My first proper trip has been well documented on here before,but basically I was offered a nearly new truck by the boss,but I had to go to Poland the following week.
I didn’t need asking twice and the following week I set off to Poznan and Szczecin,with a guy named Adam Zamoyski beside me,to deliver medical supplies on behalf of a charity called ‘The Polish Knights of Malta’.
Adam Zamoyski,who is in fact a very famous author (though I didn’t know that at the time) was representing the charity and being of Polish descent spoke fluent Polish.
When we arrived at the hospital in Poznan all the staff,doctors,nurses,surgeons all came out to help unload the trailer,and most were in tears,being so overwhelmed and thankful for the stuff we’d bought them.
We took everything,from hyperdermic syringes to bandages,plasters,soap,disinfectant,cough mixture,anything,because they had nothing.
You have to realise that this was at the beginning of 1982 and the Polish government under General Jaruzelski had implemented martial law on the country,on the orders from Moscow.
This was at the time when Lech Walesa had brought the Gdansk shipyards out on strike and started the Solidarity movement,every town we went through had military checkpoints in and out,there was nothing in the shops,people were not allowed to travel even within their own country unless they had a permit to do so.
On that,and subsequent trips,I met many members of the Solidarity movement,they would show up unannounced and secretly,and would thank us for the work we were doing,and hand us letters to smuggle out to the UK and on to relatives.
I still have several items bearing the Solidarity banner,including a black and white calender showing pictures of the strikers in Gdansk as well as some beautifully carved wooden items.
For a first trip it was quite nerve racking,seeing the border controls into the DDR,everyone eyeing you with suspicion,being ordered to remove door panels from the cab so that they could look inside,it was everything you’d ever seen about communism,and more.
The general population were very friendly though,especially the Poles,who,although they had very little,would gladly give you whatever they had.
I came back from that trip much wiser and eager to start the next one.
I am grateful that I had the chance to do it,I think the job gave much more satisfaction than I get today,when you set off then with a TIR carnet in your hand and ready to face any problems that came up,you felt a sense of pride,and a sense of achievement on your return.
Now,since the borders came down in 1992,the job has gone to pot,I miss the long trips,being away for weeks at a time,meeting some great people along the way,but that’s what they call progress.
My advice? Go for it,you never know until you’ve tried it!
),
