Former New Zealand Defence Force personnel have reunited to reflect on their time in one of the most hostile places in the world ahead of Anzac Day.
The old comrades met on the Andover aircraft in Christchurch to remember, 30 years on.
No. 42 Squadron was deployed to Somalia in 1993 during the civil war. The troops were to act as peacekeepers while the United Nations sought to restore order and provide humanitarian relief.
The journey took seven days before their aircraft landed in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
"From downtown Temuka to downtown Mogadishu — a little bit of a change," former army personnel Darren Irving told 1News.
Air Force Museum director Brett Marshall said there was "a little bit of nervousness, but also the fact that you were doing something that your country wanted you to do was great".
As war raged outside the compound, the squadron brought in essential supplies and distributed them to people in need.
"We would configure the aircraft if it had seating in it, whether it had a bare floor for freight. We would do all the maintenance tasks," former Air Force personnel Mark Jardine said.
"We also helped out with moving people between the airfield and the airport, and also the embassy," Irving said.
The Kiwis, sharing the camp and airfield facilities with the Americans and the Australians, were under no illusions the mission was a dangerous one.
"We were allowed two cans of beer and you would sit there at night inside your secure perimeter watching the trace of fire over Mogadishu," Marshall said.
"But there was that sense sometimes — the rounds would go overhead and so 'put the flap jacket and helmets on and make sure'."
The Kiwi troops left the following year but their memories of the mission have remained strong.
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