07/07/1977 - Snippets from a fading memory - Part 3

Many of the events experienced during my time up north will remain unsaid.  I rather write about the good times, the fun we had, and the support for each other. War is war, weather it's conventional, or bush, soldiers do what they have been trained to do. Soldiers kill, soldiers die. At the end of the day, those that come back home are no longer the boys that were conscripted initially, and they carry their scars inside.

One day, after a week of sweeping through distant roads, we were on our way back to camp and were driving past some infantry guys. They asked us to stop and see if they could catch a ride. As we had swept the road earlier that day, we were comfortable to drive it, and just keep an eye on the tracks. We had mastered the art of seeing any possible disturbances In the tracks, even if the track had been redone with a loose tyre. And there among this rabble of misfits was my best friend from school! They were on their way back from a 2 week stint in the bush. Tired, hungry and dirty like you won't believe. That was a special moment, meeting up with him, out there in the middle of nowhere!

We soon became adept in recognizing any marking that would be left by those who placed the landmines to warn the locals of it's presence in the road. A strategically placed empty cold drink can, two rock, one on top of the other, and, on the way to Etale where the locals had a makeshift soccer field, the goal post top cross bar. If it was up in position, all was clear, if one side was down, it showed there was a mine in the road, and also pointed in the direction it had been placed!

Our troop lifted many mines, mostly the old cheese mine - I think those were relics from the second world war that Russia had supplied to the Angolans. Some of them looked rat eaten, with chunks missing, but they were still deadly. Not sure about the other guys, but we never blew up any mine we found, We successfully lifted and removed all of them, taking them back to camp as a trophy! (Which was immediately handed in for safe keeping.)

I found a TM57. I had never seen one before, not even in pictures. Cleared all around it, felt underneath - no secondary mine or trap. Then we used a long rope to drag it out of the road. No bang. So it was time to see what this thing is about. The top had a part that could be unscrewed. This was the tricky part (for me anyway, as I imagined it could be booby trapped to prevent dismantling). I smeared some nail polish remover around the edge where it met the body of the mine, and tried to unscrew it. It gave easily. So, slowly unscrewing, and listening closely for any tick, or click, or any sound which might indicate that it was in fact booby trapped.  At this point, my mates are around 50 meters away, with the vehicles. The infantry were probably 100 meters away, giving cover to the vehicles and to me. Eventually the top was loose, and gingerly I lifted it away from the body. This is where it became interesting. A bit of nail polish remover again, on the detonator holder, and it easily came out. Funny thing, the detonator was sitting sideways in the housing.

With that out of the way, I pressed on the button on the top, and the damn thing started to tick like a clock! I tossed it probably 10 meters away, and hid my head in the sand. Nothing. The ticking stopped. I retrieved it and checked inside. Now the inner parts had turned 90 degrees, meaning the detonator would now have been armed. I called one of our guys over, and we checked it out. Reset it. Pushed the button again and watched. This thing was made so that the first vehicle to drive over it and push down the button would start the clock turn, which would place the detonator in armed position, and then the second vehicle would detonate it! Clever sly bastards. 

Loaded it up, and when we got back to camp, set the lid and tossed it to one of the infantry guys, who on catching it, heard the ticking and threw it as far as he could while screaming all kinds of warnings to everyone around him! That was kak funny. Sent a report of the finding to Ondangwa, so that they could disseminate the information to the other Sappers out there, so they would also be aware of these mines, and know how to defuse them.  I have a photo somewhere, (which does not exist), where I am lying in the middle of the sand road, drenched in sweat, clearing the sand away around this beast.

My mind says there might be a part 4.