27 May 1940
General Lord Gort just declared evacuation of our troops at Dunkirk on my twenty second birthday. I couldn't believe we were finally going home. It was overwhelming to imagine that just over the horizon we were staring at home. You could practically swim across the English Channel. It was the greatest birthday present I had ever received.
We hadn't won the war yet. The Germans (or as I like to call them, the Germs) had pushed us into the northwest corner of France as we battled them in Arras, so that we only had two options: confront them or run away from them.
We had already exhausted the first strategy and lost, so retreating was our only option. We were all starving of food and sleep; but the dream of going home and the nightmares of watching our own lose that chance kept us wide awake and moving. The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) had taught us discipline and endurance so none of us whined and slowed the group down. Lieutenant Ramsey had ordered us into lines on Dunkirk beach as we awaited our ships' arrival. As we stood still, I could hear the faint firing of gunshots further in the town. I tried not to focus on the dozens of lifeless bodies that lay buried behind us on this very beach, all of them belonging to us. We needed to leave very soon, before the Germs got any closer.
Despite the chaos we were facing, the stunning sight of the beach gave me a calm feeling. The sky was clear, the sun made the sea appear as a sparkling stew of diamonds and turquoise, and the wind and sea spray kept us cool. It reminded me of the days my friends and I would go to the beach back home in Dorset. I wanted nothing more than to shed my uniform and gear and throw myself into the rocking arms of the ocean.
Except I couldn't. I couldn't let any of the troops, including my own, see the faint curves of my hips or the subtle mounds of my breasts. I got this far into the war unnoticed, and I would be damned if I was revealed before I made it home.
I hear someone join the back of our line, huffing as they catch their breath. The beach is suddenly filled with absolute silence. It was a very strange silence, the kind of silence where you next expect a monster to pop out of nowhere but can't tell when. My heart began racing.
And then I see it.
"GET DOWN!" I hear someone shout a few lines to my left. I look towards the left, up at the sky and I felt my heart plummet as what I predicted suddenly came into view. Three German air bombers roaring in our direction. My legs felt heavy like lead. My mind went blank. The organized lines of men were suddenly scattered, all of them shrieking with the same perplexity. We wanted to hide but there was no place to. We all drop to the sand, ducking and covering our heads. We prayed the planes would miss us and just zip by.
The earth quaked beneath me as the bombs made contact with the beach. My ears rang from the thunderous crashing of the bombs. I could feel the booming getting closer to me. Without hearing a damn thing, I'm suddenly flung into the air as the earth violently rippled beneath me. I land hard on my side a few yards away. I feel numb everywhere in my body except for my chest. My chest was warm and throbbing. I make myself roll over in agonizing pain and look down at my body. Hot metal had pierced my left breast and blood was streaming out. Fuck.