SETTING & SCENARIO

SCOTT MERCY was a major in the Sherwood Rangers Regiment of the British Army, which had been chosen to do a tour of duty in Bosnia, under the overall control of the United Nations. His duties in Bosnia included the supervision of food distribution, the protection of the local civilian population and all administrative and communicative installations, that is, airports, roads, bridges, telegram offices, etc.

…’BRIDGING THE GAP’ under Major Mercy

ON the first day of his new assignment, Major Mercy chose four men from the platoon to form a small mobile unit to serve as scouts. Whenever Mercy received a transmission that a hospital had been bombed, or that a bridge or road was down, he sent these four men ahead to assess the situation. When he heard that a bridge on the road from Plehan to Sarajevo had been hit, he sent his scouts out immediately to lay new cables to rebuild the bridge. It was imperative that the bridge be fixed because the road served as a main artery, along which the UN was scheduled, in 24-hours, to deliver emergency medical supplies to the devastated city of Sarajevo.

That evening Mercy received a transmission from the mobile unit. It was Private Kenning on the radio and the line was bad.

“Sir”, he said. “It’s worse than we anticipated. The river is swollen because of the rain. It’s thick with mud and there’s no way we can get across. The banks are crumbling and won’t support the weight of our vehicles. We can’t get close enough to lay the cables. Over.”

“How bad’s the bridge?” the major asked. “Over.”

“There’s no sign of the bridge. The river swallowed it up. Over.”

“Any gunfire?” the major asked. “Over.”

“It’s pretty quiet here, sir. We can see civilians on the other side, but we can’t get to them. Over.”

“Stay put and keep the line open. I’m coming down in the armoured jeep. Out.”

Private Kenning handed the radio back to Private Lister and informed his unit that the major was on his way. They stood around smoking cigarettes and watching the river rush downstream. A young sapling that had been growing along the river bank suddenly became dislodged and sunk into the brown water. It popped to the surface and was carried swiftly along by the current. Private Cross, jokingly referred to by his buddies as Robin Hood, because of his expertise in Archery, shook his head, sat down on a rock in the shelter of a spruce tree, took out his army knife and started to whittle away at a long thin branch. Private Handy also sat down, pulled his blue beret down over his eyes and tried to sleep. Kenning looked up at the bleak sky and listened to the rain fall on the shoulders of his white, army-issue poncho. Night was falling and the cold had begun to seep through to his skin. He shivered.

Back at camp, the major summoned his driver and gave him orders to transport him to the bridge. They climbed into the white, armoured jeep, with the blue UN flag flapping at the end of a long antenna, and started down the rain-soaked road towards the river. When they were still 12-miles from the bridge, the jeep slid sideways in the mud and into a ditch. The major got out and piled rocks in front of the rear tyres to give the vehicle some purchase, but when the driver put the jeep in gear and inched forward, the rocks simply sunk deeper into the mud. The driver tried rocking the jeep back and forth while the major pushed, but for all their efforts, the thing wouldn’t budge.

“Looks like we’re stuck, sir,” the driver said.

“It’s getting dark,” replied the major. “It’ll be curfew time soon and we’ll be cut off. Hand me the radio.”

The major called ahead to the mobile unit and informed private Kenning that he would not be able to reach them in time. “I’m leaving the situation up to you boys. Somehow you’ve got to figure out how to lay the cables across the river by morning. I’ll make sure the rest of the platoon arrives at 08:00 hours. In the meantime, you get those cables across. People’s lives depend on it.”

“Yes, sir,” Kenning said and put the radio down. He told the unit to listen up and informed them of the situation.

“What are we supposed to do?” Lister asked. “Swim across?”

“That would be impossible,” Kenning said.

“What about making a raft?” Handy suggested.

“Nice one,” Kenning said. “But have you happened to notice the current of the water? You’d be swept away in seconds. You’d be in the heart of Sarajevo in five minutes. How would you like that?”

“OK, forget it,” Handy said.

“What about a helicopter?” Lister said. “We could radio the major and request permission.”

Kenning checked his watch and said, “Curfew started five minutes ago. Any helicopter that’s still in the air is fair game. It would get shot down before it even had a chance to get here. That’s not an option.”

The men fell silent, each one racking his brain to find a solution.

“What about you, Cross?” Kenning asked. “You’ve been mighty quiet. We’re trying to help the war effort here. If we don’t get these cables laid by 08:00 hours, there are women and children who aren’t going to get the medical attention they need in time, and will die.”

“Calm down,” Cross said with a wry smile. “I’ve got an idea. You know how to speak the language fluently, don’t you Kenning?”

“That’s right,” Kenning answered.

“You still carrying that megaphone around, Lister?”

“I sure am. It’s in the jeep.”

“Good. Now can you shine the headlights in the direction of those civilians on the other side?”

“No problem.”

“What’s this all about?” asked Kenning.

“Let me explain…”

By 08:00 hours the following morning, the rain had stopped, the cables were laid, and major Mercy’s platoon was able to build the new bridge.

What was the idea which Private Cross had and how were the four scouts able to lay the cables across the river before the 08:00 deadline?