Hi Steve,no I wasn’t a firefighter then, still a truck driver, got my licence in 1981aged 19 through the Young Drivers Training scheme and spent the rest of the time mostly driving around Europe in one form or another, got disillusioned with driving and wanted a more stable career but was to old for the Fire Service then cos they had an upper age limit of 30!!
Saw a piece on the news during the summer of 1992 about some guys in Bosnia, hit the phones etc and a couple of months later found myself heading over there!! Came back in 1994, bummed around doing odd driving jobs and agency work here and there before finally getting into the Fire Service in 1999.
I found a couple more pics for you, the first one you may recognise…
Heading east along the main Zagreb to Belgrade motorway at sunrise on route to either Banja Luka or Vukovar. Apart from a couple of checkpoints along the way this road was deserted for obvious reasons!! This route was run by the artic teams, upto 6 at a time. Im guessing that this was taken late winter time due to the lack of snow on the road surface! Those of you that ran into Greece, Turkey or other points east may well have driven along this stretch of road. During March / April 1993, the Daf Teams from metkovic were tasked with running into Pale, which was a Serb stronghold east of Sarajevo. Anyway. to cut along story short, it all went abit wrong, we ended up in Belgrade, than ran backwards and forwards along this stretch of motorway between the Belgrade and Zagreb for a few weeks whilst someone worked out what to do with us!!
An abandoned Service area that has been the scene of some heavy fighting early on in the war,on the Zagreb to Belgrade motorway. If you look close enough you can just make out a “guard” in the shadows in the center of the pic.
Thanks for all the comments chaps. To be honest I wasnt sure if the pics would be of much interest but im glad they are!!
Im down in Devon at the moment taking my little boy to see my mum for a few days but when I get back I will sort out some more and get them put up. Cheers once again for all your kind comments…now, about that book!!!
bullitt:
As for a book…well, believe it or not I have written the first introductory page…and that’s about it!!!
I know I should do it, my wife tells me i should do it and when I see all the books coming out now about Iraq and Afghanistan I think “well why not”, but its like decorating…i just cant be arsed!!
Goaty:
A couple of my mates did exactly the same as yourself.
Do you remember, Steve “Caravan” Smith, Les Goodchild or Tim Winser (I think he was a fitter out there, about '93) ?
Hi goaty, the names ring a bell…
Steve Smith…did he have a bit of a pock marked / acne scared face, went out there early 1993?
Goodchild, im sure I remember a Roger Goodchild, ex Brains Haulage as were quite alot of the lads but not a Les Goodchild.
Tim Winser, is he a big guy, bald head, quite well spoken?? may have a pic of him somewhere!
it was 15 / 16 years ago now so the names tend to fade!!
I’ve finally remembered to point tim in TNUK’s direction. By now you’ve probably heard from the ol’boy !
cracking read, it must have been an interesting time.
on the subject of brains drivers, did you ever bump into little frank (jock) think he was out there.
chilistrucker:
cracking read, it must have been an interesting time.
on the subject of brains drivers, did you ever bump into little frank (jock) think he was out there.
Hello chili, yes mate, I remember frank, Frank Bailiey, not sure if thats spelt correctly. Other brains haulage guys I can remember are…
Roger Goodchilde
Dave (Mitch) Mitchell
Trevor Kay
Gary ■■?
Billy Espanor (sp??)…great Glasweegan bloke.
Dave Terry (may not be ex Brains, did alot of Russia though)
Im sure there were others but it was a while ago now!
thats him mate. i went too school with his daughter.
when i was a kid, on a fri night after school, i used too go out with my sisters father in law, he was a container driver for tracto’s, (formerley c.p ships). the tracto night lads, seemed too know alot of the brains lads, i only knew most by site, but always got too say hello too frank when i bumped into him, lovely chap.
think he may have moved back too scotland, not sure on that though.
