It was June 6th 1944. It was 06.25 in the morning. It was a dull, dim day. It was the day for action. British, American and Canadian forces all packed into 8 transporters. A surprise attack had been planned for Omaha beach Normandy, France. The surprise was supposed to be for Germany. We got the biggest surprise that day.
We were packed in like sardines; the most you could move was a few inches in any direction. All around me were soldiers, correction MY soldiers. I was the Lieutenant; I was the highest rank. There were looking to me for guidance, I was supposed to tell them what to do, but how was I supposed to do that when I didn't have a clue!?
Fear was everywhere; in the faces of my men, it was in there shaking hands and the last minute desperate prayers or as I considered them last minute bargains with some greater, unknown force. I wasn't a religious man, I didn't know what good it would do, but if helped I was fine with that. I could feel the fear; it was so prominent I could almost see it. It was flowing through the air like blood flows through veins. It was constant, it was necessary. If there wasn't any fear then what was the drive?? How would we succeed??
A quick check around, my men were all still standing. A little worse for wear, I'll admit but they were standing all the same, a small miracle with the way these ferocious waves appeared to be determined to overturn our boat. In fact if I looked past the armour, past the cam cream, past the weapons all I could see were the scared men who wished they were anywhere else but here. On the outside they looked ready, fierce, like soldiers. But if you looked a little harder, if you looked at the small things; the darting eyes, the slight smell of vomit overpowered by the salty sea, the quiet whispers and the grim expressions. You could see it. They looked scared, terrified; like children.
I felt sorry for them I doubt they knew what they were getting into when they signed up, some were fresh out of high school, granting their parents' wishes by fighting for their country. I don't think their parents realised exactly what special kind of torture they were so happy to see their children heading towards. Others were slightly older more mature but none the wiser, they didn't know of the horror stories they would take back with them, if they made it back. NO, when they make it back, my momma always said there was a lot of power in positive thinking.
"Clear the ramp, 30 seconds. You know what you've gotta do." Strange. Those were my words, the very words I'd just had said in my ear, but it wasn't my voice. This voice was strong, loud, assertive. This voice seemed to know exactly what it was doing; this was a leader's voice. My voice should've been quiet, it should've shook, my voice should betray just how terrified I truly was. I guess what my Sgt said another lifetime ago was true: "in times of trouble, we find out exactly what we're made of and I know that you're made of strong stuff." I hope I made him proud. I was quite proud of my tiny, insignificant accomplishment.
"See you on the beach lads" I knew I probably wouldn't, I knew half these men wouldn't even get to the beach but I wasn't going to tell them that. Then the whistle blew, that shrill piercing scream telling us it was time. Time for war.
Cha-chunk, chunk BANG! The second the ramp went down it started raining bullets. These little lead death traps whizzing past my head, feck, that one was close! All around me soldiers were dropping some just seemed to freeze then as if in slow motion they fell, others flew backwards the force of this bullet too much to take.
I started shouting, "MOVE! GET OUT! FIGHT!" shoving people as I went. I didn't know if anyone was listening to me, I didn't know if the people I were shoving were even alive, all I knew was that we had to get out of this ship. If we wanted a hope in hell of winning this we needed to get out of this ship.
And just like that I was submerged. It was a strange almost surreal experience, the difference was shocking. The quiet, peaceful down below compared to the noisy chaotic above. I much preferred down here, I suppose I could just stay here, no-one would know, it'd be as if I never existed. Then I opened my eyes, I took a sharp intake of breath and realised a second too late that I was underwater.
By the time I broke the surface I was coughing and spluttering, I wanted to go back down, the impulse was strong. But then the pale face of Corporal Tonks came into view, his expressionless face staring at me, his dead blue eyes. I shuddered it was then I remembered where I was and just how freezing this water actually was. I bid a good-bye to my peaceful underwater world and swam. I swam with everything I had, I swam so I could fight, I swam so I could win; for Corporal Tonks, so I could win for all the soldiers who were now floating in the red sea. I made it to the once golden beach now littered with bodies, body parts and sickening red patches. Shoots were still whizzing past my head the difference is this time I could see where it was coming from and anger just took over, I saw red, I aimed my rifle and pulled the trigger, I fired shot after shot after shot. Until my magazine was empty.
BOOM. "AAAHHH" I span round to see 6 or 7 men running around screaming bloody murder, DAMN GERMANS! They were all on fire, desperately trying to put it out, running round like headless chickens but that's not what got me. What got me was the man who was just standing there burning, there was no fight left in him, he was out for the count. He didn't scream, he didn't make sound, he just fell and lay. Bang, bang. I dived into a crater; I wasn't the only one there.
"I thought we were supposed to have weakened their defences!" he sounded so lost, so hopeless. He was so pale. "What the hell are we supposed to do now??" That was an excellent question. So many military standard responses rushed into my head. But I knew none of these answers would do, he knew these rules just as well as I did. No matter what you keep fighting, until the order comes you shoot, you charge, you do whatever it takes to make sure you win. These are all great answers in theory, but being in this situation now none of these answers made sense. Why the hell would we keep fighting?? I couldn't figure out what the point of it was now. Then it hit me, we are fighting for our families, for our friends, for our countries, for our freedom. We are fighting for the future.
"We are supposed to fight. We are supposed to win. We are supposed to win for those soldiers who died. " For Tonks I added silently "We are supposed to win this for our families at home. We are supposed to win for our children. We need to win. And we will!!! What's you name mate??"
"Ricky Monroe" his voice shook but he looked better. Not quite as lost. He had bit more colour on his cheeks, his fight was coming back, and I could see it.
"Well then Ricky, how bout you and me get up and show them Germans what we're made of??" A nods from him and a wink from me and we were off. It was all a bit of blur from then on. Shots coming from us and shoots coming from them. It was a constant stream of lightning flashes and bangs so loud I figured by the end of it I would've been deaf. Then just as soon as that ramp went down it had ended. Me and Ricky and various other survivors were sitting in the German bunkers. Silent. Almost afraid to speak in case it turned out it was real. "We actually won??" the disbelief that coloured his tone was obvious. He couldn't believe it we'd won. We'd actually won. I was in a state of shock, I so sure we would've lost. I stared at the ground; I didn't want to lose this brilliant fantasy I was in.
I saw a slight smile make its way onto Ricky's face "We actually won" that simple statement was what broke the shock. We won. We really won. Cheers erupted all around me; I was quick to join them. Hugs all round, respects paid for all those lost along the way, it quieted down and everyone was just talking merrily, basing in this moment of happiness. All we had to do now was wait for our next orders to come. But we'd worry about that later, for now we were just gonna be happy and celebrate.