Through a Glass Darkly

Personal testimony of Trooper Frank Savage on the incident of the night of January 7^th 2005 on Gallows Hill, North Yorkshire:

Yeah, so the Major led us up the track. We spotted the tranny when we got half-way; it'd been reversed up and parked facing us. I remember thinking it must have taken a nifty spot of driving to get it there. There was also a smaller car next to it, but shoved over in to a ditch; it didn't look like it'd move again without a tow.

Major Smith sent Ben and me to circle to the north while Owen and the Major slipped around to the south. Andy and Mike would come in from the far side, the west. The idea was to come at the enemy from three directions, so they couldn't slip off the hill and escape in to the countryside. Harry and Colin had the track sealed with a car; if the enemy tried to drive off, Harry and Colin would spray 'em.

The plan was to move in under radio silence. The primary target was Abu-Sidhu. Mike was primary sniper and I was back-up, one of us would put a round through Abu-Sidhu's leg if they didn't play nice when Major Smith called for surrender. If anyone cut up rough then we'd just put everyone down as quickly as possible.

Ben and me found the going easier than we'd expected. As we eased in to position ahead of schedule, it looked like the enemy had no idea we were here. It was almost like in training: we had surprise, numbers, better fire-power; I was pretty confident.

Once in place, we heard the enemy chanting in some sort of religious ceremony. I speak basic Arabic but I've never understood the mumbo-jumbo of the mullahs and I didn't get any of this.

One thing clear was that we had an extra target. The enemy had backed up the tranny as far as they could and had thrown the rear doors wide. The four known terrorists, including Abu-Sidhu, were outside, two on either side, but there had to be a fifth we'd not known about inside.

This meant a small change in plan but our training could cover it. Mike would have a straight view in to the van and so he'd change his priorities to the mullah, which meant Abu-Sidhu was mine. We knew the other three were just kids; they might spray a few bullets but they wouldn't hit anything and most likely they'd either freeze or run. Home grown Ayrabs aren't like Iraqis.

I had to move right a bit to make sure of a clear line but Abu-Sidhu looked easy meat to me, lit by a blue light from inside the van. Ben kept an eye open around us in case anyone else might be lurking but it all seemed pretty clear. All we had to do was wait for the Major to call for surrender. At the first noise, it was radios on and kill, kill, kill!

Then we had the first hint that things might not work out. Ben and me both heard it; gunfire, MP5, and a long burst, too. It must have been Colin and Harry. That blew the surprise element right away. We both switched on our radios and focused on our targets.

I was expecting to see Abu-Sidhu and his mates waving weapons but the weird thing was that they didn't seem to have heard anything. I don't know about Ben but I was suddenly really twitchy; if you don't have surprise then you should be shooting, but we were waiting for Major Smith's signal – he should have been firing the first shot, see?

Then I saw something like black smoke coming out of the van. It was streaming out like it was being blown by a fan but it didn't get more than a few yards before it started billowing. The enemy all stood around watching it; Abu-Sidhu had this idiot grin on his face, like he was in ecstasy or something.

Then the really weird stuff started. The smoke or whatever it was started to…I dunno…congeal? It was like these wisps of smoke were coming together and solidifying in to these thick black ropes, and the ropes were winding about themselves. Ever seen an old hemp rope being twisted? Well it was a bit like that, only they didn't look under tension and it was upright, vertical and quick. There was a horrible noise, sort of like a moaning howl, and then this stench hit me, like burning hair and rotting meat together, only that's not it. Indescribable!

I remember sweating, waiting for the Major to call out or fire a shot to signal we could shoot. I heard Ben mutter 'fucking officers' under his breath. He sounded worse than me, and him a sergeant and all. We've worked together a lot and he'd never shown nerves before.

Then it seemed the collection of ropes was suddenly a tree. Yeah, I know it sounds daft but that's what I saw. The Major and me compared notes after and we both thought we saw a tree walking. It reached down and grabbed two men from near the tranny, I think one of 'em must have been Abu-Sidhu but by then I wasn't tracking the targets at all.

