Adelaidian Frank Weyer is halfway to Baghdad after leaving Kuwait City in a truck convoy. Here we continue Frank's story as he rockets forward towards road side bombs, dodgy South African driving - and a couple of helicopters scorching the desert. Read part one first!

 

 

All up, there was a three kilometre-long convoy – 22 trucks in a row – and once you have your position, you don’t move out of that spot for the entire trip. With a full load we headed for the highway and floored it, going through intersections at a hundred kilometres an hour. We were told by the soldiers escorting us: “Don’t stop, whatever happens – just keep driving”.

 

 

 

It’s 130 kilometres from Kuwait City to the Iraq border and that’s where the fun began. Arriving at the border, traffic slows as convoys from Europe all converge on this one spot in the desert. It takes, on average, three hours to get through that border as every vehicle is checked for contraband.

 

As you’re entering and leaving the border zone you have to snake your truck through chicanes constructed from concrete blocks. These type of traffic restrictions are positioned all along the road to Baghdad and you see some with huge chunks taken out of them where cars and trucks have just punched into them.

 

Either side of the border is the same: desert and dead-straight road. Every now and again, though, there would be the chance to go off road with the trucks – you make your own roads. The lead army humvee would ride about 300-400 metres in front of the convoy, with trucks sitting in behind it on an average 80 or 90 kmph.

 

 

 

Now and then the convoy would be flagged down by a soldier from the humvee who had stopped on the road up ahead. One time, I leaned out the cab as the soldier came up to my truck. “There’s 6 mortars buried in the road,” he said, “and you’re all going to have to go ‘round”.

 

Second truck from the front of the convoy, I was ploughing through the sand without seeing more than 5 metres ahead. A yank called Skip drove the truck in front. On my second tour, Skip was just hooking in, and I was riding behind him thinking Yeah! Let’s go! Let’s get this shit done! But in the sand, if you don’t keep your momentum up you’ll sink. Well the South Africans weren’t going fast enough and we were up the road five ks already before we noticed no one else was with us.

 

 

 

Pulling into Camp Anaconda 500 ks north of Baghdad we weren’t able to stage the trucks in the usual spot and ended up shoving them over by the perimeter near the helicopter pads. Every now and again you could get your hands on this bootleg scotch. ‘Rot-gut’ we called it – fuckin’ horrible stuff. Held up at Anaconda waiting for our next military escort, one night I was walking back to my truck with a bottle of this rot-gut and a couple of catering cans of Coke when there was this god almighty bang. The camp was under attack, which means all the lights go out and the sirens blare. I jumped into the cab of my truck along with three other guys just as the helicopters started to wind up.

 

I thought: All right! Into it! and I cracked the Cokes and poured half of it out so I could fill them with scotch. And you get a bit of bang, bang, bang, and we’re sitting there drinking this schmürgen watching the fireworks.

 

 

 

Next minute – BANG!! One went off – just a shell but still probably enough to kill you – and a shower of shit comes flying over us, over the trucks, rocks, mud and shit. We climbed under the back of the trailer and we’re just sitting under there drinking away, watching the action and then these two helicopters take off and suddenly it was as bright as day. It was just this blaze from the helicopters sending salvos or rockets over the desert, loud as fuck. And then it was all over – bang! – the choppers come back and we finish the bottle off and go to bed. All in a night’s work.

 

And you go, “Shit, that’s stuff you see in the movies!” but when you’re really there - in real life – you can’t believe it. Fuck me, you think, Why am I here? But then you think – Yeah… it’s great.