A Story of War

I do two more trips over Falluja. One to bomb lorries at Khan Nukta police post, where I put a stick bang on the road, and the other to attack 100-200 troops who had come up to Falluja by the canal road south of the town. They had left their lorries and were sitting out in the open, so I spread out the bombs and cause a minor retreat of a few hundred yards. I believe they were all lying down on their faces with their rifles pointing in the air. Then the Sgt Major would watch us come over and order “fire” and every man would pull his trigger with his thumb and a fusillade of shots would come into the air.

At about 4pm two bombs land in the Mess. One behind the C.O.’s quarters, some 100 feet from me, and the other one on the Mess lawn, five yards from our newest slit trench, which was full up at the time, though no one was injured. Also one through the roof of the depot NAAFI.

Reggie Wall is better, and now remembers doing a tight loop and a few airleron turns and getting one of the MEs in his sights. The King’s Own have had three officer casualties yesterday, and the Iraqis had them forced back onto the bridge at one time. The local inhabitants also sniped them. Complaints that the Indian-made bayonets snapped off in the 8th body!

Germans dropped leaflets yesterday too, but from 11000 feet or so. Two 110s over today, twice, but didn’t fire, and reputed to have dropped a message on Air HQ.