The bitter and protracted war that precipitated the collapse of the former Republic of Yugoslavia remains an appalling and enduring example of the fragility of many modern societies. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and Cambodia to Northern Ireland, numerous countries have a legacy of tribal and ethnic hatred often encompassing hundreds of years of mutually-destructive rivalry that is not easily assuaged. It is futile to assume that all can be resolved through the well-intentioned offices of the United Nations. Nevertheless, belated as it may have been, from 1992 the Western European Union deployed military forces in a peacekeeping role to Bosnia/Herzegovina as part of UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force). The primary aim of this force was to escort the humanitarian aid convoys that were vital to sustain the innocent civilian victims of the war, irrespective of their creed, religion or race. Despite great progress towards a lasting settlement, peace remains elusive. No matter how auspicious the hand that signs a peace accord with the obligatory souvenir pen in Paris, Geneva or elsewhere, it is the rifleman on the ground or in his infantry fighting vehicle who implements that peace in the name of the United Nations. In a country far from home whose politics and customs often remain unfathomable, it is he who risks life and limb during peacekeeping duties as this account affirms.
Operation Grapple 4
The British Government was among the first to render military support in Bosnia, providing assistance under the codename 'Operation Grapple'. From November 1992 infantry battalions and other units have been deployed on a six-monthly rotation basis. Thus, by the start of 1994, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, based at Celle in Germany as part of 7th Armoured Brigade, The Desert Rats, was undergoing training for Operation Grapple 4. In the previous 18 months, the battalion had undertaken a tour in East Tyrone in Northern Ireland; reconverted to the armoured infantry role with the Warrior Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV) and had just completed high intensity warfare exercises at BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) in Canada. During this period, one of the principals in this account remained at Celle in a sorry state having suffered a serious powerpack explosion. With its registration number 35KG71, this Warrior AIFV was assigned to 3 Platoon of A Company who styled themselves The Point Company or 'Hardest Yet'. It was something of a jinx vehicle as it had not only been off the road for 18 months but also, during pre-Bosnia training, the coaxial 7.62mm Chain Gun had been utterly unreliable — proving incapable of firing more than three rounds without jamming. Despite the best efforts of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) artificers, 35KG71 was shipped to Bosnia with its Chain Gun untested. Following in the tracks of the previous armoured infantry battalions — The Cheshires, The Prince of Wales Own, and Coldstream Guards — 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, or 'The Poachers', deployed to Bosnia in late April 1994. The Poachers assumed command of BRITBAT 1 (the British armoured infantry battalion in Bosnia) in Vitez at 0800 hours on 8 May, with the main party arriving between 3 and 13 May. In the words of the regimental record of Grapple 4 — heavily laced with irony — it went something like this:
'March 1994: The bitter cold of the North German plain cut into our bones all through training. The snow lay five feet deep in places. Some staff officer in HQ made the mistake of thinking this was how it would be in Bosnia, so we painted our Warriors snow camouflage.
'April 1994: We hit the beach at Split in a series of aerial and amphibious landings on the Croatian coast. Opposition was thin. Just a bunch of renegades from a unit known as 'REMFs Group'.
'C and D Companies were thrown into the fight early. Their mission was Operation Handover, the seizure of the Vitez Pocket. As it turned out, the only resistance was a group called the Coldstreamers. They hung on for a bit, but were soon driven south, leaving behind their equipment, most of which they had disabled.....'
BRITBAT 1 originally consisted of A Company commanded by Major Richard Kemp; C Company (Maj Andrew Wadman) and D (Support) Company (Maj Richard Clements) with attached troops from Belgium and New Zealand as well as D Squadron of The Light Dragoons in their CVR(T)s (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance [Tracked]) to supplement the battalion's own reconnaissance platoon of eight Scimitars — or 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' as they were known. B Company commanded by Maj Alistair Wild deployed to Gornij Vakuf under the operational control of BRITBAT 2 — 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment — 'The Duke of Boots' in their Saxon APCs. Both battalions were responsible to the commander of Sector South West, Brig Andrew Ridgeway, whose headquarters was at Gornji Vakuf. With 8,500 UN troops drawn primarily from Britain, Canada, Malaysia, Spain and Turkey at his disposal, his command embraced an area of approximately 12,500 square kilometres (4,825 square miles) covering most of Central Bosnia from Maglaj in the North to Mostar in the South with more than 80 kilometres (50 miles) of confrontation line between the warring factions - the Croats, the Muslims and the Serbs.