Then we heard gunfire, a long burst of MP5 from across the way. I saw stuff fly out from the 'tree' and it kind of turned away. Man, I can't tell you how relieved I was to pull the trigger. I put three rounds in to it from behind and Ben was shooting too, though he'd moved in. I remember shouting for him to watch my line.

Our shooting must have hurt it 'cos it kind of shuddered and turned to face us. It was holding something across its front, it looked like it was using a sort of shield. Then it threw it away in to a tree and that’s when I nearly lost it. The 'shield' was a human body, one of the terrorists, I guess, but that's not what spooked me; the 'tree' had a 'mouth', a bloody great hole in its trunk with teeth like knives!

I saw it pick up another human and I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be shooting terrorists so I focused my nightsight. Then I saw who it was, the thing had Ben and was lifting him to that mouth! I don't remember how Ben got there; one moment he was right by me, the next he was thirty yards away and being lifted up.

I put round after round in to the 'branch' holding him, though it looked more like a tentacle, but it didn't do no good, and I saw Ben kind of shrivel up. I nearly lost it right then. Finally I dropped my aim and put a long burst in to the trunk of the thing. I thought it shuddered and it dropped Ben but I didn't see where and the thing seemed to be coming at me.

Then I heard the Major on the radio telling us all to get out. He sounded so calm, "Withdraw in pairs! Retreat to the road! Short bursts only – short bursts!" Like I didn't need telling; only Ben was gone, I was on my own and gunfire was coming from all over.

I was working my way out when I heard the Major come over again, this time a lot less calm, "Get out! Get out!" By this time I was well jumpy. I thought I saw 'things' in the undergrowth to either side. I had to spray 'em to make my way, so I thought, but I kept to three round bursts mostly - you've got to conserve ammo in a situation like that. All the same I was empty by the time I got open, reserve mags and all.

Anyway, I must have lost my way and I found myself lower down the hill, emerging on an eastern spur. I looked south to get my bearings and that’s when I saw the tranny stopped at the bottom of the hill. With all the shooting, I didn't even hear it drive down.

I saw one of the civilians me and Ben had picked up before starting - Connelly, he said his name was in the P-check. He was getting in the back of the van. He seemed very calm, very deliberate, and he shut the doors after him. That's when I knew he'd set us up. I don't mind telling you I was crying as I looked through my nightsight. If only I'd kept just one round?

The van drove off and I knew I had to make my way down. We had more ammo in the cars and I knew we had to alert HQ about the van and the escaping terrorists. I got down to the fields and started making my way around. But as I came up to the road I heard that awful moaning again and the top of that 'tree' over a hedge. That stench was back again and I nearly threw up.

There was the shrieking noise of rending metal, and the roof of the car came over the hedge. Then a woman screamed. I don't mean she squealed or cried or anything, I mean she really screamed, like as if someone was ripping her soul out. Then she just seemed to die away on the wind and there was just this faint hissing noise.

I just lay there. I mean I had my pistol but that thing had barely noticed half a mag of 556 or all the 9mil we'd poured in to it. I was scared witless and there nothing I could have done, but I've been feeling so guilty since, hearing that poor woman screaming and me just lying there.

Of course, I now know a lot of all this was hallucinations from that gas, and knowing that's the only thing that lets me sleep at night. Don't think I'll ever get her screams out of my ears, though.

Well after a while I hear a shuffling and it all goes deathly quiet. Once I'm sure it's safe, I get up on the road and make it to the Major's car with the uplink. It took a couple of minutes to get through but I reported the situation and called for security quarantine. I went scouting about, found Colin and Harry's gun but not Harry. The car we'd used as a block had suffered; riddled with holes it was, with the roof torn off, blood all over the back seat and this stuff like tar everywhere.

There was something that looked like someone had put clothes that didn't fit on an Egyptian mummy. I didn't realise what it was till the Major asked if they weren't the clothes the Paki woman was wearing. But that was later, after the police turned up. Don't know who called them.

There was that slime all over the place, stretching off up the track and along the road west but I just went back to the command car and sat there, waiting. The police turned up first, like I said, and it was them that brought in Andy and the Major. Christ but I was glad to see 'em. I thought I was the only one.