Why not tell the enemy where we are?

While down near Frankfurt exercising with the Americans in their sector of Germany my friend Ian (Snake) Duff were sent to do L.O. (Liaison Officer) with an American unit. One night we did a night deployment which took place from night fall until about three in the morning.

When we do night occupations we drive on convey light which is light following a cigarette butt through the woods up and down hills this can be very demanding, but no only that once in position we were always expected to be as quite as possible so that the sound of our deployment did not travel to unfriendly ears. So doors were closed very quietly, the vehicle would be camouflaged very quietly as well, no lights would be used so you had to know exactly where every bit of your kit was, 21’ radio masts would be erected in the freezing cold.

To our complete dismay as we deployed with the Americans we started to do all the things we were trained to do and then wham the woods we were in light up like Blackpool illuminations. The Americans had turned on spot lights, head lights, torches and anything else they could light up and as we stood there mouths wide open we spotted a queue of men lining up as a coke machine was off loaded from a truck, they then preceded to get a coke before cracking on with the job  at hand.

Madness… good job there was no live enemy out playing that night.