Hi Rick, it been along time since i seen those photos bought back alot of good memories and good time and some very good m8 sadly not kept in touch much these days as life goes on and ppl drift in diff directions. Last time i heard from u, u were trying to get in fire brigade that how long it been, dont know if u remember JJ but he use to organise a BBQ every yr down at his place near Sailsbury and wld invite every one he had in his phone book, then in abt 2003 he found a job working for US company in Iraq and got a team of 10 guys some of who were in Bosnia to go out to US for assesment b4 going to Iraq and working as drivers with US army spent abt 4 yrs out there in all b4 i came home, cant remember all names of guys who went with us but there was JJ, John Joyce, Andy Pointing, Stuart MacLuckie, and Me that all i can think of at mo. As for me now im still driving work for health care company working out of Frating near Colchester, by the way im Tony (action man)
Bloody hell mate, how are you?? I wondered if any of the lads would ever look on this site and find the pics, great to hear from you mate.
Was going to post another sort of diary, this time running to Zenica via the long route over the mountains bringing us out at Prozor then up over the Maclin check point then down through Gorni Vakuf, the Macadam Road, Bon Bon corner, on to Travnik, Vitez , Bushovaka then upto Zenica.
I was going to put in about the time we were running into Prozor and there was a bad atmosphere (nothing new there then!! ) and I was running second to last with you as tail end charlie, as we turned right into the main high street, if you looked left there were a few very angry HVO trying to fix a knackered out motor, as we turned the corner I heard you shouting a few words of encouragment AT them!!! …folowed a few seconds later by a burst of fire from one of there AK`s back at us!!
Oh how we laughed
Good times mate and i really miss the crack. Will send you a PM mate and try a post up a few more pics.
In the meantime check this one out.
Cant remember where this was taken, it maybe Maglaj but its somewhere in the Zenica area cos thats a BiH tank and the Doris standing in front was my interpretur.
Thats you standing in the background on the left proping up that Beford doing your “hunky truck driver” impression!! …And I think standing behind the the guy with the green t-shirt is Trevor!!
Anyway, will try and sort some more out and if you have any then post them up mate.
Tony’s up the road Bullitt and i don’t think he’s got his laptop with him, I told him there was some posts on here about Bosnia and he’s well chuffed he joined mate.
Funny to read about him shouting words of ‘encouragment’ at the locals, cos he ain’t changed a bit
dont listen to Richie, Rick im nothing like i was calmed down alot , it was m8 from work that told me there was some pics of Bosnia on here and some one had put a story with them so i had to see if who it was, the pics have bought back plenty of menories u seem to remember alot more of the names than i can i had trouble when out there remembering them let alone 15yrs later hehe, If i remember correctly JJ has written a book a cpl yrs bk and got it published but dont ask me title think he was going to do second vol on last bit in Bosnia and then through onto Iraq but knowing JJ that wld take him another 10yrs to do. By the way name of hotel in Zagreb was ASTORIA, have u ever been back to Bosnia or Croatia since i always planned to but like alot of things i planned on doing never got round to it. Did u make it in to fire brigade in end hope so if i remember that last i heard abt u trying to join up, im living over Colchester way now split up from missus this yr so in bedsit wonderland at mo enough of the sob story, it great reading and going throu all ur stuff brings back so many memories and names from the past good times
Tony3622:
Hi Rick, it been along time since i seen those photos bought back alot of good memories and good time and some very good m8 sadly not kept in touch much these days as life goes on and ppl drift in diff directions. Last time i heard from u, u were trying to get in fire brigade that how long it been, dont know if u remember JJ but he use to organise a BBQ every yr down at his place near Sailsbury and wld invite every one he had in his phone book, then in abt 2003 he found a job working for US company in Iraq and got a team of 10 guys some of who were in Bosnia to go out to US for assesment b4 going to Iraq and working as drivers with US army spent abt 4 yrs out there in all b4 i came home, cant remember all names of guys who went with us but there was JJ, John Joyce, Andy Pointing, Stuart MacLuckie, and Me that all i can think of at mo. As for me now im still driving work for health care company working out of Frating near Colchester, by the way im Tony (action man)[/
Hi Tony its JR reading through the forum saw your name I am in Kabul with Mac maybe Baghdad Bob and JJ will join us. the rest of the drivers from Bosnia in JJs ten were Alan Peacock, Dave Rhoden, George Butterworth Bob Charman and myself and also Roy Woods. Good memories take care mate.
.