The Maglaj Finger
One of the UN's principal mandates in Bosnia had been to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, and this was one of the main tasks of the Warrior battalions, which were to escort convoys to all parties with the minimum of hindrance or pilfering by the warring factions. Following the 23 February peace agreement between the Bosnian Croats and Muslims, which subsequently led to the creation of the Bosnian Government Confederation Forces, much of Central Bosnia was now open to traffic and the convoy escort role for the Warrior battalion was greatly reduced. (However, the dangers to UN troops did not diminish and, of the 12 British soldiers to die in Bosnia up to the end of Operation Grapple 4, 11 did so following the Croat/Muslim ceasefire). Accordingly, Sector South West tasked The Poachers to enforce the ceasefire between the BiH (Muslims) and the HVO (Croats) by setting up checkpoints to monitor civilian and military movement across agreed boundaries. The Poachers were also to conduct joint patrols with the respective parties along the ceasefire line. (The contemporary definitions of joint patrols is either: a foot patrol where you're confident that neither of the other two factions will turn up; or a patrol where the only thing 'joint' about it, is what the local is smoking!) Another important task was the overseeing of 'active sites', which were artillery or mortar positions, by checking the alignment and bearings of each piece of ordnance to ensure that it was aimed at military targets of the Bosnian Serb Army. This necessitated a UN observer to be stationed at every heavy calibre weapon at all times, as most active sites — by definition — had crew and ammunition to hand with the capability to engage targets at short notice. Many less-significant active sites were monitored by regular visits from Warrior crews or as they ruefully observed, 'a three million Deutsche Mark vehicle and a highly-trained section of the world's finest infantry guarding an old World War I pack howitzer worth 20 Deutschmarks which is manned by three drunken idiots'.
During the month of May, D Squadron of The Light Dragoons in their Scimitars had ventured north into the notorious Maglaj Finger, which hitherto had been inaccessible to UN forces. The Maglaj Finger represents the tragedy of Bosnia in miniature with all three factions in close proximity - Muslim and Croat communities being hopelessly intermingled with the narrow finger being menaced on three sides by the Bosnian Serb Army (BSA). In one place the Croats may control the water supply, whereas the Muslims hold the power station; each attempting to coerce the other in a classic case of 'Catch-22', all the while being liable to bombardment by Serbian artillery. Towards the end of the month a fragile and uneasy ceasefire was agreed between all three warring factions in Central Bosnia. In consequence Sector South West decided to establish a UN presence within the Maglaj Finger. At 1300 hours on 6 June, the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, A Company of The Poachers received orders to move out of their compound at the EKO Factory in Zepce and proceed north into the disputed area. Point Company was to monitor the ceasefire and, as part of this process, observation posts (OP) were to be established along the existing frontlines. Ordinarily UN forces did not go within three kilometres (1.86 miles) of the BSA frontlines for fear of provocation. Accordingly, the establishment of any OP required lengthy and tortuous negotiations with various local warlords and notables; with the first one to be near the village of Sije on the eastern edge of the Finger. It fell to Maj Richard Kemp to undertake the negotiations with the local Muslim Operations Group commander (equivalent to a colonel but in command of a force of approximately battalion size). This charismatic character, with long blond hair in the manner of General Custer, travelled around in that essential transport of the Balkan warlord - a Toyota Land Cruiser, with an identical vehicle transporting his bodyguards. Unimpressed by such style statements, The Poachers nicknamed him 'Seamus'. Moreover he met his match in a similarly charismatic Poachers' company commander who was nicknamed 'Mad Dog' Kemp by his men. In addition, agreement had to be sought from the local police chief and the local BiH battalion commander. All had to inspect the OP position minutely and stipulate exactly where the vehicles could be placed. Despite deep enmity and mutual distrust, communications between the warring factions continued throughout the war, so assurances were sought and received that the BSA was aware of the proposed deployment. After the copious consumption of strong coffee and slivovitz (the potent local plum brandy also known to British troops as 'sleep in the ditch'), without which no negotiation would be possible, agreement was finally reached and the task fell to 3 Platoon commanded by Lt Steve Russell.
3 Platoon get the call
It was no accident that 3 Platoon was chosen. In a company that believed itself the best in the battalion, 3 Platoon had no doubts that it was the elite of Point Company. Over the years it had received more than its fair share of difficult personalities, but such types often make the best soldiers in combat. Indeed the current crop contained many interesting characters, who by chance made up the majority of the battalion boxing team. After the Warriors had been carefully prepared including the boresighting of their 30mm Rarden cannon main armament, the vehicles moved towards the frontline in pouring rain during the late afternoon of 12 June.
