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Astronaut Tim Peake bought a car while serving as a soldier in Northern Ireland, unaware that it was a “tagged vehicle” that once belonged to an IRA terrorist.
Ajor Tim also recounted how a Fermanagh farmer came to his rescue to pull two Army Land Rovers out of a muddy swamp during a period with the Royal Green Jackets that began in 1992.
He said he said he became the “proud owner” of the car when “he saw something I really imagined for sale outside a small dilapidated garage in Omagh” when he was stationed as an officer at Lisanelly Barracks in the town of Tyrone. .
Tim (48) explained: “It was a BMW 3 Series, the 320 Motorsport version, in black with some serious alloys and lowered suspension.
“An idiot for that sort of thing, I lost my heart the moment I noticed it. Plus it seemed to go for an extremely reasonable price, so I left the barracks one afternoon and went to buy it.
“Back behind the wheel in Lisanelly, I was held at the gate for a little longer than I expected.
“Eventually, one of the soldiers came out of the office looking worried.” Oh, hello, boss, it’s you, “he said.” Can I just ask you, boss, why are you driving a tagged vehicle? “
“They had executed my precious new possession through the computer and it appeared as a security issue, owned by a notorious IRA terrorist, recently arrested and incarcerated, which was a little embarrassing.
“Great car though. I ended up taking her back to the UK, where I found out she was also known to the British police.
“While trying to re-register it, I had to present it to a police station. Not surprisingly, the VIN number didn’t quite match their records.”
In his new book Limitless, Tim said that while living in Omagh he had to organize his platoon to carry out an “emergency search operation” at 3am after a soldier lost his HK53 assault rifle. He explained: “Apparently, a Gazelle Army helicopter had left our barracks that day, headed for Aldergrove.
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Major Timothy Nigel Peake CMG is a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and former International Space Station crew member.
“It was only when the pilot reached his destination that he remembered hanging the rifle above the projector boom during the pre-flight check and forgetting to take it with him to the cockpit before leaving.
“I can only imagine the hideous sinking sensation that must have gone through his stomach when he realized. There is no greater sin in the military than losing your weapon. Even giving a loaded HK53 to the IRA was probably frowned upon.
“The likelihood was that the gun had slipped out of the helicopter’s boom at the start of the trip, so we were sent to scour the neighborhood near the barracks. It felt like a pretty abandoned cause from the start, to be honest. And, in indeed, no stray weapons were seen.
“However, later that afternoon, the missing rifle was handed over by a scrupulously responsible elderly lady.
“Apparently it had fallen off the roof of her garage. Her car wasn’t in the garage at the time, fortunately, so only the roof was damaged. I believe the army fixed it for her. The rifle, however, was a complete write-off. But at least now it’s been explained. “
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Tim Peake as a black sergeant in Chichester High School’s Combined Cadet Force. Credit: SWNS / Dailymail
Tim admitted he was in trouble in October 1992, but managed to fix things with the help of a friendly local farmer.
He said, “I’m 20 and only a handful of weeks on my first shift and standing, covered in mud, by a swamp in County Fermanagh, wondering if a tea break has just cost me my career in. Army.
“We were in two armored military Land Rovers running what is known as a capture patrol, where you suddenly show up and guard an area for a few hours.
“Now, in Northern Ireland, in the time of Troubles, one could rely on one’s word to get around very quickly about where the British Army peacekeepers were and what they were doing. Consequently, it made sense, during patrolling, mix up a little – to try not to move in repeated patterns. This way, people hostile to your presence would have less opportunity to anticipate your movements and organize themselves to try you – to lay the lead wire for an explosive roadside device, say, or put a sniper in position. “
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British astronaut Major Tim Peake speaks during a press conference from the International Space Station (ISS). PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.
Tim said he decided to follow the lead of a co-worker who would lead his men to “quit for an hour or two” and take a break somewhere for a cup of tea. He continued: “During the turn, the Land Rover put two wheels on the edge of the track. Those wheels turned hopelessly for a few moments and the vehicle stopped shaking.
“We all went out to look. The ground next to the track was now revealed to us to be a good old Irish swamp, thick and sticky as molasses. Not only was the three ton Land Rover stuck deep, half in, half out, now. it tilted so much that he was in imminent danger of falling on his side.
“(I thought) we had a second Land Rover with us that would be able to go back and get us out, (but) it was more abandoned than ours too.”
Tim said he feared calling a Chinook helicopter to get them out would lead to serious stripping by the army chiefs and could damage his career.
So, after hours of trying to get out of the mud, he instead took a small group of soldiers at 1am to walk and find a farm and seek help.
He said: “It was not a decision I took lightly. It was neither a place, nor a period in history, where a British Army knock on the door in the dead of night could be relied upon to be enthusiastically received ., but we had little choice.
“The farmer didn’t seem too happy to have been woken up, but he didn’t slam the door in our face or worse and, almost without persuading him, kindly agreed to take out his tractor.
“I suspect, more than anything else, that he was anxious to take us away from his land.”
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