Fighting for the French Foreign Legion Read online

  Things changed suddenly when two giant Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft belonging to the Libyan Air Force flew across the border on a direct course for Ndjemina. Two French Mirage fighters were scrambled and we were told by the new government that they had permission to land. A delegation from the new Tchadien government arrived at the airport insisting that they should be given access to the aircraft when they landed. They claimed that the aircraft were there to pick up hundreds of Libyan prisoners who were being held in Tchad and were to be repatriated to Libya. Permission was given for the aircraft to land, but they were directed to a parking spot chosen by us and a security cordon was thrown round the aircraft. No one was allowed to disembark and we escorted two representatives of the Tchadien government onto the aircraft.

  Lorries arrived carrying over 300 prisoners in prison uniforms that looked to me to be no more than striped pyjamas. Most were infirm and malnourished, and it was clear that they had not had an easy time. I wondered how many had died and why the French authorities and the Red Cross claimed not to have known of their existence. They were brought into the airport and lined up between the terminal and the waiting aircraft. We did our best to ensure that they were all Libyans as claimed and not Tchadiens from the old regime being flown out to Libya. While this was taking place, two armoured Mercedes limos were rolled out of the aircraft onto the tarmac. It was claimed that they were gifts from Colonel Gadaffi to the new Tchadien President. Closer examination showed that they were filled with gifts and ladies’ clothes, including fur coats. The cars were seized by the French authorities and secured in an aircraft hangar within the French military air base at the other side of the airport.

  The aircraft left an hour later with their human cargo and the following morning the same two aircraft were back on the tarmac for a repeat operation, although this time minus the gifts.

  Before this exchange of prisoners could take place, a couple of ‘men in black suits’, came into the airport and asked to speak to our Colonel. They were accompanied by the French Ambassador and the American Consul. Not all of the Libyan prisoners captured over the years had found their way into the hands of the Tchadiens. A large number had been taken to a special detention camp at a secret location about 50 miles outside of the capital. The men in black suits said that the Tchadien government did not know anything about the existence of the camp, or of its prisoners. The French Ambassador claimed that the first he had heard of it was an hour earlier.

  The camp was run by the CIA and was used to train those in detention to go back into their own country to undermine the Gadaffi regime, commit acts of sabotage, assassinations and to spy for the Americans. All of this was done for financial reward and the promise of a new life in the States on completion of their missions. Due to the new pro Libyan government, the existence of the camp was not now sustainable and they wanted to fly their prisoners out of the country. Everything had to be done in the utmost secrecy and a plan was made to bring them to the airport and fly them out without the Tchadiens or Libyans knowing what was going on.

  The problem was that we were going to have both Libyan and American aircraft at the airport at the same time. At 2.00 pm exactly, two US Galaxy C-5B transporters landed, we closed the airport down and confined the Libyans to their aircraft. When they saw the American aircraft touch down they were worried that they were about to mount an assault on them, but the aircraft continued to the far end of the runway before coming to a halt in a position out of sight of the terminal. The prisoners were transported in covered lorries to a point just outside the boundary fence next to where the American planes were waiting. Two French helicopters circled low overhead causing a sandstorm with the downdraft of their rotor blades, effectively preventing anyone seeing what was going on. We cut a hole in the fence and quickly loaded the prisoners onto the aircraft. The whole operation took less than fifteen minutes from touchdown to take-off, and the CIA left with them.

  Just before they left they gave us the coordinates and keys for another secret location. They did not tell us what we would find there but asked us to destroy everything. Less than five minutes from the airport we found five large brick warehouses enclosed by a 10-foot-high barbed-wire security fence. There were two civilian articulated lorries parked inside the compound and the sign on the gate said that it was a transport company. We had passed this complex many times and had not given it a second glance.

  There was no one about and the padlocks looked brand new – not a problem as we had the keys. When we went inside the buildings we found a complete arsenal, enough weapons to equip an army. The strange thing was that although many of the weapons seemed to be of Russian or Chinese origin, they weren’t. Closer examination showed that the AK47 assault rifles were of American manufacture and were still wrapped in their original packaging. We also found a large quantity of American and French-made ground-to-air missiles, mines, grenades, explosives and thousands of rounds of small-arms munitions. When we searched the offices we found lots of paperwork that clearly indicated where the munitions came from.

  Our orders were to destroy everything we found, including the paperwork. In the last warehouse we found a perfectly preserved ex-Soviet helicopter gunship. It had all of the identity marks removed and looked as though it was about to have a paint job. It had all its armaments in place with air-to-surface missiles hanging from its stubby little wings. Where on earth had this come from?

  A short time later, the two Merc limos were driven into the complex and secured in one of the warehouses, still with the ‘gifts’ inside them. We rigged the entire complex with explosives and withdrew to a safe distance. An area of approximately one square mile had been secured round the complex for safety reasons. When the explosives were fired, the resulting detonations were seen and heard for miles. The ground shook and a huge fireball climbed into the sky.