Despite warnings from the villagers that they might be fired upon, The Poachers had no reason to believe that as UN peacekeeping troops they would be engaged during a ceasefire, however tenuous. This is reflected in the fact that most of the Warriors had only two riflemen, known as 'dismounts', in the rear troop compartment. At this time, it was standard practice for each Warrior to have a ten-man squad with Alpha and Bravo fire teams in order that each vehicle could be double crewed with commander, gunner, driver and two dismounts - both of whom were sufficiently conversant with the Chain Gun that they could share the gunner's duties during long spells at checkpoints or the interminable halts during convoy escort. This crew arrangement allowed much greater flexibility and wider use of Warriors in their extensive area of operations, but should the need arise a full complement of seven dismounts could be carried in the rear compartment. As the vehicles approached the frontline, the rain eased off but the weather remained dank and overcast so the crews continued to wear their Gore-Tex waterproof parkas over their body armour and 95 Pattern combat clothing. Lt Steve Russell dismounted from his Warrior, call sign (C/S) Three-Zero, to oversee the positioning of his four vehicles in the various locations that had been previously determined. C/S Three-Three commanded by Cpl Andy Rainey was to be farthest forward in a position directly overlooking the Serbian lines. The area was covered by a heavy growth of thorn bushes and mature trees so Cpl Rainey dismounted from 35KG71 to direct his driver, Pvt 'Ron' Hills, into a suitable place as the principal OP. However, the vegetation was so dense that it was necessary to position the 28-tonne vehicle on the forward slope of the ridge line in order to achieve a satisfactory field of view. Having shut down the engine, Pvt Hills went through maintenance procedures on his Warrior which had been named 'Reggie' by other members of the section after the Kray Twins (a notorious pair of English gangsters from the 1960s named Ronnie and Reggie) because the driver's nickname was 'Ron' — after the Ron Hill range of sportswear. The gunner had applied the name 'Reggie' with permanent marker pen below the driver's hatch forward of the splash board or 'icebreaker'. Cpl Rainey climbed back into the turret, replacing his ANR (Active Noise Reduction) headset, and instructed his gunner, Pvt 'Spike' Howie, to display a Union Flag so that the vehicle would be readily identifiable as British. The two dismounts in the rear, Pvts 'Handbrake' Hambridge and 'Bungalow' Fulton asked permission to disembark so that they could relieve themselves and also check out the area, as well as some BiH military policemen who had followed the platoon as unofficial minders and observers.
Poachers under fire
It was now almost 1900 hours and Cpl Rainey and Pvt Howie were debating whether to fly the flag from the radio antenna or lash it down to the engine decks when an unusual swishing noise was heard in the trees above them. However the ANR headsets were so effective in attenuating sound that it took some moments before they realised that it was rifle fire, which was confirmed when they received a radio message from Sergeant 'Arthur' Athroll in C/S Three-Zero behind them stating - 'Three-Three you're under fire'. Ordering Howie back into turret, Rainey battened down the hatches and told his crew to try and identify the source of fire. At this stage it appeared that only sporadic pot-shots were being directed at the vehicle, but when the unmistakable arc of tracers from an automatic weapon began to impact around the Warrior, Rainey decided to prepare for the worst. Mindful that the Chain Gun had always failed before, he checked that a double clip of six HE (High Explosive) rounds was in the breech of the Rarden and then radioed Company HQ — 'Three-Three contact — wait out'. As is so often the case in rugged, mountainous terrain like that in Bosnia, the message went unheeded because the vehicle was in a radio dead spot. Rainey soon realised the problem and relayed all further communications through C/S Three-Two, commanded by Cpl Gordon Duff formerly of the Battalion Signals Platoon, which was on a spur further up the hillside.
Meanwhile, both Hills and Howie had been observing the landscape, which comprised a deep valley with a frontage of approximately two kilometres (1.24 miles) and a width of some 1500 to 1800 metres (1,250-1,500 yards). At that moment Driver Hills detected smoke coming from some farm buildings across the river running through the floor of the valley. Realising that this was the principal source of fire, Rainey observed the farm through his x8 sight and saw a boarded-up window with a narrow firing slit. He determined that this was a legitimate target in self-defence of peacekeeping forces, but he could not be certain that innocent civilians were not sheltering nearby. Accordingly he was inclined to withdraw the vehicle behind the ridge line but, although he could see BiH troops milling about, he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of his dismounts and as heavier fire was now sweeping the area, he decided to return suppressive fire to protect his troops on the ground.
