During the second attempt a few months later I was tasked as the vehicle commander of the rear vehicle in the convoy (Tail end Charlie). The vehicle was a Russian Gaz, my driver being Sgt Coenie Coetzee. The infiltration was uneventful, except when the convoy driving on the main road east to Maputu from the SA border post at Kamatiepoort had to drive past a military base situated just off the road to the west, about 10km to the south of Maputo.

Task 1. My task on passing the turn off to the military base was to scatter metal spikes onto the road in an attempt to delay any response from the military base should there be one. We had two ammo cases full of these spikes manufactured by the tiffies. (This act of scattering the spikes on the road actually made it in the newspapers)

Task 2. On the outskirts of Maputo in the residential area we were tasked to set up a road block, blue flashing lights and all, to delay any response emanating from the west, namely the military base. The only excitement we had was a bus, probably a thirty-seater which approached our position from the city. On seeing our position with the blue flashing lights, the bus pulled off the road about 100m away, stopped and turned its lights off. Coenie fired a few rounds at the bus, the driver consequently debussed and ran off South into the residential area never to be seen again.

Exfiltration. We could hear the heavy weapons firing at the safe house, it seemed to take forever before we got the order by radio to pack up the road block and move to the RV and finally the exfiltration.

The plan was for the convoy to move westerly out of the residential area into the rural areas on a dirt road where we would approach the railway line entering Maputu. On crossing railway line, the convoy was to turn immediately right and follow the dirt road running parallel to the line. I remembered the briefing specifically stating turn right and follow the rail line, however the commander in the lead vehicle crossed the line and continued with the dirt road travelling at right angles away from the line to the south. The convoy had not travelled too far along this road before it came to a halt. There were no communications indicating the reason for the halt.

The convoy started moving forward at a restricted pace, when I noticed the lead vehicle travelling back along the same road. As the convey moved forward, more of our vehicles were driving back. It was only when the vehicle in front stopped and started to turn around that I realised that there was a high gate across the road preventing any forward movement.

It was at this stage that our vehicle stalled and Coenie was struggling to get the vehicle started, that I jumped off the vehicle and ran to the vehicle in front that was turning around and informed them that we needed to be towed.

SSgt Bruce Fraser was the vehicle commander of this Gaz and showed no interest in assisting me. I stood in front of his vehicle preventing them from moving and at the same time arguing with him for assistance. Eventually he conceded but would only tow my vehicle backwards as he had already turned around. As I was removing the tow bar from the back of my Gaz, Coenie managed to start our vehicle.

Bruce did not have to be told twice, they disappeared down the road away from the gate. I loaded the tow bar back onto the Gaz while Coenie was turning around. As I was climbing back in to the cab, I only then noticed armed personnel standing on the inside of the gate. We caught up with the convoy and had an uneventful trip back over the border to our forward base.

It was only once we had arrived at the base that the full events at the gate emerged and sadly the casualties from the contact in Maputo. The Commander Col Garth Barrett in the lead vehicle had instructed Sgt Queros, the interpreter to tell the guards to open the gate because we wanted to travel through. The more Sgt Queros instructed the guards to open the gate the more the guards declined answering that we could not drive through as this was a Military Base not a throughway.

It would be interesting to know what went through the minds of the guards at the gate, having this heavily armed convoy attempting to drive through their gate and then listening to Bruce and I arguing in English in front of the gate?????