had been posted back to us as a corporal in the Transport Platoon but was attached to us at Monksfield .

About a couple of days after the incident in which Ryder got hit intelligence came which indicated the dissidents were going to attack us at Monksfield that night . The Company Commander ( Heggie ) wanted to send two patrols out to intercept any Arab groups coming in . I was to take one patrol to the Wadi Lahamaran and Geordie Taska was to go to the area where his SAS patrol had met with disaster . Neither Taska or I were keen to go to the locations allocated and we suggested we might do a swap . However , Heggie would not agree on the basis both of us should go back to areas we were familiar with. Being good soldiers we did as we were told .

Once again in this familiar wadi my patrol settled down to a long night . It must have been about one in the morning when we heard the noise of someone coming . We slipped of our safety catches off , patted the grenades in front of us and waited . Then sauntering down the wadi came a stray goat . I think Shakespeare might term this comic relief .

Well shortly after this a booming voice came over the radio " THIS IS SUNRAY MARY'S HAD A BOY " ( Sunray is the appointment title used by commanders on the radio ie Heggie ) Mary , John Heggs wife had been pregnant with their second child when we left for Aden .

This was great news as there might just be a party in the offing and I might be allowed to pull out early . I remember suggesting that my mortar section might just fire off a few rounds in celebration . Well not only did they start firing but also a troop of artillery we had with us with their howitzers . I did not pull out early but as I made my way back with my patrol the Arabian sky was ablaze with star shells . We must have spent a fortune on ammunition .

When I got back Heggie , David Hickman (2ic) , Company Sergeant Major and Colour Sergeant were well into a bottle of whisky or two but they had left some for me .

Next morning I had a chat with Geordie Taska . His patrol had been uneventful . I told him about the goat . We smiled , nodded : I think we had got over the jinx !