*I enter Campbell's house and his wife directs me to their living room. Campbell is already sitting there, probably waiting for me. We both nod, and I sit down.*
[Name and occupation, sir?]
"Campbell, Howard... Do I really need to tell?"
[It would be helpful, sir.]
"Ugh. Occupation is 'Leeching the government'."
[Please clarify, sir.]
"I'm a war veteran, purple star and all that shit. The government pay my bills. And stop calling me sir."
[Excuse me, but could you not , please, use words like that. These tapes are also going to schools.]
"Fuck, fine."
[So, then. Tell me about the Battle of Edinburgh.]
"..."
[...Yes?]
"God, please, help us."
[What?]
"I just summarized it."
[Oh. Could you please---]
*Campbell takes a deep breath*
"We had heard things from some guys who had already been it battle. 'Easy 'n simple with new tech, either you retreat or they do, nobody get's hurt'. I doubt that it was really like that, and if it was, then things changed just when we got into the heart of battle. From our squad, the first fucki... first goddamn day, we already had lost people. 8 man squads were the thing back then, from that we returned with 4 and a half."
*I interrupt*
[A half?]
"...Lara lost her hand, and almost bled to death."
[Lara? You already had female soldiers then?]
"What, you think it was the goddamn 40's? 60's? 70's? We had female soldiers before Germany had them, and everyone thinks that they were the first, since the press actually gave a shit at that point."
[What happened to her?]
"She's still alive, moved to Australia. We're still friends, big friends. Keep contact all the time. Same with Ken Flynn and Mark Davies. War made us friends, and nothing will break it."
[Please, continue about the battle. What happened?]
"We got our orders, the usual. With urban warfare and invading enemies, it was important to use the 'net-tactics'. We made a net with many squads in buildings. It was like a line. Each squad had supplies for a week, and that was how long we had to maintain our OP (Observation Post) if no other orders were given. We just stood there, binoculars in hands, weapons ready, until a squad came to relieve us. If we saw an enemy, first we contacted Field Command, then the other two squads next to us. We had to report; how many, what weapons, rank (If we could see it) and if they had any support (I.E. snipers or anything armored.). We saw two squads, both of which were sniped by friendlies before the end of the week. It felt quite easy, even though the food tasted like crap. We chatted if everything seemed clear, as quiet as we could. We heard how a whole sniper squad was taken out by a soviet M.A.R.S.*. That's when we started to lay as low as we could, and not use binoculars if there was a full moon, which happened once."
*M.A.R.S. was a project by the USSR. It meant Mobile Automated Rifle Sniper. They could shoot a whole squad down, and then move safe, without anyone noticing. They were usually supporting a squad advance. They were taught mostly propaganda, how their enemies are not humans or even beings worth their lives. They were all taken to school around the year of 6. This was still the communist Soviet Union, where the parents could not do anything, most took this as a good thing. Children raised by the government fund and it also paid well for the family.
[What happened to your squad?]
"Last day of our week. We saw an armored squad heading our way. We didn't have AT weapons yet, not every squad. We had to report to an armored division first, then Field Command. Field Command reported to every squad about this, and we got orders to pull back. We got to the second floor easily. We didn't have our post anymore, so we didn't know if enemies were inside the building. We were very cautious, checked everything. It was the second floor, when a sniper shot on of our guys, Larry Harrowmond. A clear shot, right through his chest, but it didn't go through. It wasn't long until... I'm sure at that point that everyone had pretty much let something in their pants. Were it wet or solid, nobody could care. This was the point when we figured out that this was war."
*He pauses for a second*
"We got outside, it was about 2 o'clock in the evening, but it was quite dark. Black clouds and it was cold as fuck. Windy too. It was quiet. We were all behind this lorry on the street, bless his or her heart who left it there, when I struggled to figure out a safe way. The only way back was through an open street, the worst kind of street. But it had to be done, the armored squad would soon be through here and we'd all be killed. I ran first, and got to the other side. I commanded Ken to run. He ran, got to the other side. Now it was Mark's turn, he ran and got to us. Jerry, that old bastard. He was..."
*He pauses and takes a deep breath. I can see his eyes are a bit red*
"He was about 50 or something, I never even asked."
*His eyes are clearly now red. I look at him, he nods*
"He ran but got shot. His brains..."
*I can see a tear running down Campbell's chin*
"All over the fucking place, we were all shocked, grasping for air and at the same time trying not to vomit. The scene..."
*He pauses again and looks down. I can see clearly some tears dropping on the carpet on the floor.*
"I told Lara to wait, I was shaking and so was my voice. We could all see Lara in tears, so was Ken. Lara responded that she has to run, she was hearing the tanks rolling. I told her to wait, with a deeper voice. I was trying not to shake."
*He pauses, until I ask*
[What happened then?]
"Lara ran. At the same time I was yelling, not into the radio, just to her across the street: 'STOP, STOP! STAY THERE!' but she ran. She got shot in the arm, but she barely even nudged. She just ran to us, and collapsed. She was clearly crying and was in pain. She took a good grip of Ken's leg. Me and Mark got a little smile from seeing Ken so clearly in pain."
[So, how did you get out?]
"It was easy from there, it was impossible that enemy soldiers would be past the point. We all had working radios, so we just asked for quick evac, since one of us was hit. At that point it didn't seem that bad, but when we got into the jeep she passed out and started bleeding like hell. Thank god for the medics, they had."
[What about the armored squad?]
"Even though we had the Challenger 3-S models, I heard that they immobilized the squad who then retreated."
*He clearly stops there, like the story is done*
[What about the other battles? Other patrols?]
"Our squad, or what was left of it, didn't participate in the Battle of Edinburgh after that. I can't even remember the real reason, something about the British Armed Forces taking care of it."
[But what of the German Intervention?]
"That assault?"
[It was an assault?]
"Well, officially it isn't, but to everyone there it was. They were holding Edinburgh since our forces couldn't really do much. We had just 12 Challenger 3-S models in the assault and about 4000 men. The rest were still fighting elsewhere. We couldn't do much, and that's it. We were mostly in a supporting role. We came behind the real forces, took a good hold of it and assisted anyone who needed assisting. The whole assault took about 2 days, since the USSR forces were constantly retreating. I got hit by some shrapnel that was apparently over 500 metres off of target."
*He stops again."
[Excuse me, but I can't help but to notice. You said you had 8 men squads, right?]
"That is correct."
[And you came back with four and a half men, right?]
*Campbell pauses.*
"Yes."
[But you only told two of them being shot?]
*He pauses again.*
[What about the third one?]
*He's still quiet. He's looking at my direction, but clearly not looking at me. His wife, who was behind him all this time suddenly just shakes her head to me and says to Campbell that they have to go to the restaurant.*
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Well, I have to leave in a bit."
*His wife hands me a portrait that was on the table behind me. It's clearly Campbell sitting on a bench with someone. They're both in uniform. Behind them are four men and one woman, all in uniform. In front of Campbell's legs is a sign that says 'Squad Redhill' and beneath it, in small letters read 'of the 76th SGF'. The picture is so clear that I can see Campbell's tag clearly read Sergeant H. Campbell. The man sitting next to him, who looks weirdly similar but a bit younger has a tag that reads Corporal J. Campbell. Campbell's wife, still standing in the living room watches as I leave. I nod to her and leave.*
[This interview was never published.
Reasoning: Mature content and the instability of the subject's mental care.]