Target engaged
Following standard procedures, Rainey gave his gunner the fire order 'Coax On 800 — building in farmyard at bottom of valley.' While the gunner's response should be '800 On', the reply from Private Howie was somewhat more unconventional: 'You're f*****g joking aren't you?' Rainey replied 'No! — that farm building — 800 On'. With a gleeful 'Yee-Ha! All rightee!', Gunner Howie engaged the target. The initial burst went low, so with 'Ah S**t! Add 200. Target On!', he set the sight graticule to 1,000 metres (1,094 yards) and fired again. The Chain Gun, which had never fired more that three rounds before jamming in the last year, now worked perfectly - the reason being that since its arrival in Bosnia, 'Reggie's weapon systems, and indeed the whole vehicle, had been assiduously and meticulously maintained and checked every day. With the cry 'Target!' over the intercom, the shuttering disguising the machine-gun position disintegrated into shards of wood and no further fire was forthcoming. For several minutes an eerie silence descended on the valley, while in Three-Three all was quiet except for the gentle throb of the Perkins V8 engine.
Suddenly all hell broke loose as numerous weapons in the valley opened up on the Warrior, including 20mm automatic weapons; 40mm Bofors; 85mm anti-aircraft guns; 82mm and 120mm mortars and howitzers as well as sustained machine-gun fire that hit the vehicle repeatedly as many of the artillery rounds fell on the village behind the platoon. Thereafter all joviality ceased and everything was done by the book. Cpl Rainey relayed a precise contact report back to Company HQ stating: time of engagement; type of targets; volume of incoming fire as well as grid references and situation. Gunner Howie was now scanning for other sources of fire to the left of the vehicle while Driver Hills observed to the front of 'Reggie' and Corporal Rainey to the right.
In his exposed position in the front of the vehicle, Driver Hills continued a running commentary on the sources of fire and the incoming rounds - 'That one was 20 metres left' - 'That one's over' until the Serb gunners finally found the range when his observation to his commander became — 'That was f*****g close!' as a mortar bomb exploded directly in front of the Warrior showering the driver's hatch with clods of earth and obscuring the vision block. By now the fire was intense and the crew were sweating profusely in their Gore-Tex waterproofs and body armour. The conditions were not aided by the heat from the Boiling Vessel (the BV is an essential item on any British AFV, providing constant hot water for endless cups of tea), which was still running in the troop compartment and causing the optical sights to mist up. Thankfully, the crew soon felt the reassuring thud as the hydraulic rear door closed and Cpl Rainey shouted down through the turret basket to check if both the dismounts were safely aboard and to tell them to switch off the BV.
Although the driver is protected by a large Chobham armour panel over the frontal aspect, his hatch and the engine decks are not. As more rounds struck the Warrior, Cpl Rainey was acutely aware that, because of the vehicle's attitude on a forward slope, these areas were exposed and therefore vulnerable to the heavy calibre weapons now being directed at it. If the engine compartment was penetrated, the vehicle might be rendered immobile and it would be extremely hazardous to try and extricate Pvt Hills because the driver's tunnel into the turret was blocked with stowage items. Cpl Rainey decided to discontinue the action as there was little more to be achieved without escalating the situation through the use of the 30mm Rarden main armament. His decision was reinforced when shouts from the rear compartment indicated that the vehicle had been hit by a heavy calibre round which had ricocheted off the ground into the belly plates.
'Reggie' had been under fire for approximately seven minutes when Cpl Rainey ordered his driver to reverse into dead ground where the crew opened their hatches slightly for a breath of fresh air and a welcome cigarette. They also took the opportunity to divest themselves of their Gore-Tex clothing. It soon became apparent that the Serbs had a spotter overlooking their position as mortar fire continued to impact around 'Reggie'. Meanwhile, the platoon commander had returned to his vehicle, Three-Zero, and moved forward to assess the situation, occupying the position recently vacated by Three-Three. After some manoeuvring on the narrow track, the latter pushed through the hedgerow to an alternative hulldown position to provide mutual fire support. No sooner had Three-Zero come to a halt then it was hit by a hail of tracer fire which destroyed the commander's sight. Immediately, Three-Three returned fire against identified targets with controlled bursts of Chain-Gun fire.
Marilyn Monroe & Norma Jean
During training Warrior gunners are taught to fire the Chain Gun in bursts of less than two seconds, both to preserve ammunition and to allow controlled observation of the fall of shot. This is imbued by making the gunner fire the weapon for as long as it takes to say — 'Marilyn Monroe'. However, to a man with a tattoo of the film icon adorning his back and who was one of the top guns in the battalion, such an instruction was open to interpretation. Pvt 'Spike' Howie had devised his own variation whereby each time he pressed the firing pedal he recited 'Marilyn Monroe - Norma Jean' so every burst was almost twice as long. Not only was the terminal effect more devastating but to a gunner who, against instructions, could deliberately destroy the wooden supporting poles of hessian targets at over a kilometre (0.62 miles) with his Chain Gun, the accuracy of the fire did much to suppress the BSA barrage and allowed the driver of Three-Zero, Pvt 'Stan' Stanisweski, to withdraw to safety. For a further 20 minutes, Three-Three sought and engaged targets that threatened the platoon and the hapless villagers of Sije, all the while sustaining hits from small arms fire and shell splinters.
