An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 21 routine: we alternated between shifts on the observation plat- form, the ops room and the kitchen. As the war progressed, we could look west towards Tyre and see the bombs landing all around the city as indeed our families could look at the skyline in the distance and see similar strikes where we were located. As the intensity of the shelling and airstrikes increased, the decision was made to evacuate the families and a cruise ship was chartered to pick up some UNFICYP troops from Cyprus and sail for Tyre. Naturally we were delighted that at least the families would now be safe, and OGL implemented a plan that would ensure that deployed UNMOs could get to Tyre to say a quick goodbye. Unfortunately, the level of attacks in the vicinity of PB Mar was so intense that I was unable to get on a convoy down to Tyre, and so on the 20th July, in the second week of the war, when my wife and two children (aged 5 and 7) were getting into the lifeboat that would take them out to the ship, I rang my wife's mobile and wished them God speed, which is not exactly the way you expect to end a family mission in the Middle East. Capt Matina Stanfield was in com- mand of a convoy of two UN SISUs that was to travel from PB Khiam to Tyre on the 17th July. Such a patrol would typi- cally take three hours to complete but on this occasion, it would extend across two days. The convoy had a couple of lucky escapes during the patrol with the IDF aircraft twice dropping bombs in very close proximity to them. On the second day the SISU driver had to brake suddenly and Capt Stanfield was thrown forward, hitting the windscreen. The impact broke her back in five places; two vertebrae were crushed (wedged) and three more were fractured. (Matina was medically retired from the Australian Defence Force as a result of the injuries she sustained.) On the 20th July the IDF were involved in very heavy firing around Marun Ar-Ras and this fighting was particularly intense close to PB Ras. During the day the ops room, which was on the second floor, was destroyed after it was hit by fire from an IDF Merkava tank. The destruc- tion of the operational facility also meant the loss of primary communica- tion means and electrical power. Battle repairs were carried out on the satellite phone, mending a cable cut by shrapnel with band-aid and office tape. Even though things seemed quiet, two further direct hits were recorded that impacted on the emergency telephone landline and generator. On the 23rd July, after the team had cleared up debris left by the hit on the ops room, UNMO Capt Punzo, who was checking water levels, was shot by a single round. Shouting that he was hit and that he could not move his legs, he pulled himself to the edge of the roof from where Comdt Van Cauwenberghe lif ted him down to the ground and placed him on a stretcher. Capt Punzo was bleeding badly and on examination his colleagues found two punctures in his body (the entry and exit wounds). The wounds were cleaned with iodine and sterile pads and the injured man was moved to the shelter as fighting raged all around the PB and debris rained down over the team. Comdt Van Cauwenberghe requested a medical evacuation as soon as possible and stressed the urgency as by this stage they had confirmed that Capt Punzo also had a spinal injury and internal damage to his intestines. Chief OGL was informed of the sit- uation and first requested a mede- vac by ITALAIR. When informed they were unable to fly due to the heavy shelling, he requested an armoured ambulance from UNIFIL. Ghanbatt HQ was ordered to mobilise an armoured ambulance from position 6-43. Unfortunately, the ambulance could not reach the PB because of the very intense firing in and around the Marun Ar-Ras, and roads blocked by craters and debris. In UNIFIL Operations, evacuation options were discussed and due to the level of operational activity around PB Ras it was decided to evacuate into Israel. IDF Liaison was requested to facilitate evacuation and agreement was reached that this was to be effected in the vicinity of Blueline Point (BP) 21. On leaving PB Ras the three members of the team and their injured colleague came under fire again and had sev- eral firings close during the evacu- ation. Eventually they contacted an IDF military ambulance between BP 21 and BP 22. Capt Punzo was transferred to the ambulance from the UNTSO land cruiser and later transferred to a civilian ambulance that drove to a heli pickup site where a doctor from a waiting IDF heli received a full brief on Capt Punzo's condition. Capt Punzo was left with serious spinal injuries. In total PB Ras recorded more than 25 firings close and more than 4,000 firings of tank rounds/artil- lery shells/rockets or impacts in and around the PB, which had found itself the unwilling centre of the Battle of Marun Ar-Ras between the IDF and Hezbollah. (Contin- ued next month.) Dust rises after the impact of two bombs dropped during an IAF airstrike on Tyre, Lebanon, 16th July 2006. A direct hit on PB Khiam. After the air attack in PB Khiam. Clare McDonald being evacuated from Tyre.

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