Escape from Beirut (3) - by Guest Blogger Alan Lane

This is the last in a three-part series by Alan Lane, about his experience of being inadvertently caught up in a war while on business in Beirut.

Part 1 of Escape from Beirut was posted here on Fusion View two weeks ago.

Part 2 of Escape from Beirut was posted up last Wednesday.

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Alan writes:

Day six. The evacuation from Beirut’s Forum is orderly, well planned and a credit to Britain’s armed services. Families with children, those in wheelchairs and back-packers are part of the ensemble gathered for passport clearance, a feeling of desperation obvious among those taking a chance without the right documentation.

Security is tight. A British TV journalist filming the scene has his video camera confiscated by a guard. One by one we pass through passport control before leaving by bus for HMS York. On the quay, members of the media are anxious to gather our impressions on leaving a war zone. I do a live satellite feed interview with Ben Brown of BBC News 24. Once on board, we are asked to stay below while the ship negotiates the ‘safe passage’ negotiated with the Israeli and Hizbullah forces within the 12 nautical miles inside Lebanese territory.

Emotions are high as my fellow evacuees tell their stories in the cramped quarters of the warship, with children playing or asleep on the floor. It’s a story of separated families, abandoned homes, husbands electing to stay behind to run businesses, and an uncertain future of ‘not knowing if we will see each other again.’

We dock in Limassol in Cyprus at night after a surging 30-knots, six-hour journey. A clearing house for passport control with the Cypriot authorities has a Union Jack on the wall to welcome us. Calm is the order of the night, with rows of chairs each with a bottle of water. We are tired, hot and glad to be on neutral ground.

The fate of those who stayed is uncertain, especially for the Lebanese people. Without doubt, we had been the lucky ones.

Buses take us to the RAF Akrotiri NATO base, where immaculate, tanned British soldiers and women volunteers await to welcome us. One genteel volunteer asks me kindly whether I have been ‘affected by the bombing.’

Here, our quarters are a huge aircraft hangar lined with camp beds complete with clean sheets and towels for some 500 evacuees. Echoes of war-time Britain begin to stir.

After a shower in portable units outside, a welcome dinner is chips and beans, bread and drinks before we turn in for the night to the sound of helicopters and jet aircraft taking off.

Day 7. I rise early for the chartered flight to Gatwick, where on arrival I do a live satellite feed interview on the SKY News channel, and home in Dorset. Thoughts flood in on my escape from Beirut which had taken some 30 hours.

I recall the sights I did see in this troubled and historic country which would experience 34 days of war before a cease fire was called. The stunning caves of Jeita whose size and magic are straight out of the Lord of the Rings. The ancient harbour of Byblos, inhabited continuously for some 7,000 years. I recall the sights I missed. The Roman ruins at Baalbek, said to match anything in the Eternal City. The famous Cedars of Lebanon, said to have been used to build Solomon’s Temple.

I recall the noisy and joyous wedding celebrations around the hotel swimming pool that kept me awake until one in the morning before the serious bombing had started. How in a few days, an evening watching the World Cup on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea turned into a fully-fledged war zone. How locals despair that after years of rebuilding, their country once again is being demolished. How this beautiful, ancient land continues to be the punch-bag for Middle East politics.

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Alan Lane is founder and chief executive of VASGAMA providing reputation management consulting to international corporations and government.

Photo: showing Alan on his home balcony holding up a local paper with front page headlines
and pics of destruction in downtown Beirut -t thanks to Alan Lane

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I really appreciate Alan taking the time to write about his experiences for this blog. For many of us, we are lucky enough never to be caught up in such a frightening situation. Watching the news reports from afar and in safety, it can be easy to numb ourselves and forget that real people suffer and real homes and lives are devastated. His account, for me, brings home the surreal feel of war and the beauty and humanity in a country torn by conflict beyond the control of ordinary people.