Company HQ, which was some 45 minutes away near the town of Tesanj and itself under artillery bombardment, was kept fully briefed of the engagement. At the time of the attack at Sije, the company commander, Maj Richard Kemp, was dealing with an uncomfortable and tricky situation fomented by a Mujahedeen faction. Nevertheless, he deployed his Quick Reaction Force and an armoured ambulance to support 3 Platoon. He also sent his Forward Air Controller to Sije and called for a Close Air Support (CAS) mission using his satellite phone; usually the most reliable means of communication in the mountainous terrain of Bosnia. The likelihood of an air strike on the Bosnian Serbs during a notional ceasefire was remote, so the air tasking request initially sought a CAS demonstration. This practice, which had worked on several occasions before, entailed fast and low passes by fully-armed NATO F-16s or Harriers to deter further transgression through a display of potentially overwhelming firepower. At the seat of the action, Cpl Rainey had now withdrawn his Warrior into dead ground and was thus protected from direct fire weapons, however the BiH soldiers now dropped to their knees and began firing with their Tokarev pistols.
Expecting to see hordes of BSA troops appearing over the ridge line, Cpl Rainey exchanged quizzical glances with his gunner at this strange sight but both quickly realised that the BiH were shooting at the BSA spotter in the woods who was directing the artillery fire.
They then rushed off to flush him out and not before time as the Warrior was rocked by an explosion to the right, followed in quick succession by several others. Three-Zero and Three-Three were now being engaged by an AGS-17 'Plamya' 30mm automatic grenade launcher.
A Difficult Withdrawal
With darkness falling, Lt Russell ordered his platoon to withdraw at 1950 hours. The crew of Three-Three demurred on the basis that now it was dark their superior night vision sights gave the Warrior crews a decided advantage and, given authority, the BSA positions could be eliminated with little fear of retribution. However, Three-One and Three-Two retired along a spur under concerted 120mm mortar fire to the previously arranged ERV (emergency rendezvous) in Sije where the REME Warrior Repair Vehicle was waiting, having broken down earlier. For Three-Zero and Three-Three, the withdrawal was even more difficult as it was necessary to reverse along the narrow track for one kilometre (0.6 miles) with a 10-metre (33 foot) sheer drop to one side. Not only was it now dark but the rain returned with a vengeance and the shelling continued. To Cpl Rainey, this was possibly the most dangerous aspect of the operation and after 500 metres (545 yards) he opened up his hatch despite the shellfire so that he could direct his driver to safety. At the ERV, the crew were convinced that 'Reggie' would have sustained numerous honourable battle scars with the armour plate 'looking like Swiss cheese'. They were somewhat disappointed to find there was minimal damage beyond ruined driving mirrors and a scorched hole in the middle of the Union Flag. Thereafter, essential maintenance was undertaken on 'Reggie', including boresighting the Rarden, and the inevitable paperwork to account for the ammunition expended — 167 7.62mm rounds had been fired.
On the following day, one of the village leaders escorted Cpl Rainey back to the scene of the action and identified every single gun position and its type, including the fact that the 'Plamya' automatic grenade launcher was truck-mounted. He casually added that sometimes the BiH painted their vehicles white to appear as UNPROFOR troops (as did the BSA). They then bombarded Serbian lines for a time and retired before retaliation took effect. It is, therefore, not surprising that a pristine white vehicle appearing on the opposite ridgeline and remaining there should provoke such hostility from the BSA. Indeed this was their response to the official complaints from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UNPROFOR. For his gallantry during the action near Sije on 12 June 1994, Cpl Andy Rainey was awarded the Military Cross to become only the third non-commissioned officer in the British Army to receive this prestigious medal. Now promoted to sergeant, Andy Rainey is the first to admit that although he got the MC, his crew were outstanding, notwithstanding the skilful performance of the rest of the platoon — it was a medal for all The Poachers and by extension a tribute to the professionalism of the British Army on peace keeping duties. Be that as it may nothing can detract from his actions that day as his citation makes clear.
by Simon Dunstan
Further reading
Finlan, Alastair, Essential Histories 63: The Collapse of Yugoslavia 1991-1999 (Osprey, 2004)
Ripley, Tim, Combat Aircraft 24: Conflict in the Balkans (Osprey, 2001)