  The Tchadien authorities demanded an explanation as to what had happened but were told that the warehouse complex must have been destroyed by a stray round. The odd mortar bomb had landed near the airport and the explanation was feasible. It didn’t explain what had been in the buildings to cause such a huge detonation but it was the best they were going to get. After the departure of the American aircraft, the transfer of the second batch of Libyans held by the Tchadiens went ahead without a hitch.

  There was an unspoken agreement amongst all of the parties involved that no questions would be asked and the incident was closed. We never found out where the Americans had flown their prisoners to, but perhaps it was the first example of American rendition flights. We had done nothing to aid or hinder the political changes taking place within Tchad but we had cut off all physical links between Libya and the would-be government. Without this aid, the revolt was short lived.

  The Regiment maintained its presence in the country for a few weeks but we headed back to Saudi Arabia where things were hotting up as the Coalition forces grew in size ready for the push to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

  CHAPTER 12

  Operation Desert Storm

  The American, British and French heavy tanks and artillery had arrived and were ready for deployment in the first part of the offensive now known to the world as ‘Desert Storm’, or as ‘Operation Daguet’ by the French. Huge military camps had sprung up all over Saudi Arabia and it was clear to us that this very large army was far greater in size than was required simply to eject the Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Even more impressive was the air power. I had never seen so many helicopters - they were everywhere, ferrying personnel, freight and heavy guns forward to the more advanced positions. At times it looked as if they were moving loads from A to B and back again. Perhaps this was a planned exercise to confuse any spies watching the build-up. It confused us. It seemed to be a logistical nightmare but the amazing thing was that if you asked for something, you got it.

  When the Legion tank regiment eventually arrived by sea, they were immediately deployed on the Saudi-Iraq border. We also noted that the American main battle
tanks, the Abrams M1, were kept on the back of their transporters.

  Because we had been redeployed to Tchad, we had not been included in the plans for the approaching invasion and the recon units had been restructured to work without us. As it turned out, this was good news for us as it meant that we would stay together as a unit and would be working in our normal combat groups. It was always good to know that you could trust and rely on the rest of your team if things got a bit heavy. Being the Legion we had our own linguists and every speciality we might need. When the air strikes started we knew that the ground hostilities would not be long in starting. Wave after wave of fighter bombers left on air strikes every day, striking at targets designated by units like our own.

  At 7.19 am on 23 February 1991, we crossed the border into Iraq well to the north and west of Kuwait, along with 4th Company of the 2nd Legion Infantry Regiment (2eme REI). We were fully equipped for chemical warfare and dressed in full NBC combat gear. The actual invasion of Iraq was led by the 1st Legion Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), quickly followed by the main US armoured division spread out across the desert.

  There was no opposition of any kind. Enemy positions were being carpet bombed ahead of us, reducing areas the size of two football fields to dust by the accuracy of the bombing. Artillery fire and ship-to-shore missiles fired from surface ships and submarines hundreds of miles away were striking targets with pinpoint accuracy. It was very impressive to us, but must have been terrifying if you were on the receiving end.

  There is a popular belief that a cruise missile has the capacity to find its way through windows and down chimneys. This belief is something that has always been encouraged as it helps to spread fear amongst the enemy. It’s not quite true – almost, but not quite. The on-board guidance system is incredibly accurate and the missiles have the ability to follow a three-dimensional guidance system at low level right to the target area. That in itself is a remarkable example of modern technology, but when it gets to its destination it requires some assistance from the ground to enhance its ability. To do this a system of target designation is used involving a team on the ground who guide the missile onto its target using a hand-held laser. The exact location of the team on the ground is sent to a control aircraft flying high over the target. This location is then fed to the on-board guidance system on the missile. Once locked on, the missile picks up the exact point of desired impact from the hand-held laser and that is exactly where it will impact, to the inch. It could be a window, a door, an aircraft, a truck or even a moving target.

  The resistance was so weak that we had to leapfrog ahead of the main force to acquire targets for the aircraft and missiles we were undertaking missions further and further into Iraq. It was not long before the opposition realized that there had to be guidance teams on the ground calling in the air strikes, which meant that such missions were risky and guaranteed to get the old adrenaline going. Helicopters were used to put us in and sometimes they had to make some very hot extractions, but that was what we were trained for. Fighters were called in to cover our extraction by mission controllers in the command aircraft high above our heads.

  Up until now I had still to fire my weapon in anger. Our biggest problem was proving to be the huge numbers of Iraqi soldiers wanting to give themselves up. We simply handed out leaflets in Arabic telling them that they should surrender to the main force which was only a couple of hours behind us. They were astonished when we drove off leaving them behind and most sat down in groups to await the arrival of the main force. Some even laid down their weapons and went home. Many were no more than boys and had no idea what was going on or even that they were at war.

  We had no information about what was happening in Kuwait or anywhere else in the country. We had not been told to slow down so assumed that the same scenario was unfolding across the rest of Iraq. We had heard that some Scuds had been fired against Israel from the north-west but that was nowhere near our area of operation.

