Tobruk, Libya.
June 12th, 1941
Tuesday, 11:45 pm, local time
Lt. Norman Townsend, 19th Brigade, Australian Army
Two months. We've been here two months.
I've counted every day. Out here in the desert, where there's nothing but sand, sand, and more sand to see all the way to the horizon, every day, in and and out, its understandable for each of those days to seem exactly like the last one. You can lose track of time easily out here. In that way, its similar to the good old Outback.
But, its not. No dingos out here, or Roos. Plenty of fellow Aussies to keep me company, though. At least we're all in the same boat.
Literally. We rode all the way here together, all the way from home, halfway around the world. A boatload of Diggers, ready to fight for, and I am proud to say, not the British Crown, but for Australia. Our fathers proved our nation had something to offer the world, back in the First War. Australia is a country, and it has fighting men to rival anyone else on this world.
We're really being put to the test these days
Its not just the Jerries, shelling us every day, and sending their Panzers, machines tough as Ayyers Rock, to try and crush us under their treads. The land itself is a challenge. Sand gets into everything: your shoes, your clothes, your food. I had a snake, one that opened his mouth and showed fangs, appear at the edge of my foxhole last night. Spooked me pretty bad. A warning shot from my revolver spooked it worse, though, and it fled.
Heat's a thing, too. We're Aussies, after all, so we've been there before. Still, its making us chug our canteens dry within an hour of filling them, on the hottest days out here. Sometimes, though, having a full one has its own benefits. About a week ago, while O'Neil and my sections were on the firing line, a shell went off nearby, and I felt something wet run down my legs. Thought I'd taken a real hit. When I looked back to see how bad it was, I found the liquid was clear. My canteen was pierced, but I wasn't
I suppose there's always a reason to be grateful about something.
That's about how things are for us, anyway. Under siege, and out numbered for sure, but it hasn't gotten worse. Its what we signed up for. I'll fight with all I have to live, but if don't survive, I'll be sure to take many of them with me.
I know many of us think just like that.
Besides, we must hold the line. Tobruk belongs to us. Rommel wants it ?
Over our dead bodies.
A/N: Battlefield V is a travesty. Women, certainly ones with bionic arms and Braveheart face paint, weren't fighting in the Allied armies. It was capable, brave MEN. The war also wasn't just fought in Europe. Battles crucial to the Allied triumph over the Axis were waged elsewhere, in the Pacific, in Asia, and of course, in Africa.