Chapter 30. Spring 1973.

I packed away most of the little things you buy to make life easier for yourself; an electric toaster, towels, a bedside rug and took them down to my landlady. I paid my rent for the next month, in lieu of notice and gave her a box of left over food.

“I need to travel light,” I explained.  And on a cold, damp day, I loaded up the bike.

Over the first few months, I had paid all the cash into the bank. The bank clerks always gave me strange looks as I paid in thousands of pounds in Ulster notes, but I went to different branches, sometimes driving all day, to find a different bank. I always used the same excuse, if they questioned me.

“My Granny died and this is what she left me.”   The bank clerks usually cautioned me to invest the money wisely and not spend it willy-nilly. 

 When I went to say goodbye to my boss, an old sea dog, he said he’d be sad to see me go. He’d been good to me, always cutting me some slack when I’d slept in late and giving me a little cash bonus, when things were going well.

With my suitcase strapped on the back, I got on my bike and made my way up to Wales.

I’d been planning it for a while, so I knew the route and the address where I was going.  Late that evening, I knocked on the front door of Jerry Mackie’s house. His wife opened the door, a strong smell of kippers wafted out.

“Oh it’s you, you’d better come in.”  I lugged the suitcase into the hall and waited. Jerry came out of the kitchen, wiping his mouth on a tea towel.

“Good to see you boy.”   He led me into the living room, we sat down.

We sat in silence for a while, just looking at each other, the clock ticking on the wall.

“How’s it been?”   He’d understood the pressures, more than anyone. I burst out crying. He sat and waited. I tried to talk, but went into another round of sobbing.

He handed me a shot of whisky, then sat and waited some more.

“I couldn’t take any more,” I said quietly.   More whisky, more crying.

“I’ve read the reports son and you did well, very well.”   He let that sink in, it made me feel better.

I lit a cigarette and told him the whole story.  He sat there listening, nodding and filling my glass up as the story unfolded.

I finished, by telling him that the rifle and pistol were in the bags in the hall. We got them out and he inspected them, with a soldier’s eye.

“It did the job.”   He lay the gun on the floor,   “I’m going to have to tell the authorities, son.”   I’d known all along, that’s why I gone there.

“Can I stay here tonight? You can hand me in tomorrow.”  I was tired and I didn’t fancy a night in the cells, after the long ride up. He considered it for a while and called through to his wife.

“Jenny, can you make the back bedroom up?”  Jenny came through wiping her hands.

“Yes dear.”   Off she went and made the bed up.

Mack hid the guns. I didn’t care about them. They’d been a burden and a memory, a memory that I didn’t want.

That night, we went down into Chepstow and had a few drinks. It seemed like an age, since we’d done this on the night before embarkation.

One month later.

The Army’s idea of justice can be very strange. I was sent back to Germany and made to stand trial. It was a general court-martial, so I had my civvy brief. He was young lawyer, fresh from the bar. He’d been sent out to practice and he was just practicing, not that it would have made much difference.

I pleaded guilty to ‘absent without leave’.

There was no mention of anything else.

My lawyer made a good job of mitigation, I almost believed him myself.

One hundred and eighty six days, I was given. I don’t know how they came up with this figure. Nearly six months, but I was out after a hundred and twenty four days. It was a piece of cake.

I went back to building bridges and digging mines up, that’s what I do. But everyone who knows you’ve done a bit in Colly, give you a bit of respect.

It took me years to remember to always speak with the same accent. Suddenly, I’d realise I’d switched from Ulster to Liverpool and back. I stick with my Liverpool accent now. When men started reminiscing about Northern Ireland, I always just listen.

I never did get my tour medal and I never asked for it.

BBC News Ulster.

There have been two explosions in London today, and the decomposing body of a man was found in a fire today, in West Belfast. The Chief Fire Officer, Ken Oldham said ‘It’s very unlikely we will ever know his identity. He could have been lying there for up to a year…………...