  Our next objective was to attack a munitions depot in the region of As-Salam. We found lots of cluster bombs and several hundred tons of different types of munitions. The following day we reconnoitered an old fort just to the north of the munitions dump and were joined by another French unit who were going to install a command post in the fort. Disaster struck when two unexploded cluster bombs just outside the fort went off as a patrol was passing. Two men were killed and twenty-five injured. Unfortunately two of our own men were amongst the injured, one of them with a serious thigh injury. He was repatriated back to France but thankfully made a full recovery and was able to return to active service.

  There was little or no resistance on the ground and any combat was very one sided. We were only involved in a couple of very brief firefights with retreating Iraqis. Not once did we come under direct attack. The American air power was devastating, as was clearly demonstrated by the attack on an Iraqi convoy trying to flee north from Kuwait. Only two aircraft made the attack, destroying over 150 vehicles in one pass.

  Resistance was so poor that we found ourselves just short of Baghdad waiting for the main force to play catch-up. We were told to halt where we were and await instructions. On 9 March the order was given to pull out and to return to Saudi Arabia. No reason was given and we were not in a position to ask. Operation Desert Storm was over. From crossing the frontier into Iraq to our withdrawal back to our jump-off point had taken just two weeks.

  There was one serious outcome that arose from our rapid withdrawal. We had found some ammunition dumps hidden in huge underground complexes which we had come across by accident. We knew that there were dozens more that we had not found, but because of the risk of chemical contamination, we were not allowed to blow them up. We were told to note the location and report what we had found to the experts who would deal with them at a later date. The problem was that all of the Coalition forces withdrew from Iraq so quickly that no one ever got back to them. Years later when the UN inspectors went back into Iraq they either didn’t have details of the locations or when they did examine the sites there was nothing there.

  If you believe anything that Saddam said, then the Iraqis’ destroyed them. I don’t and neither does anyone else who saw what we had left behind. Saddam did not believe until the day it happened that he would be deposed, so why would he destroy what he thought of as his ace card – a huge store of chemical weapons. If they are not still lying out there, then where are they? That is a question that worries me. He would rather have passed them into the hands of his worst Arab enemies than destroy them or let anyone from the West or UN inspectors find them. So where and when will they turn up? If, God forbid, they ever find their way into the hands of terrorists, we will all pay the price for the huge mistake made not only by the politicians, but by everyone who called out for an end to hostilities before the job was done properly. These are the same people who today shout about the human rights of those who show no respect for the rights of anyone. Those who die at the hands of the terrorist have no rights, but still they cry foul if they are as much as stopped and asked to prove their identity.

  There was one interesting little episode which was experienced by the Regiment when it flew back to France after the intervention in Tchad. Although the story was told to me by a senior officer in the Regiment, I have no reason to disbelieve it. The Air France 747 bringing part of the Regiment back to Corsica after the intervention in Tchad was diverted to Marseille. What happened next, although it had an amusing ending, was nevertheless a scandal and insult to the integrity of the Regiment. On the order of the French Secret Service (the DST), the aircraft was directed to a remote part of the airport normally designated for anti-hijacking operations, where it was surrounded by armed gendarmes who escorted everyone off the plane and onto buses. They were then taken to a part of the main terminal that had been closed off to the public. Personal baggage was taken off the aircraft and brought to the terminal to be searched. The gendarmes said that they had been instructed to search for weapons, explosives an
d ‘documents’ that might have been brought back by the legionnaires as souvenirs from Tchad. The gendarmes were not happy about being given the task and went about it in a very half-hearted manner, passing the luggage through the scanners without really looking at the screens. There was some light relief when a sniffer dog went mad in front of a pack before diving into it to pull out a pair of very smelly socks – the pack belonged to the Colonel in Chief of the Regiment.

  A short time later the Colonel of the gendarmes arrived and ordered his men to stop the search. He told the three agents from the DST that if they wished to do the search themselves then they should get on with it and apologized to our Colonel before withdrawing his men. There was no doubt in everyone’s mind that the search had been asked for by the Americans to make sure that no incriminating documents had been brought back from Tchad which related to the munitions or anything else we might have found.

  The aircraft was soon on its way again and it is the only time that a 747 has landed on the short runway at Calvi.

  Our own return was uneventful other than we were given first-class service by the hostesses on the Air France chartered flight from Saudi Arabia back to France. It didn’t feel like we had been in a war but it had been a great experience.

  CHAPTER 13

  A Touch of Normality

  Although I had not experienced anything in the Gulf which I would call stressful, that does not mean that others didn’t. I can only speak for myself and have not heard of any legionnaires suffering from ‘Gulf War Syndrome’. We were certainly filled with a cocktail of drugs before we went out there, but personally I have not suffered any ill effects myself. Perhaps I am just one of the lucky ones as no doubt a combination of stress and prescribed drugs can have an effect on some people.