December 1977 - June 1978

The Staff Platoon at the STR company.
(I'm third from left in front row)
Bosse! Listen to this! Telephone Man with Meri Wilson

 I joined the guys on this trip just to get knowledge of the roads eventually without signs in Lebanon and to find out if there were any strange or odd routines in connection with the border crossings.
All in preparation for the assignment of driving the Swedish Supreme Commander on his four day visit to Israel and Israeli authorities as well as Swedish UN troops both in Lebanon and in Sinai. I drove around in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for two days, just measuring the distances between different departments, embassies and the airport. When trying to fulfill the Generals wish of getting to meet the wounded driver from the mine accident at Khardala Bridge, who was under treatment at Haifa hospital I drove in just below 100 miles an hour across half the country and did yet miss him with only 15 minutes. They had flown him home to Sweden!
(I read the other day on the internet about someone that actually met this driver recently, about 28 years later, He is fine!)
A week later the same procedures with General Synnergren was repeated on his visit to Cairo.
The General's ADC Major Berg had apparently become used to high-speed city driving after the visit to Damascus.
While I had the thumb on the horn and the pedal on the floor on the eight lane avenue in Cairo, during rush hour, with two cars beside each other in every lane at crossings blocking the way, I had to use the sidewalk to get through, In around 60 miles an hour the Major offers me a cigarette, which I politely had to decline. I can not recommend smoking during such events, however, the cigarette I was offered at the destination was sure useful!
The reason I had to drive like a maniac was because I had no clue of where we were going. I was only following the Swedish Ambassador's car, and his driver was born and brought up in Cairo, and had got some sort of self-made diplomatic immunity apart from one or two gods keeping an eye on him and his driving. :-)

It was the same phenomenon with the Ambassador's driver in Tel Aviv. Once he asked me to follow him to the gas station, just in case he couldn't make it all the way. Then he just evaporated, and our Volvo wasn't that slow! 
I haven't seen him since, but I hope he made it!

It hurts!

Back to south of the border...