Spider Shepherd: SAS: #1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Invisible from ground-level, they would mark their positions to the supporting aircraft and - in theory at least - prevent “blue on blue” casualties.
    Harry directed them as they created the Drop Zone, laying it out in the form of an inverted letter “L”.
    ‘The aircraft will fly along the long axis of the L,’ he said, ‘while one of the patrol stands on the short axis. When the aircraft is level with you, the patrol member will flash a Morse letter code using a torch with an infra-red filter. As soon as the aircrew sees that signal, they will release the parachute loads. And if I have got my drift calculations right, then the cargo should land smack on the position I want it to. So keep your fingers crossed.’
    They had marked the drop zone with infra-red illuminating sticks and Shepherd had his masked torch ready to flash the code letter Victor: dit, dit, dit, dah. Harry and the rest of the patrol were in all round defence with the LTD deployed.
    Out of the darkness they heard the unmistakable sound of an approaching C-130 Hercules and in the far distance the sound of other aircraft, fast jets, with the scream of their engines bouncing off the sides of the mountains. ‘Flash the code Dan,’ Harry said. ‘They can already see us, they’re using PNGs.’
    Shepherd began flashing the Morse signal and suddenly there was the gut-churning rumble of huge engines and an enormous shadow passed almost directly overhead. All around them the hills were eerily silent. There was no reaction at all from the Serbs.
    As the Hercules flew on, disappearing into the night, Shepherd could see a series of black shapes dimly outlined against the starry night sky: huge parachutes with bulky loads dangling below them. They could hear the sound of the chutes deploying behind the trees and then the thuds as the loads hit the ground. One of the chutes landed a few hundred yards from the patrol. ‘Shit,’ Harry said, ‘that one will be in the open. It will cause us problems tomorrow.’
    Shepherd was scathing. ‘Bloody hell, they missed the DZ.’
    ‘Actually they didn’t,’ Harry said. ‘These guys are the best the US have. They are part of the Air Commando Squadron based in Piraeus in Greece. They’re the best of the best when it comes to drops. I heard the risers on the chute breaking, and that caused it to fall short. So the parachute, or at any rate the risers, might have been crap kit but that’s not the fault of the guys who are dropping it. I have been working with these guys off and on since they were flying Dakotas. They will always get to you wherever you are, on target and on time.’
    ‘I hear you,’ Shepherd said.
    Harry shrugged. ‘Don’t worry about it, just learn the lesson. In the Regiment new guys are like little girls and boys in Victorian times: seen but not heard. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth closed. Listen and learn, Dan, and you’ll do just fine. And you can learn an awful lot about soldiering from guys like Diesel.’
    ‘You can learn even more from Harry,’ Diesel said. ‘He practically wrote the workshop manual for SAS patrols. What Harry doesn’t know, basically isn’t worth knowing. He not only knows where the bodies are buried he also dug the graves for most of them.’
    ‘Just make sure I’m not digging yours, one of these days,’ Harry said with a mock scowl.
    The next morning the patrol stood screened from Serb eyes by a stand of trees as they stared at the load out in the open. Behind them the Bosnians were loading the contents of the other crates on to tractors and other farm vehicles, even horse-drawn carts.
    ‘Bloody hell,’ Diesel said, ‘some of those tractors make the horse and carts look modern.’ He pointed at an old style, grey-painted tractor. ‘That’s a Massey Ferguson, must be one of the originals.’
    Gus studied it for a moment. ‘It looks pre-war.’
    ‘True, but which war?’ Shepherd said. His smile faded as he saw what the Bosnian Muslims